Games I wish I'd seen on 8 December 2013

There are indeed games we'd wish we seen yesterday.  One problem with Games We'd Wish We Seen is that there really is no website or database or anything that indicates - well, that indicates what's on.  My current cable provider, Comcast, is awful at this.  You can look up "women's basketball" in their search function....

...and you'll get about nine or ten results called "Women's Basketball".  No other information is listed on any of these results unless you hit the "Info" button, after which:

a) you find out that the game is on three weeks from now, or
b) you find out that it's on a network for which you have no subscription or
c) it's a rerun of one of the above games.

There probably needs to be some sort of website or thread on Swish Appeal that has the Complete Guide to Telecast (or Webcast) Women's Basketball Games.  But it's not going to be me that's building it.

Here are the games I wish I'd seen yesterday.  Tennessee vs. Texas would have been one of them, but I'm going to direct you to Rocky Top Talk for the writeup on that.


Gonzaga (7-1) should hang on to their #24 Associated Press Ranking after beating Ohio State (6-5) on the road, 59-58.  The Bulldogs took 26 3-point shots, hitting seven and the Buckeyes only took six - hitting four.  Gonzaga's rebounding advantage helped, led by junior forward Sunny Greinacher who scored 18 points and had 14 rebounds (seven offensive rebounds). 

The Zags took a big lead in the first half on a 22-4 run and led 32-20 at the break. But the Buckeyes battled back, setting up the tight conclusion where Gonzaga sophomore forward Shanique Nilles - who only entered the game three minutes before its conclusion - hit the buzzer-beater to give Gonzaga the win.

Minnesota (9-2) beat North Dakota (3-3) on the road, 46-44. It was an ugly game where the Team-That-Has-No-Mascot shot only 26 percent and the Golden Gophers only shot 32 percent.  Minnesota fell behind early and had to dig its way out of a 16-point defecit.  They got the chance to dig when North Dakota couldn't hit a field goal over 12 minutes of play.  Even though the oddly-named freshman center for Minnesota, Amanda Zahui B., scored 25 points and 12 rebounds, it was sophomore guard Shayne Mullaney's running jumper with three seconds left that saved it for the Gophers.

#2 Duke (10-0) beat #17 Oklahoma (6-3) by 94-85 on the road.  Both teams had great shooting - the Blue Devils had 53 percent and the Sooners 47 percent - but Duke's defense forced 21 Oklahoma turnovers.

There were four players on both teams that scored in double figures.  Player of the game? Probably Oklahoma senior guard Morgan Hook, with 24 points in a losing effort.  She shot 8-for-9 from the field, including 3-from-3 from behind the arc.  Oklahoma got to within seven points three times in the last 40 seconds, but the Blue Devils went 7-for-8 at the free throw line when it counted.

It was the 500th career victory for Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie, and her 175th win as Duke head coach.