We have arrived at the week on the calendar when the little ones are out of school, family is descending on your home, and you are frantically searching for the stuffing recipe written on a notecard from 1985. There are last-minute runs to the bakery for pies and the liquor store for whatever makes you more tolerant of guests. Thanksgiving is upon us, and our college sports schedule is a full plate of everything.
This holiday is unique for many college student-athletes, as there is no trip home to be spoiled with fantastic feasts and naps on the couch. Football and volleyball teams are wrapping up their regular seasons, and basketball teams are scattered across the country and beyond. They are lacing it up to play tough competition that starts to tell us what this season might actually look like.
Thanksgiving meals will be after practices or games this week, squeezed in between film sessions and treatment in a hotel meeting room. Teams will gather with their chosen families and give thanks for all those who pour into their college experience.
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Our motto this season here at The Weekly Fast Break is compliments of tennis legend Billie Jean King, “pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those that earn it.” This week is a reminder to be thankful for those who handle pressure every day without the recognition that those in the headlines receive.
To the trainers, managers, operations staffers, academic advisors, mental health professionals and the communications and creative staffers, just to name a few, thank you for what you do every day. Many of you are also spending your holiday away from loved ones, and so we raise a glass in your honor. May the stresses continue to bounce right off your back, and may your mimosas be full of bubbly thanks on turkey day.
*A special note – due to the volume of scouting reports on our desk, there will be no column next week. We promise to get out of the film room and be back in action Dec. 10.
Tip-off
Milestone Merits: When milestone numbers are reached in our sport, we need to not only celebrate them but also thank those who have accomplished them as well. Not everyone wants to commit themselves to women’s sports, let alone the pressures of coaching at the collegiate level for decades.
We begin by sending our congratulations to two coaches this week who recently achieved milestone career wins. Both are not only two of the best basketball minds in the game today, but two of the kindest people in the business that we have had the pleasure to cover.
(Photo credit: UTSA Athletic Communications)
On Nov. 13, UTSA head coach Karen Aston won her 350th career game as a head coach in the Roadrunners’ 64-41 win over Texas State. Aston, now in her fifth season at UTSA, has turned around the program, capturing the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season championship and a 26-5 record.
Prior to arriving at UTSA, Aston had head coaching stops at Charlotte, North Texas and Texas, and in her 17 seasons as a head coach, her teams have averaged 21 wins per year and have made a combined 12 national postseason appearances.
No. 21 West Virginia defeated Appalachian State 80-51 on Nov. 20 to give head coach Mark Kellogg his 500th victory in a career that has spanned 20 years and five institutions. Kellogg began his head coach journey at Division II Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and after stops at Northwestern Missouri State and West Texas A&M, he spent eight seasons at Stephen F. Austin. There, he compiled a record of 195-55 with seven consecutive seasons of 23 wins or more.
Now in his third year at West Virginia, the Mountaineers have had back-to-back 25-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances. Kellogg ranks in the top ten of the winningest active Division I women’s basketball coaches with a winning percentage over 78%.
Programs have also hit monumental marks throughout the year, and on Nov. 23, No. 14 Tennessee notched its 1,500th all-time win in an 88-35 victory over Coppin State. The Lady Vols have now recorded the most wins in NCAA women’s basketball history.
Every player, coach and support staff member who has been a part of those 1,500 wins now has their name etched in history and has been part of building one of the best programs in women’s basketball. The win was propelled by a record performance by senior guard Nya Robertson, who went 10-for-16 from behind the arc, breaking the previous Tennessee single-game record of nine made threes.
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Bluegrass Betting Favorite: Kentucky is quietly ascending in the AP Top 25 poll and keeping with the tradition of winning the battle of the best in the Bluegrass state. The Wildcats took down then-No. 21 Louisville 72-62 on Nov. 22, winning back-to-back games against the Cardinals for the first time since 2014-15 and 2015-16. Kentucky now leads the all-time series between the two perennial women’s programs by a record of 36-15.
