Around the NCAAW Weekly: Arkansas shows heart, hands UConn rare loss

“Around the NCAAW Weekly” highlights the notable events of the week. Check out the milestones, surprises, best games and outstanding performances for games played through Sunday, Jan. 31:

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Milestones/accomplishments

No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks

The Razorbacks upset the No. 3 UConn Huskies 90-87 on Thursday. With their win over the then-No. 4 Baylor Lady Bears on Dec. 6, the Razorbacks have now defeated two teams in the Top 5 in the same season for the first time ever.

Arkansas has struggled against ranked teams for the most part this season and was 2-5 in SEC play entering its game against the Huskies. While it was still in the Top 25, it had been a disappointing season overall to that point. But the Razorbacks showed all the heart in the world and needed it to upset UConn.

After the game, Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said the following:

A week ago at South Carolina after a tough loss, we posed the question to the team `How do you want to fill this game. Do you want to play UConn?’ They said let’s go. A lot of teams, a lot of kids would have said let’s take the time off or can we find a team that hadn’t won 11 national championships, but they didn’t.

Chelsea Dungee scored 37 points in the UConn game, giving her 21-straight games in double-figures and eight-straight games of 20-plus. She is the only player in Arkansas program history to have more than one game of 37-plus points and she has done it four times.

No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gamecocks won their 25th regular-season SEC game in a row on Sunday, defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 87-63. The winning streak is now a program record, topping the 24-straight South Carolina won in regular-season SEC play from Jan. 3, 2016 to Jan. 26, 2017.

The Gamecocks were superb from the free throw line last week, shooting 19-of-20 against the Crimson Tide and 19-of-22 against the No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Thursday.

No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes may be the hottest team in the country right now. They defeated the then-No. 11 Michigan Wolverines on Jan. 21 and followed that up be beating the No. 7 Maryland Terrapins on Monday. The win over the Terps marked the program’s first time beating Top 15 teams back-to-back since 2006, but the Buckeyes weren’t done. They also defeated the No. 16 Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday, making it three wins in a row over the Top 15 if you count the fact that the Hoosiers were No. 15 in the Coaches Poll. The Buckeyes have only accomplished that feat one other time and it came in 1993.

No. 3 UConn Huskies

While their unblemished resume is no longer, the Huskies did bounce back to defeat the No. 17 DePaul Blue Demons 100-67 in the first women’s basketball game ever televised on FOX. UConn hasn’t lost back-to-back games since 1993.

UConn is now up to 1,005 straight games without back-to-back losses.

No. 20 Tennessee Lady Volunteers

Tamari Key notched the fourth triple-double in Tennessee program history on Sunday with a career-high 23 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks. The 10 rejections stands as the second-most ever for a Lady Vol, trailing on the 12 that Kelley Cain recorded on Feb. 22, 2010.

No. 7 Maryland Terrapins

The Terps bounced back from their loss to Ohio State by blowing out the Michigan State Spartans 92-52 on Thursday. It was Maryland’s 100th Big Ten win. It is 100-13 since joining the conference in 2014-15.

No 18 Gonzaga Bulldogs

Bulldog senior Jenn Wirth reached 600 career rebounds on Saturday.

No. 6 Stanford Cardinal

Stanford held Washington State’s Charlisse-Leger Walker to six points on Wednesday and two points on Friday. Leger-Walker is now third the Pac-12 in scoring with 17.9 points per game.

Surprises

No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes over No. 7 Maryland Terrapins (Monday)

No. 22 Georgia Bulldogs over No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (Monday)

Virginia Tech Hokies over No. 2 NC State Wolfpack (Thursday)

The Hokies are No. 33 in the NET rankings, while the Wolfpack are No. 11

No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks over No. 3 UConn Huskies (Thursday)

LSU Tigers over No. 22 Georgia Bulldogs (Thursday)

The Tigers are No . 64 in the NET rankings, while the Bulldogs are No. 20.

Games of the week

Monday: Georgia Bulldogs 75, Arkansas Razorbacks 73

Gabby Connally (20 points) made the game-winning jumper with under a second to go for a Georgia team that was down five entering the fourth. She also made a jumper with 58 seconds remaining to tie the contest. Jenna Staiti also had 20 points for the Bulldogs to go along with her 13 rebounds, five blocks and two steals. Chelsea Dungee scored a game-high 25 points for the Razorbacks and added eight boards and three steals.

Thursday: VA Tech Hokies 83, NC State Wolfpack 71 (OT)

A Camille Hobby 3-pointer at the buzzer of regulation was not enough to save the Wolfpack because the Hokies came out and dominated in overtime. Virginia Tech’s Aisha Sheppard (28 points) knocked down a 3-pointer 18 seconds into the extra frame and later scored 13-straight Hokie points to help them build a 10-point advantage. The Hokies also received 17 points and 11 rebounds from Elizabeth Kitley. Hobby finished with 19 points and nine boards in defeat.

Friday: Western Kentucky Lady Toppers 100, Charlotte 49ers 99 (3OT)

Western Kentucky’s Meral Abdelgawad made the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer of triple overtime in this marathon, just two seconds after Octavia Jett-Wilson (28 points, 11 rebounds) made a jumper in the paint to put Charlotte up two.

Jett-Wilson had made a buzzer-beating jumper at the end of the second overtime. In the first overtime, Lady Topper Raneem Elgedawy (26 points, 20 rebounds) blocked a Jada McMillian jumper that could have won it with three ticks remaining after free throws from Lady Topper Myriah Haywood had tied the game.

The 49ers had a chance to win in regulation, too, but missed two shots in the final seconds. The Lady Toppers were down seven entering the fourth.

WKU went on to beat Charlotte by one point in regulation on Saturday.

Other top performances

Ayoka Lee: 37 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks for the Kansas State Wildcats in a loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday.

Anastasia Hayes: 42 points, four assists and six steals for the Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders in a win over the UAB Blazers on Thursday.

Anastasia Hayes: 35 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals for the Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders in a win over the UAB Blazers on Saturday.

Jazz Bond: 35 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks for the North Florida Lady Ospreys in a win over the North Alabama Lions on Sunday.

Leilani Correa: 35 points and two rebounds for the St. John’s Red Storm in a win over the Georgetown Hoyas on Wednesday.

AP rankings (Feb. 1)

The Louisville Cardinals remained at No. 1 this week, but the South Carolina Gamecocks are up two spots to No. 2 because of No. 3 UConn and No. 4 NC State picking up losses. Meanwhile, the now-No. 10 Maryland Terrapins (down three) and No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes (up three) are much closer together after the Buckeyes’ upset win over the Terps. The No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks are also up three spots after their big win over UConn, as are the No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers, who went 2-0 last week.

Best upcoming matchup

No. 17 Indiana Hoosiers (10-4, 8-2 Big Ten) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4, 6-4 Big Ten)

When: Sunday, Feb. 7, at 2 p.m. ET

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA

How to watch/listen: ESPN2/Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM or TuneIn (Iowa)

Reason to watch: Indiana is always fun to watch and Iowa is a competitive Big Ten team with one of the best freshmen in the country in Caitlin Clark.