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Around the NCAAW Weekly: Brenda Frese rises to the top of Maryland basketball

Brenda Frese of the No. 9 Maryland Terrapins has achieved more than any other coach in the storied histories of the Terps’ men’s and women’s basketball programs. She already had the national championship. Now, she has surpassed her predecessor, Chris Weller, in all-time wins.

Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament - Championship
Brenda Frese is one of the greatest Terps ever.
Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images

“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, Feb. 14:


Milestones/accomplishments

No. 9 Maryland Terrapins

Brenda Frese, already a DC sports legend, surpassed former Maryland women’s basketball coach Chris Weller on Sunday for most wins in program history, landing at the nice, round number of 500.

The Terrapins helped their coach reach the milestone by defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 95-73 on the road and setting a record for most points ever scored by a team at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Frese has more wins than former Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams, who led the Terps to a national championship in 2002 and had the court at Maryland’s XFINITY Center named after him in 2012.

Frese won a national championship in 2006, during her fourth season in College Park. She is one of the most recognizable Terps of all-time and only field hockey coach Missy Meharg has more wins (582) than Frese in the history of Maryland athletics.

Frese is 500-130 in her 19-year tenure.

No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks

Redshirt senior Chelsea Dungee reached 2,000 career points on Thursday, becoming the second Razorback to ever do so with Bettye Fiscus being the other. Dungee scored 22 points in an 86-80 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, giving her 2,004 career points. Fiscus is Arkansas’ all-time leading scorer with 2,073 points.

No. 3 Louisville Cardinals

Dana Evans scored in double figures for the 37th game in a row on Thursday, passing Angel McCoughtry’s program record accomplished across the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

No. 10 Arizona Wildcats

On Sunday, Arizona went 12-of-16 (75 percent) from distance for the best 3-point shooting performance in school history. Last Monday, the Wildcats also defeated the No. 11 Oregon Ducks for the second time in a row for the first time in 10 years.

No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks

Head coach Dawn Staley won her 150th regular-season SEC game on Sunday.

No. 14 South Florida Bulls

With its win over Tulsa on Saturday, South Florida has now won a program record 10-straight games. The Bulls won nine-straight games in the 2008-09 and the 1972-73 seasons.

No. 15 Indiana Hoosiers

Grace Berger tied former Iowa Hawkeye Sam Logic for most triple-doubles in a Big Ten season with a 17-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance on Wednesday. Berger is tied for second all-time out of Big Ten players when it comes to career triple-doubles; she has notched all three of Indiana’s triple-doubles this season alone.

No. 7 Baylor Lady Bears

Baylor held Texas to 35 points on Sunday, the fewest it has ever allowed the Longhorns to score. The Lady Bears stifled superstar Charli Collier into scoring just two points.

Streak tracker

Aari McDonald (No. 10 Arizona Wildcats) double-digit scoring games — 82 (longest active streak in the nation)

No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks SEC wins — 31 currently tied for second-longest streak in conference history)

No. 17 Gonzaga Bulldogs home wins — 23 (longest active streak in the nation)

Games of the week

Monday: No. 2 UConn Huskies 63, No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks 59 (OT)

UConn’s Paige Bueckers (31 points, six steals, five assists) made a clutch 3-pointer that took a friendly bounce with 10 seconds remaining in overtime. South Carolina then missed 3-pointers with eight seconds and four seconds remaining, respectively, as UConn held on for the win. Bueckers also made a jumper with 46 seconds left that put the Huskies up one point. She scored all nine of UConn’s points in overtime after forcing the Huskies into overtime with game-tying bucket at 48 seconds remaining in regulation. Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Wednesday: Charlotte 49ers 102, Old Dominion Monarchs 95 (2OT)

Octavia Jett-Wilson (42 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, three steals) converted on a three-point play with eight seconds left in the first overtime to save the 49ers, who ran away with a seven-point edge in the end thanks to key layups in the second overtime from Dara Pearson (17 points, 13 rebounds). Aziah Hudson (21 points) had made three free throws with two seconds left in regulation to extend the game for the Monarchs. Old Dominion, ahead by 12 points at the break, and was led by Amari Young’s 24 points and 24 rebounds. Molina Williams notched 17 rebounds for the 49ers and Jett-Wilson reached 1,000 career points.

