As conference play gets underway

The actual date of the 40th anniversary of the first women’s college basketball game at Madison Square Garden is Feb. 22. 

But Sunday’s doubleheader featuring the original combatants, Queens vs. Immaculata, followed by UConn vs. St. John’s, provided a good backdrop for honoring a key event in the history of the sport and assessing what’s been an interesting first third of the 2014-15 season. 

More than 8,000 fans showed up for the Maggie Dixon Classic, with all four teams lining up on the court to pay tribute to the late former Army coach. In the first game, Queens earned a belated measure of revenge against its old nemesis Immaculata, as former players and coaches, including Queens legend Lucille Kyvallos, were on hand. 

No. 2 UConn rolled past the Red Storm in the second half, with Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson playing leading roles. 

The Huskies’ loss at Stanford on Nov. 17 has been followed by a series of upsets and surprises around the country that have prompted the usual hopeful calls for parity. The start of conference play has increased that optimism, and while it’s still early, there’s some good competitive balance in the Power 5 leagues and strong showings from more than a handful of mid-majors.

UConn’s loss put South Carolina in the No. 1 spot for the first time in school history. Dawn Staley’s team is one of four remaining unbeatens, but the Gamecocks have been tested only once, in 51-50 win at Duke nearly a month ago.

That figures to change with the SEC schedule before them, but I’m a bit surprised there isn’t a better non-conference slate. South Carolina’s overall SOS is 107 and out-of-conference it’s 122. Those numbers will rise with more SEC games and a highly anticipated Feb. 9 game at UConn.

Tiffany Mitchell, freshman A’ja Wilson, Alaina Coates and Aleighsa Welch are leading the way for the Gamecocks, who have 10 players averaging at least 12 minutes a game. 

UConn looks like a different team after the Stanford loss, especially in an 18-point rout of Notre Dame in South Bend, where Morgan Tuck just bossed the Irish on both ends. It was the kind of game we’ve seen repeatedly from UConn — if they play like that, no one will touch them. 

But Geno Auriemma’s team isn’t very deep, just as last year, and with the exception of the South Carolina game, there are no more games against ranked teams. The Huskies played what he called “the worst half of basketball” in his 30 seasons in the first half of an 89-38 win at East Carolina. The only nominally competitive American Athletic Conference team is South Florida, which UConn plays in its regular season finale. 

Notre Dame‘s Jewell Loyd may give Stewart a run for national player of the year honors, but the Irish need to get more contributions from others to make another push for the Final Four and stay at the top of heap in the ACC. They battled back last week to defeat Florida State at home, then fended off Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Sunday.

Texas is back under head coach Karen Aston, one of the unbeatens with impressive wins over Stanford, Tennessee and Texas A & M. Forward Nneka Emenkpali is a legitimate All-American contender, and freshman guard Ariel Atkins embodies the wave of heralded recruits Aston is luring to Austin. 

The battle in the Big 12 figures to come down to the Longhorns and Baylor, which started league play also in the Top 10 and features high-scoring sophomore forward Nina Davis.

In the Pac 12, there are quite a few teams that got off to good early starts. Oregon State upset North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and held its own against Tennessee before losing in Knoxville. Washington boasts the top scorer in the country in Kelsey Plum, who led the Huskies to an upset of Texas A & M. Cal, Washington State and Arizona State also have looked strong. Stanford has gone 7-4 after the UConn win, and like Tennessee was knocked off at Chattanooga.

UCLA’s very young team is 5-8 after non-conference losses to North Carolina, Texas, Nebraska, UConn and Notre Dame. I respect coach Cori Close’s desire to put together a strong schedule, but what a gauntlet it has been for prized freshmen Recee’ Caldwell, Jordin Canada and company.

Another conference race that looks to be wide open is in the Big 10, where Minnesota, under first-year coach Marlene Stollings, has been the biggest surprise. The Gophers lost All-American candidate Rachel Banham to a season-ending ACL injury but are 14-1 and 3-0 in conference play, including an upset of Nebraska. Iowa and Maryland are right behind, followed by Northwestern and Ohio State. The Buckeyes’ Kelsey Mitchell is one of the top freshman performers in the nation.

The injury-depleted Cornhuskers, Michigan State and Penn State, last season’s Big 10 champs, are bringing up the rear in the early going. The Lady Lions are only 3-11 and have lost to Samford and Hartford. Life after Maggie Lucas, et al, figured to be a challenge, but this kind of slide — they’ve lost their three Big 10 games by an average of 29 points — has been eye-popping.

In the ACC, the arrival of Louisville has added to the logjam at the top, along with Notre Dame and UNC. Duke’s also had a tough schedule, and as conference play started the Blue Devils announced that blue-chip recruit Sierra Calhoun was transferring. Also contending this year are Miami, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Florida State, where K-State transfer Letitia Romero has been declared eligible by the NCAA. 

Syracuse has played some really good teams very tough in losses — South Carolina, Baylor and Notre Dame — but star player Brittney Sykes went down with an injury Sunday. She’s coming off an ACL, and the Orange can’t afford to be without her again. Pittsburgh is vastly improved under Suzie McConnell Serio, and seriously threatened Louisville Sunday before losing by seven.

Tennessee, Texas A & M and Kentucky are the main challengers to South Carolina in the SEC, but keep an eye on Mississippi State. The Lady Bulldogs are one of the unbeatens, but coach Vic Schaefer is building something to last with highly regarded in-state forward Victoria Vivians. Georgia and Ole Miss also have been solid out of the gate, while Jimmy Dykes has Arkansas competitive in his first season on the job. LSU has really struggled without All-SEC guard Danielle Ballard, who’s been suspended the entire season for a violation of team rules. 

The Atlantic 10 might be the best mid-major conference in the country. On Sunday, George Washington scored a really good win at Dayton in a nationally televised game. The Flyers have wins over Purdue and Vanderbilt. 

With an upset of Georgia, Seton Hall earned its first national ranking in more than 20 years, and is vying for Big East supremacy with St. John’s, Xavier and DePaul. . . . Western Kentucky jumped back in the Top 25 for the first time since 1998 this week with a 12-2 record . . . The other unbeaten team in the country is Princeton, and what coach Courtney Banghart’s team has done is truly impressive: Wins over Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Michigan (by 30 points) as the Tigers head into Ivy League play. At this rate, they may stay unblemished.