3 games to watch in women’s college basketball for Week 4

Week 4 of the women’s college basketball schedule is loaded with key matchups, including a trio of games among top-10 teams. 

Welcome back to FanSided’s weekly look around the women’s college basketball world. Looking for some games to watch this upcoming week? We’ll be highlighting three of them that should be on your radar.

Whether you’re a long-time viewer who’s just looking for a shortcut to see what you should watch or you’re just getting into the sport and want to know about compelling storylines, we have you covered. And at the end, I’ll include a short “other games to watch” section, if you want to take your basketball watching further.

Let’s dig into the fourth week of the women’s college basketball season! There are a ton of great basketball games this week, so make sure you also check out the longer list of games at the bottom of this article.

Here are the women’s college basketball games you won’t want to miss this week

3. No. 20 UCLA at No. 1 South Carolina

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7:00 p.m. — SEC Network

UCLA enters this game at 7-0, including one win over a ranked team, as the team beat Tennessee 80-63. The Bruins aren’t necessarily dominating opponents — per Her Hoop Stats, the team is 49th in average margin per game and ranks outside the top 50 in both scoring offense and scoring defense — but they’re getting the job done. A big part of that is Charisma Osborne, who is averaging 20.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Osborne does a little of everything for this Bruins squad, while Kiki Rice is the only other player averaging in double figures.

On Tuesday, UCLA faces its toughest test when it visits top-ranked South Carolina, and the Bruins will probably need a few players other than Osborne to step up if they want to get a big upset win.

As for South Carolina, the biggest thing to watch heading into this game is Aliyah Boston’s availability:

Boston didn’t play in the second half Sunday against Hampton and while the Gamecocks didn’t need her to beat the Pirates, they definitely need her more for a game against a ranked opponent. She’s had four double-doubles in five games to start the season.

Still, part of what makes South Carolina so good is that Boston isn’t the only dominant player they have. If she misses any time, I’d anticipate we see more of Laeticia Amihere, who is averaging 19.2 minutes per game so far and has shot 58.8% from the floor. And Zia Cooke can take a game over offensively when needed—she’s the highest scorer this season for SC at 13.8 points per game.

2. No. 8 North Carolina at No. 6 Indiana

Thursday, Dec. 1, 6:00 p.m. — Big Ten Network

UNC is a tough team to really get a read on right now. They beat two ranked teams last week, but both games required second-half comebacks. There have been times when this team looks elite, like when they made some big runs in the second half to defeat Iowa State on Sunday. The Cyclones looked like national title contenders in the first half, leading 35-22 at the break. UNC won 73-64.

Deja Kelly has been a huge part of what UNC has been doing, scoring 29 points in the win over Iowa State. That moves her scoring average for the season up to 17.4, but something that gets discussed less is her playmaking. Kelly is averaging 4.4 assists per game, up for 2.6 last year, and she’s also cut her turnovers by one per game along with that, from 2.2 last season down to 1.2 now. She’s 34th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio.

As for Indiana, the Hoosiers are out to a 7-0 start, but they haven’t faced the toughest schedule yet. They’ve played one ranked team, Tennessee, and won 79-67, but the Lady Vols have gotten off to a pretty shaky start.

Indiana has some really good offensive numbers, including ranking fourth in the country in offensive rating, scoring 120.8 points per 100 possessions. The team is shooting 51.9% from the floor and ranks third in points per play at 1.05. Mackenzie Holmes has been the scoring star so far, averaging 20.0 points per game while shooting 76.6% from the floor. The 6-3 big got some preseason hype—she was on the Lisa Leslie Award watch list—but I don’t think anyone expected her to be this dominant. Per CBB Analytics, Holmes is fourth in the country in true shooting percentage among players to play at least 150 minutes. (The three players ahead of her all get a boost by shooting over 50% from three, while Holmes hasn’t made a three this season.)

1. No. 3 UConn @ No. 7 Notre Dame

Sunday, Dec. 4, 3:00 p.m. — ABC

So far this season, I’ve characterized the women’s college basketball landscape this season as a two-team race, but I’m ready to add another name to that list alongside Stanford and South Carolina: UConn.

The Huskies took down No. 9 Iowa 86-79 on Sunday, led by 24 points from Azzi Fudd, who struggled to score in the first half but came out on fire in the second half. UConn now had wins over three ranked teams, including a 91-69 demolition of NC State. Fudd looks like a bonafide National Player of the Year candidate at this point.

Notre Dame has a tough schedule this week, as they also face a ranked Maryland team on Thursday. But it’s Sunday’s meeting with UConn that’ll teach us the most about what the ceiling is this year for the Irish.

The Irish are winning with offense. They rank fifth in scoring at 90.0 points per game and rank 15th in field goal percentage. Olivia Miles is leading the way with 16.0 points per game, but a lesser-known name to watch is Sonia Citron, who is averaging 15.3 points per game on 50% shooting so far, as well as 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Other Games To Watch

• South Dakota State @ Washington State — Monday, Nov. 28, 10:00 PM — Pac-12 Networks
• No. 4 Ohio State at No. 10 Louisville — Wednesday, Nov. 30, 7:30 PM — ACC Network
• Northwestern at Duke — Thursday, Dec. 1, 5:00 PM — ACC Network
• No. 14 Maryland at No. 7 Notre Dame — Thursday, Dec. 1, 6:30 PM — ESPN2
• No. 13 NC State at No. 9 Iowa — Thursday, Dec. 1, 8:30 PM — ESPN2
• No. 22 Michigan @ Miami — Thursday, Dec. 1, 9:00 PM — ACC Network
• No. 16 Creighton @ No. 23 Villanova — Friday, Dec. 2, 7:00 PM — FloSports
• South Florida @ No. 19 Texas — Friday, Dec. 2, 8:00 PM — Longhorn Network
• No. 11 Virginia Tech @ No. 23 Tennessee — Sunday, Dec. 4, 1:00 PM — ESPN2