3 games to watch in women’s college basketball for Week 16

Women’s college basketball is gearing up for conference tournaments but some headliner matchups in Week 16 demand your attention. 

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.

All stats come from Her Hoop Stats unless otherwise noted.

Let’s dig into the 16th week of the women’s college basketball season!

Women’s college basketball: 3 must-watch games in Week 16

Cleveland State at Green Bay

Thursday, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m. ET – ESPN+

Yes, I am recommending you watch a Horizon League contest between a pair of unranked teams. Hear me out on this.

Both of these teams have just two conference games left and enter this one on nine-game win streaks, with both teams tied atop the conference with 16-2 records. That means there’s a very good chance that this game on Thursday decides the regular season champion in the Horizon.

Both teams have played well this season, even outside of conference play. Cleveland State was blown out by Iowa State to open the year, but got a huge overtime win on Nov. 15 against Big East opponent DePaul, scoring 90 points in the victory.

The Vikings have the fifth-best average margin per game in the country at 19.3 points per game, and the fifth-best net rating as well at +26.7. A big part of the team’s success has been its ability to control the boards, ranking 30th in offensive and 23rd in defensive rebounds per contest. In addition to the rebounding edge, Destiny Leo gives the Vikings a scoring edge—she’s averaging 18.3 points per game and is shooting 39.9% from three.

As for Green Bay, the Phoenix don’t have the same level of offense as the Vikings, but that’s largely a pace-related thing. Green Bay is one of the slowest teams in the country, so while it ranks 126th in points per game, the team looks much better by offensive rating, where it’s 47th. But for Green Bay, it’s really about defense: the team allows the fifth-fewest points per game in Division I.

In the first meeting, Green Bay’s offense exploded though, scoring 82 points in a 17-point win. Can Cleveland State get revenge on Thursday?

No. 3 Stanford at No. 8 Utah

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2:00 p.m. ET – Pac-12 Network

The Pac-12 wasn’t supposed to be this close, and if it was going to be close, then it definitely wasn’t supposed to be between powerhouse Stanford and Utah. The Utes were picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll, though they did get the lone first-place vote that didn’t go to Stanford. (Presumably, that means that vote came from Stanford.)

But here’s Utah. Led by Alissa Pili’s 20.7 points per game, the Utes rank fourth in the country in scoring at 83.8 points per game and eighth in net rating at +25.6. The team just can’t seem to miss shots, ranking fourth in overall field goal percentage, as well as 31st in three-point field goal percentage.

On the other side, you’ve got Stanford. It’s been a weird year for the Cardinal. They’ve lost to USC and Washington, two pretty shocking losses, as USC is 9-7 in Pac-12 play and Washington is 7-9. But the team ranks fourth in the country in net rating. 18th in field goal percentage. Second in Her Hoop Stats Rating. Stanford has a few puzzling losses, but this is still a top-five team in the country.

And when these teams last met, the Cardinal won by 12, holding Utah to 62 points, the second-lowest score for the Utes this season. That’s been a common thing for Utah though: losing to Stanford. The Utes are 1-26 all-time against the Cardinal, with the only win coming back in 2018.

Is Utah really a title contender? We’ll be a lot closer to answering that on Saturday.

No. 2 Indiana at No. 6 Iowa

Sunday, Feb, 26, 2:00 p.m. ET – ESPN

The Big Ten is such a gauntlet. Indiana had really tough matchups over the last week, facing Ohio State and Michigan, and then beating both teams by double digits. Now, the Hoosiers end the regular season with a matchup against Iowa on Sunday. A win here would push the team’s winning streak to 15 games and would give it a 17-1 record in a really tough conference.

But don’t count out Iowa. Caitlin Clark is the nation’s third-leading scorer at 27.3 points per game and is shooting 47% from the floor, and she can lift up and make a shot from anywhere on the floor.

These teams met earlier this month, and Clark got hers, scoring 35 points on 12-for-28 shooting. But Indiana held Monika Czinano to six points, and Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes combined for 50 points as Indiana pulled away in the second half, winning 87-78 in a game that was tied at halftime.

I really don’t know what else to say about this game. We have two top 10 scoring offenses going head to head, and both teams rank in the top five in the country in offensive rating. Iowa’s a worse defensive team by a pretty good margin—Indiana is 30th in defensive rating and Iowa is 138th—but the defensive stuff might not end up mattering a ton when you have two unstoppable offenses going up against each other.

Other games to watch

• No. 13 Ohio State @ No. 12 Michigan — Monday, Feb. 20, 7:00 PM — FOX Sports 1
• No. 16 UCLA @ No. 3 Stanford — Monday, Feb. 20, 9:00 PM — ESPN2
• No. 7 Iowa @ No. 8 Maryland — Tuesday, Feb. 21, 8:00 PM — Big Ten Network
• No. 22 Iowa State @ Oklahoma State — Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7:30 PM — ESPN+
• No. 3 Stanford @ No. 21 Colorado — Thursday, Feb. 23, 5:00 PM — Pac-12 Networks
• No. 11 Virginia Tech @ No. 19 North Carolina — Thursday, Feb. 23, 8:00 PM — ACC Extra
• No. 8 Maryland @ No. 13 Ohio State — Friday, Feb. 24, 6:00 PM — Big Ten Network
• No. 17 Texas @ No. 15 Oklahoma — Saturday, Feb. 25, 2:00 PM — ESPN+
• No. 19 North Carolina @ No. 9 Duke — Sunday, Feb. 26, 12:00 PM — ACC Extra