What you need to know for the 2022-23 women's college basketball season
The 2022-23 women's college basketball season starts on Monday, November 7th. Texas is ranked No. 3 in the AP poll and is going to have three transfers playing key roles. Defending champions South Carolina are going for a third title.
The defending champions South Carolina are the team to beat. Stanford is the other team. They ranked in the top 35 last year in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The team added the No. 1 rated recruit this year, Lauren Betts. They also ranked 35th in scoring and 35 in defense last season.
Aliyah Boston is the most dominant big in college basketball. Caitlin Clark is a close second. Iowa sophomore is one of the best pure scorers in a long time. UConn’s Paige Bueckers is out for the 2022-23 season.
Clark and Haley Jones are the top two players in the women's college basketball. Clark struggled with efficiency last year, shooting 33.2 percent from three, down from 40.6 percent. Jones saw a drop in efficiency, but she's a well-rounded player who has been working on expanding her game.
There are three teams outside the AP top 10 that could surprise this year.
The AP voters didn't give the Big 12 the respect it deserved. Madi Williams is one of the most underrated players in the country. ESPN's top 25 players for this season has Williams at No. 19.
Baylor is going back to the Big 12. They lost NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo to WNBA. The team has one of the best point guards in the country with Sarah Andrews.
Paige Bueckers and Ice Brady are out for the year. Maddy Siegrist is a top-20 player in the country and won Big East Player of the Year last season.
Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard, Baylor”s NaLyssa Smith and Ole Miss“s Shakira Austin were the first three picks in this year's WNBA Draft. All three had success early on in their professional careers.
Rhyne Howard, Jazmine Massengill and Dre’una Edwards are no longer with the team. They are now at Baylor and Florida State. Kentucky lost some players, too, but they have some upside players like Eniya Russell and Maddie Scherr. Ole Miss lost Austin, who was second on the minutes table last year. Madison Scott needs to improve if they want to make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
DePaul's Aneesah Morrow won USBWA and WBCA's Freshman of the Year awards last season. She was named second-team All-American after averaging 21.9 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1. 8 blocks per game.
The top nine freshman in ESPN's recruiting rankings play for Pac-12 schools. Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Janiah Baker, Ayanna Patterson and Ice Brady are the key freshmen to watch this season.
Aliyah Boston, C, South Carolina, Haley Jones, G, Stanford, Diamond Miller, F, Maryland, Ashley Owusu,G, Virginia Tech, Elizabeth Kitley, and Ashley Joens, are some of the players you should keep an eye on this season.
Last year's Final Four featured UConn, South Carolina, Louisville and Stanford.
South Carolina and Stanford are the preseason No. 1 and No 2 in the AP poll. Texas is No 3, Iowa is 4 and Iowa State is 5. Louisville, Indiana, Notre Dame and NC State round out the top 10. The Final Four is South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, Tennessee and UConn.
