With the holiday break just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the gifts the country’s best teams have given their fans this time of year.
Dear readers, thank you for following and using the 2022 Power Rankings. We will be back in 2 weeks for our first check-in in 2023.
Dropped out: Villanova
Most Famous: duke, middle tennesseeNebraska, South Florida
Voting Notes
• In the absence Grace Burger, Indiana It just plucked another Player of the Year contender from the bag in the form of Mackenzie Holmes. 69% of attempts were successful. She splattered on Banks her shot against Butler with her first 3-pointer of the season and coyly celebrated it as she ran back to her court.
Mac for all trades. 👀@kenzieholmes_ | | #IUWBB pic.twitter.com/ScniRoGlVW
— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) December 21, 2022
Holmes has seamlessly embraced his role as the hub of the Hoosiers offense, Yarden Garzon When Sydney Parish to find their way. The Oregon-transferred Parish is as good at handling the ball as she is at forcing steals and collecting her rebounds defensively, and her hoop stats put Indiana at her third in the country. The second highest defensive has helped boost her rating. Garzon has been firing from long range and her 3-shooting percentage this season is her 51.8%, proving to be her best 3-point threat for the Hoosiers as a freshman. Garzon, Parish, Sarah Scalia Holmes, Burger, Chloe Moore-McNeilIndiana comfortably holds a top-four spot, ahead of any other Big Ten team.
• best gift U Conn received the following health conditions in the past week. Nika Muhl When Dorka JuhasIt’s safe to say the Huskies lost Florida Without the Mules running the show, they turn the ball over on about 30% of possessions when the starting point guard is off the court. Mules are also the catalyst for UConn to find good shots on offense. She ranks second in the nation in assists, just 12 behind her. Taina Mare of boston college, and played over 200 minutes. Since the mule slightly increased the frequency of fire (ideally, Aji Fad return), she has to defend as a scorer as well as a passer.
The return of Juhász increased the spacing, especially for Huskies. Aaliyah Edwards, is the primary recipient of Juhas’ path from above the key. Juhász hasn’t made many 3s yet, but she’s still guarded on the perimeter, opening up space in the lane for Edwards to finish. Since Juharsh rejoined the lineup, Edwards boasts his 70% field goal percentage compared to his 61% prior to that. UConn’s all-out performance is ahead of some teams with better records considering the quality wins won by the Huskies. north carolina, Iowa and Florida.
• Speaking of Iowa, Kaitlyn Clark It’s a gift that I keep giving to Hawkeyes. Last week, she reached her 2,000 points in her first 75 games of her NCAA career, making Elena Delle the fastest man or woman to reach her donne.
Kaitlyn Clarke Reaches 2,000 Career Points 🔥
She is tied with Elena Delle Donne as the fastest NCAA women to reach this milestone, with 75 games.
H/T @Iowa WBB | | @Caitlin Clark22 pic.twitter.com/SIvHGBlbW6
— Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 21, 2022
Interestingly, Kelsey Plum, the all-time leading scorer, is not the leader there. It’s a reminder of how devastating Plum has been in the second half of his career, especially in his senior season in Washington, where Iowa is beating opponents by an average of 23.8 points during his five-game winning streak. Clarke has achieved 39.4% of his 3 points with 23.8 points per game and he has eight assists per game in this stretch. The official take on these powers in his rankings is that the POY will be lost to Aaliyah Boston, but Clarke continues to remind us that there are plenty of national team contenders out there.
• Michigan After giving fans their best win of the week, they earned their best ranking of the season. Wolverine went to Charlotte for a thorough dismemberment. tar heel, ranked sixth in the AP poll. Although it may have been recorded as a neutral site victory, it was an apparently hostile area about two hours from the UNC Chapel Hill campus.
Michigan surged to No. 12 this week, and their defense deserves a lot of praise.as fun to watch Leia Brown, Lyra Ferrier When Emily Kaiser Pouring in points in a hurry makes the Wolverines more successful in defending and makes it harder for opponents to move the ball.Michigan allows 0.45 assists per turnover. That means opposing players are more than twice as likely to give the ball to their teammates as they are to set up shots. It’s a very difficult way to score.
Cameron Williams has become a useful defensive replacement for Nas Hillmon by cleaning the glass and keeping his shots off the rim and paint. Sophomore Big is good enough to keep Michigan in the game on the other side of the floor.
• Top 10 Opponents (November against North Carolina and Ohio last week), Oregon At least it’s blessed with a long runway. chance grayGrace Van Roten, Jenna Isai All freshmen, Filipina Kiei is a sophomore giving his team time to line up the ducks.When the shots are flowing, like when Oregon hit his 3 in the 4th quarter and he hit 5 Arkansas, it’s easy to get excited about the promise of this team. However, the Ducks then laid eggs the next day and suffered a non-competitive loss to the still-absent Buckeyes. Jaycee Sheldon When Madison Green.
Pac-12 play gives Oregon a better chance of winning, but this is probably a team that can handle business against most opponents, but just isn’t ready to face the best.
• There is no better gift this season. Taylor RobertsonThis is a photo shoot. Oklahoma Comfortably Win the Jumpman Invitational Game florida Thanks to Robertson for making six 3-pointers. She made her five or more 3s in one game, a Division I record she achieved 40 times. She now has at least one of her 3-pointers in 53 consecutive contests and has her 475 all-time 3-shooters, which is her 497th NCAA all-time leader. It’s right near Kelsey Mitchell. Unless, of course, you’re tasked with protecting her.
• The Sooners have one mistake this season ( Utah (2nd night of back-to-back games in the state), but a quality offensive team throughout, and when they’re rolling like they were against Florida, they can cause real terror. The defense scares me enough for now that he remains 21st, but that could change over the course of the Big 12’s play.
• It was a tough week for Arkansas as the Razorbacks finally got the gift of a high-profile matchup, but lost to Oregon and South Florida at the San Diego Invitational. Arkansas’ lack of depth was evident in both losses, as it relied heavily on their first five-plus. Riley Langerman The sixth woman, Jersey Wolfenberger, is unavailable. That fatigue may have contributed to blowing a 7-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Ducks, or a 9-point lead in the second half. bullsBut things don’t get any easier. LSUs Waiting for you after vacation. If the Razorbacks want to prove their undefeated start was no fluke due to scheduling, another opportunity awaits them soon.
(Illustration: Sean Riley / athleticPhoto by Leigha Brown: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
