Women’s college basketball saw its first two notable upsets of the season on Thursday, November 7. No. 19 Florida State lost 83-74 at Illinois while No. 25 Indiana 72-68 at home to Harvard in overtime, making them the first ranked teams to lose to unranked teams so far.
The Seminoles trailed by 10 points after a quarter and never got closer than five points after halftime. Ta’Niya Latson (27 points), Makayla Timpson (22) and O’Mariah Gordon (14) combined for 63 points, but the rest of the Seminoles had just 11. Illinois won for the third time in its last five home games against ranked teams, dating to a March 2023 win over Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
Indiana had a polar opposite first quarter against its second Ivy League opponent of the season compared to its first game and never fully recovered in the eventual overtime loss. The Hoosiers led Brown 18-7 after 10 minutes in their first game, then trailed Harvard 21-7 after a quarter in the second. Harmoni Turner led all scorers with 24 points, pacing the Crimson to their first win over a ranked opponent since 2018 (they had lost four straight).
Here’s what’s on tap on November 8:
LSU looks to improve to 2-0 after throttling Eastern Kentucky 95-44 in the season opener, the Tigers’ fifth 50-point win since the start of last season (only South Carolina and Utah have more with six each). Flau’jae Johnson led the way with 25 points while, both Aneesah Morrow (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Sa’Myah Smith (15 and 11) had double-doubles. LSU has won seven straight at home since losing to South Carolina in January. The Tigers have won 36 straight at home against non-South Carolina opponents dating to a loss to Ohio State in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament (36-1 at home during that span).
Northwestern State also opened up with a 51-point win, beating non-Division I opponent Champion Christian 84-33 to start the 2024-25 season. The Demons got 20 points from Zhane Thompson and more from their top two scorers (34) than they allowed to the entire opposing team. They’ll look for their first win over a ranked opponent in 25 tries dating to 2002-03 (records unavailable further back).
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Oklahoma didn’t need long to see what the Raegan Beers hype was about as the All-American transfer from Oregon State paced a 76-44 opening win with 21 points and 14 rebounds in her Oklahoma debut. The double-double was Beers’ 17th since the start of last season after averaging 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds for the Beavers. The Sooners are looking for their 11th straight win at home, which would mark their longest streak since a 13-game streak spanning 2010-11.
Virginia won its opener 104-68 over American, its first time scoring 100 points in nearly two years (since the second game of the 2022-23 season vs UMBC). Sophomore Kymora Johnson put up 21 points and nine assists, her first time hitting both of those marks in the same game. She averaged 15.3 points and 5.4 helpers as a freshman en route to All-ACC Second Team honors. UVA won its last two against Top 25 opponents last season, including a win over No. 5 Virginia Tech in March. The Cavaliers have won four of six against ranked foes dating to January after losing 47 of their previous 48.
Louisville returns home after fading down the stretch and falling 66-59 in its opener against No. 5 UCLA in Paris. The Cardinals were within two points (50-48) early in the fourth quarter, but the Bruins scored 11 of the next 14 and were never under pressure again. UL will look to avoid starting 0-2 for the first time since 2015-16.
Southern Indiana blew out non-Division I opponent Brescia in its season opener by a 100-49 margin. Ali Saunders led the Screaming Eagles with 18 points, while four teammates scored at least 13. This is their first time facing a ranked opponent since joining Division I in 2022.
Creighton will become the 24th team to start their season among the preseason AP Top 25, leaving only Texas still on the sidelines for the 2024-25 campaign (the Longhorns open on Sunday). The Blue Jays were picked to finish second in the Big East behind UConn and received Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma’s first place vote, which couldn’t be placed on his own team. They bring back seven players from last year’s team, which lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, headlined by fifth-year senior Lauren Jensen (team-high 17.4 points per game last season).
South Dakota State started off with a 65-63 win at Rice and now starts a stretch of five straight games against major conference opponents with Wisconsin, No. 11 Duke, Georgia Tech and Oregon after Creighton. The Jackrabbits, who’ve made 12 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments, have lost six straight against Top 25 opponents since beating No. 24 Kansas State in December 2022 (they also beat No. 10 Louisville early in that season, both on neutral courts).
