3 games to watch in women’s college basketball for Week 15

This week’s must-watch games in women’s college basketball include big tests for UConn and Texas, with a chance for Michigan to knock off Indiana.

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 15th 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. 20 Texas @ No. 21 Iowa State

Monday, Feb. 13, 7:00 p.m. ET — ESPN2

The Big 12 is fascinating this year. Texas currently looks to be in control of the conference though, sitting at 11-2 in conference play and is on a seven-game winning streak.

Meanwhile, Iowa State looked like they might be the team’s biggest competition for the conference, but the Cyclones have dropped three in a row, falling to 7-5 in conference play.

This game might not mean much when it comes to deciding the conference title — though a Texas loss would open the door for Oklahoma, which is one game back of the Horns — but it means a lot for Iowa State. The team’s chances of hosting the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament are on life support right now, and another loss might permanently doom the team’s chances.

As for Texas, the Longhorns have basically beaten all their other main competitors during this seven-game win streak, with wins over Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. If Vic Schaefer’s bunch takes down Iowa State here, then it might be time to recognize that the AP was right to put Texas in its preseason top five. Injuries led to a 1-3 start, but Texas is rolling ever since. The only real blemish on the resume was an upset loss to Texas Tech.

2. No. 12 Michigan @ No. 2 Indiana

Thursday, Feb. 16, 8:30 p.m. ET — Big Ten Network

Look: Indiana plays Ohio State and Michigan this week. Those are big games. They also might not matter too much at this point, as the Hoosiers only have one loss all season and already have wins over both teams. This is to say that the Hoosiers can afford to lose one of these and still get a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

That’s why I’m highlighting the second of the two games. If Indiana loses on Monday night, then this one might have some real stakes for the Hoosiers, who enter the week on an 11-game win streak.

Indiana ranks fourth in the country in net rating, while Michigan ranks 27th. The Wolverines haven’t necessarily played as well as their ranking might indicate, but they’re still a really good team, especially when it comes to efficiency, as they rank 14th in effective field goal percentage and seventh in points per scoring attempt.

One problem: Indiana is fifth in both of those stats. The Hoosiers have four key rotation players shooting 45 percent or better from the floor, led by Mackenzie Holmes shooting 69.0 percent, including a 70.2 percent mark from 2-point range. This is a game with two really good offenses, but on paper, Indiana’s is a bit better.

But the Hoosiers are also on a tough part of the season. After playing Iowa and then Ohio State back-to-back, will they be tired for this one? Will the defense continue to play as well as it has during this tough stretch?

If Indiana can emerge from this week without a second loss, then it’ll be time to start seriously thinking about how it matches up with No. 1 South Carolina.

1. No. 4 UConn @ No. 15 Villanova

Saturday, Feb. 18, 2:30 p.m. ET — FOX

UConn has hit a rough patch. After losing back on Feb. 5 to South Carolina in a game that was close throughout, the Huskies went out in their next game against Marquette and … lost again. It was the first time since 1993 that the team lost consecutive games.

First, let’s take a second to appreciate how long ago that was. There are lots of people covering women’s basketball who weren’t alive the last time this happened. It’s wild just how long UConn managed to keep that streak alive, and it only ended because the team’s dealt with an unlikely rash of injuries this season.

Meanwhile, this is UConn’s next big test, and it could be the thing that ends another long run for the team: of regular season conference titles. The last time UConn didn’t win its conference was in 2013, the team’s last year in the old Big East.

Villanova is one of the hottest teams in the country right now, winning 13 of its last 14 games, with the only loss in that span coming against UConn by five points.

If you haven’t watched Villanova yet, there’s one major reason to do so: Maddy Siegrist, who is averaging 29.1 points per game, the most in the country. She ranks in the top 50 in rebounds per game as well at 9.4. She’s been the engine that’s made the Wildcats so good. In fact, she’s only really had a couple of “bad” games this year, and even those aren’t “bad.” She’s scored over 20 points in every game, but she did shoot under 40 percent twice this year, and Villanova lost both of those games, including the first UConn loss.

Other games to watch

• No. 2 Indiana @ No. 13 Ohio State — Monday, Feb. 13, 7:00 p.m. ET — Big Ten Network
• No. 9 Duke @ No. 11 Virginia Tech — Thursday, Feb. 16, 7:00 p.m. ET — ACC Extra
• No. 14 North Carolina @ No. 22 NC State — Thursday, Feb. 16, 8:00 p.m. ET — ACC Network
• No. 7 Utah @ No. 17 Arizona — Friday, Feb. 17, 9:00 p.m. ET — Pac-12 Networks
• USC @ No. 6 Stanford — Friday, Feb. 17, 11:00 p.m. ET — Pac-12 Networks
• No. 21 Iowa State @ Baylor — Saturday, Feb. 18, 6:00 p.m. ET — ESPN+
• No. 25 Colorado @ No. 17 Arizona — Sunday, Feb. 19, 2:00 p.m. ET — Pac-12 Networks
• No. 22 NC State @ No. 11 Virginia Tech — Sunday, Feb. 19, 4:00 p.m. ET — ESPN2