3 games to watch in women’s college basketball for Week 11

This week’s women’s college basketball schedule is loaded with must-watch games, including a chance for someone new to take control of the Big 12.

Welcome back to FanSided’s weekly look around the women’s 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 11th week of the women’s college basketball season!

All stats from Her Hoop Stats unless otherwise noted.

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

3. No. 6 Indiana @ No. 24 Illinois

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 8:00 p.m. — B1G+

Illinois has been one of the best stories of the season.

The Illini haven’t made an NCAA tournament appearance since 2003, and last season the team went 7-20 overall and 1-13 in conference play in Nancy Fahey’s first season as head coach. But new head coach Shauna Green has the team heading in the right direction. Illinois is 15-3, but the team hasn’t necessarily faced the toughest schedule, with an opponent average win percentage that ranks 155th in the country. Their best win was a good one though, as they took down Iowa.

This is the second meeting of Indiana and Illinois this year, with the Hoosiers winning 65-61 in the first contest. But that game was at Indiana — this one’s a home game for the Illini, who haven’t lost at home yet this season.

In the first meeting, Indiana scored 65 points, their lowest mark of the season, and Illinois’ Makira Cook almost led an upset win, scoring 33 points. If the Illini can get a little more production from the rest of the roster, this could be a program-defining victory.

2. No. 19 Utah @ No. 2 Stanford

Friday, Jan. 20, 9:00 p.m. — Pac-12 Network

This game would have been intriguing before Stanford lost on Sunday to USC, but now it’s even more intriguing, because we suddenly have a lot of questions about the Cardinal.

Coming into Sunday’s loss, Stanford has just one loss all year, and that was to No. 1 South Carolina. But there were some signs that maybe this team wasn’t as unstoppable as they seemed, like the fact that they beat Cal by just four, and that the team hasn’t necessarily been great at three-point shooting (69th in 3-point field goal percentage) or free throws (111th in free throw percentage).

Still, this is a team with future WNBA lottery pick Haley Jones and an elite rim protector in Cameron Brink, who’s averaging 3.3 blocks per game. They were rightly ranked No. 2 in the country … and then they scored just 46 points in the loss to USC, their first time this season scoring under 60 points. Jones went just 3-for-13 in that one, while Brink was 3-for-14.

If the Cardinal want to get back on track, they can’t afford a repeat offensive performance against Utah, because the Utes can score the basketball better than almost any team in the country. The team ranks fourth in points per game and second in offensive rating, plus second in field goal percentage, shooting 50.4 percent as a team. Alissa Pili leads the team with 19.8 points per game.

Can Utah get the upset win and hand Stanford a second consecutive loss?

1. Texas @ No. 18 Baylor

Sunday, Jan. 22, 5:00 PM — ESPN2

The Big 12 has been turned upside down over the last week. At this point, I’m not even sure what to expect this conference to look like by Sunday.

Texas had a dominant win over Iowa State on Sunday, beating the Cyclones 68-53. The Longhorns continue to win through defense, holding three Big 12 opponents under 60 points so far. The team ranks 13th in the country in defensive rating.

In the win over Iowa State, DeYona Gaston continued her strong play, scoring a team-high 17 points. Her improvement this season has really added another dimension to this Texas squad.

And then there’s Baylor. And, well…I’m not sure what to think about Baylor right now.

After opening conference play 3-0, it looked like Baylor was going to shake off the doubters and win another Big 12 regular season title, something the Bears have done every year since 2011. Iowa State lost one of its best players to a season-ending injury. Oklahoma had defensive question marks. Texas wasn’t gelling yet.

But what a difference a week makes. The Bears lost to Oklahoma State and West Virginia, both teams that are talented, but that a team with its sights on a Big 12 title shouldn’t be losing to. But Baylor shot under 40 percent in both games, something that’s happened in four of its five losses.

Will this be the year Baylor’s run ends? And will Sunday’s game represent a kind of changing of the guard?

Other games to watch

• No. 4 UConn @ Seton Hall — Tuesday, Jan. 17, 7:00 p.m. — SNY
• No. 12 Iowa @ Michigan State — Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7:00 p.m. — B1G+
• Toledo @ Bowling Green — Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7:00 p.m. — ESPN+
• Kansas State @ No. 18 Baylor — Wednesday, Jan. 18, 8:00 p.m. — ESPN+
• No. 16 Duke @ No. 22 North Carolina — Thursday, Jan. 19, 8:00 p.m. — ACC Network
• Arkansas @ No. 5 LSU — Thursday, Jan. 19, 9:00 p.m. — SEC Network
• No. 23 Kansas @ No. 15 Iowa State — Saturday, Jan. 21, 6:00 p.m. — ESPN+
• No. 11 NC State @ Louisville — Sunday, Jan. 22, 1:00 p.m. — ABC
• Arkansas @ No. 1 South Carolina — Sunday, Jan. 22, 3:00 p.m. — ESPN2