Saturday: No. 25 Missouri State Lady Bears 73, Illinois State Redbirds 72

A Brice Calip bucket in the paint through contact with 1.4 seconds to go won the game for the Lady Bears, who remained unbeaten in Missouri Valley Conference play and improved to 8-0 on the road. The lead changed hands three times in the final 14 seconds. Missouri State was down 11 points at the break and by four points with 30 seconds to play. Jasmine Franklin (15), Elle Ruffridge (13), Abby Hipp (12) and Calip (11) scored in double figures for the winners with Calip adding eight assists and five rebounds. Terrion Moore led the Redbirds with 22 points, while teammate Juliunn Redmond notched 19 points and nine boards.

Surprises

Wisconsin Badgers over No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes (Wednesday)

The Badgers secured their first win over a Top-15 team since defeating the then-No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions on Jan. 31, 2013. Imani Lewis had a career-high 27 points and 14 rebounds in the victory. Wisconsin is No. 153 in the NET rankings, while Ohio State is No. 18.

Oklahoma Sooners over No. 19 West Virginia Mountaineers (Feb. 13)

Oklahoma (No. 75 in the NET rankings) went on a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to help notch the win. Madi Williams led the Sooners with 21 points. West Virginia is No. 22 in the NET rankings.

Oklahoma Sooners over Iowa State Cyclones (Feb. 9)

The Cyclones have been in and out of the AP rankings and currently are No. 32 in the NET rankings.

COVID/other news

No. 7 Baylor Lady Bears

DiDi Richards left Baylor’s game against Texas Tech on Wednesday with concussion symptoms. She suffered a spinal cord shock injury during the preseason but the injuries are not related. She returned to the Baylor bench after the injury to watch the remainder of the game and played in the team’s next game on Sunday.

No. 3 Louisville Cardinals

The Cardinals had their Sunday game against the Syracuse Orange postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test within their program.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Irish had their game against the NC State Wolfpack scheduled for Monday (Feb. 15) postponed due to positive tests within their program.

Memphis Tigers

Memphis head coach Melissa McFerrin announced her immediate retirement on Sunday.

Other top performances

Jasmine Walker: 41 points and 15 rebounds for the Alabama Crimson Tide in a win over the Auburn Tigers on Sunday.

Caitlin Clark: 39 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Iowa Hawkeyes in a win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Thursday.

Peyton Scott: 39 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Miami (OH) RedHawks in a loss to the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday.

Jade Loville: 40 points and four rebounds for the Boise State Broncos in a win over the UNLV Rebels on Wednesday.

Micaela Kelly: 37 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Central Michigan Chippewas in a win over the Miami (OH) RedHawks on Wednesday.

AP rankings (Feb. 15)

The now-No. 1 UConn Huskies and No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks swapped places after UConn defeated South Carolina on Monday. Meanwhile, the No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies have risen one spot for the third week in a row as they creep up on the Top 4.

The South Florida Bulls reached a new program-best at No. 12.

The Tennessee Lady Volunteers plummeted five spots to No. 21 after two losses last week — both to ranked teams.

The Kentucky Wildcats, who were one of the teams to beat the Lady Vols, jumped three spots to No. 17 after falling in the poll four times this season and rising three times.

Best upcoming matchup

No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats (14-5, 7-4 SEC) vs. No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks (17-2, 12-0 SEC)

When: Sunday, Feb. 21, at 3 p.m. ET

Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC

How to watch/listen: ESPN/Radio: UK Sports Network or Gamecock All-Access

Reason to watch: South Carolina won the first matchup between these teams by a slim margin (five points). See if Kentucky can put itself over the edge and get the upset this time.