Women's college basketball: Stock Up/Stock Down through Week 1

It was an eventful first week of the women’s college basketball season. From big-time performances to upsets to freshmen balling out, there was a surplus of entertaining storylines.

On3’s Talia Goodman breaks down the landscape of women’s college basketball, highlighting the risers and fallers through the first week of the season.

Stock Up

The Big Ten

Other than an unexpected Indiana home loss to Harvard, the Big Ten has really impressed so far. Through the first week, the conference is 35-5. Not too shabby. 

Certain teams have really exceeded expectations, like Michigan, Illinois and Oregon. The Wolverines nearly beat the defending national champions on opening day and the Ducks beat out a top 15-ranked Baylor squad. The Maryland Terrapins have also been impressive so far. Despite 10 new additions, the Terps’ chemistry looks solid and they notched a win over then-No. 11 Duke. 

The two teams who were expected to dominate the conference have both beat ranked opponents and I expect both USC and UCLA to improve as the season continues. 

New Power Four coaches

The coaching carousel spun this offseason and several Power Four programs hired new head coaches. Clemson and Kentucky were arguably the two most significant and both programs have gotten off to solid starts. 

Clemson head coach Shawn Poppie did a ton of work in the transfer portal this spring and it’s paid off so far. We’ll learn more when the Tigers face South Carolina next week, but Clemson sits at 3-0 with 30-plus point wins over Jackson State, NC Central and Presbyterian. 

Kentucky hired high-profile head coach Kenny Brooks to lead the program, and he brought over his star in Georgia Amoore from Virginia Tech. She’ll be the centerpiece of the team, but there are several pieces that have already shown immense potential, including 6-foot-7 freshman Clara Silva. The Wildcats will have their first high-profile matchup against Louisville this weekend, but they beat USC Upstate and Northern Kentucky by large margins to start the season. 

Stanford’s 3-point shooting

The Stanford Cardinal lost plenty of significant pieces this offseason, including legendary head coach Tara VanDerveer and post players Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen. 

But they retained a number of shooters who have impressed so far against legitimate competition. 

The Cardinal rank No. 1 in the country after shooting 45-for-78 (58%) through their first three games of the season, including a resume win over top mid-major Gonzaga. Junior Jzaniya Harriel has made a huge jump in production from last season, where she averaged 3.9 points per game and attempted just 81 three’s all season. In the first three games, she’s averaged 13.7 points and is 11-for-16 (69%) from deep. 

Stock Down

The SEC’s bottom teams

The SEC has suffered some tough losses to start the season and some seats may be getting hot. The top half of the conference looks great, don’t get me wrong. But Arkansas, Missouri and Texas A&M have all lost home games in the first week of the season. 

I’ll cut Arkansas a little slack here because they lost to one of the best mid-majors in the country in Fairfield, but Missouri has two setbacks to Vermont on the road and Norfolk State at home, while Texas A&M suffered an opening day home loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The SEC might be one of the deepest leagues in the country, but its bottom half is bringing it down right now. 

Syracuse

The Syracuse Orange posted 20-plus win seasons in each of the two years since Felisha Legette-Jack arrived on campus. But without Dyaisha Fair, it looks like Syracuse may not be a contender in the ACC this season. 

Syracuse allowed 84 points to both Niagara and Saint Joseph’s on their home court. That would have been concerning as is, but Saint Joseph’s notched the upset 84-70 road win on Sunday, breaking Syracuse’s 27-game win streak against non-conference opponents at home. 

It’s only week one and there’s plenty of time for improvement, but especially on the defensive end, the Orange will need to see major developments to be considered a threat in the ACC this season. 

Oklahoma’s 3-point shooting

While the Oklahoma Sooners have dominated in the paint so far, in large part due to Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers, they have one of the lowest 3-point percentages in the country. 

Oklahoma is just 9-for-54 (17%) from deep, which ranks 334th in the country. They have capable shooters in Lexy Keys and Payton Verhulst, but through two blowout wins over Southern and Virginia, shots aren’t falling for anyone. They haven’t needed to rely on their shot from deep just yet, but they’ll need some perimeter threats when their schedule ramps up.