Head coach Kenny Brooks has his team sitting at 7-0 to start the season for the second year in a row. 5’9 senior guard Tonie Morgan led the Wildcats in the road win with 19 points and seven assists, and 6’5 center Clara Strack posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they will face No. 7 Maryland on Nov. 26.
(Photo credit: Samantha Laurey | Argus Leader | USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Poll Watch: The top six spots in this week’s AP Top 25 poll remain unchanged, including Michigan at No. 6, which suffered its first loss of the year at the hands of No. 1 UConn. Iowa is the biggest mover north this week, jumping eight spots to No. 11, and Kentucky is up four to No. 15.
There was a run on movers heading south, including Baylor, which is down eight places to No. 15, USC, which is down seven to No. 18, and Oklahoma State, which is down six to No. 24 after its 74-67 loss at St. John’s.
NC State is hanging on by a claw at No. 25 as the Wolfpack sits at 3-3 on the year after a 68-63 loss at home to Rhode Island. Stanford is right on their heels as the first team out of the poll, garnering 36 points. The Mount Rushmore State is sporting two teams receiving votes this week – South Dakota State (24) and South Dakota (3).
Star Power
The Iowa Hawkeyes are on the rise this week, sitting at No. 11 in the AP Top 25 largely because of the play of sophomore Ava Heiden, the Big Ten Player of the Week. The 6’4 center from Sherwood, Oregon, posted her third double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Iowa’s 57-52 upset of then-No. 7 Baylor on Nov. 20. Heiden also had 20 points, going 9-for-11 from the floor with six rebounds and two steals in the 64-61 victory over ACC foe Miami on Nov. 22. This is her first conference player of the week honor and the first for Iowa since Lucy Olsen was recognized in February 2025.
Two of the three weekly awards in the Missouri Valley Conference landed in Normal, IL. Illinois State sophomore Doneelah Washington was named MVC Player of the Week, and 5’8 guard Kya Hurt was named MVC Freshman of the Week.
Washington, a 6’1 forward, averaged a double-double in two wins for the Redbirds. She had 11 points and 13 rebounds in the Nov. 18 victory over Loyola-Chicago and 15 points and a career-high 14 boards on Nov. 21 in the 81-75 win over St. Louis. Hurt, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, averaged 11.5 points in ISU’s two victories and shot 50% from the field. She had a career-high 16 points and three assists in the victory at home over St. Louis.
A week to remember
Jade Jones is the @Big12Conference Freshman of the Week, becoming the first Cougar to earn a Big 12 weekly honor! pic.twitter.com/UNOZbIStdj— Houston Women's Basketball (@UHCougarWBB) November 24, 2025
Houston forward Jade Jones was tabbed as the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week after averaging 16 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals across three games. The 5’10 native of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, started the week with 14 points and four steals in the Cougars’ four-point road loss at Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 17.
She then made her first career start Nov. 20 at UTRGV, leading Houston with a career-high 18 points and hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer. It was Houston’s first road win since Feb. 17, 2024. Jones made her second consecutive start on Nov. 23 and posted her first career double-double with 16 points and 12 boards in the 10-point 67-57 home victory over High Point. She is the first Cougar to earn a Big 12 weekly award since Houston joined the conference in 2023.
The West Coast Conference Player of the Week award went to San Francisco’s Candy Edokpaigbe, the current leading scorer in the WCC. The 6’ sophomore guard led San Francisco to a 68-55 road victory over Long Beach State on Nov. 20, posting 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. She added seven rebounds, three steals and a career-high four assists.
Edokpaigbe, a native of Naples, Italy, has scored at least 20 points three times this season and is averaging a league-leading 18.2 points per game to start the season. She is one of 33 players in Division I who are averaging 18 points per game and shooting at least 50% from the floor (57%).
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Turkey Tourney Storylines
With so many teams headed to tournaments this week, we wanted to give you some storylines to pay attention to while your turkey is cooking and the rolls are rising. These are ones that have piqued our interest and may help us see more clearly the direction that teams are headed once the calendar spins to December.
Players Era Championships – Nov. 26 & 27 in Las Vegas
They tell us in the Vegas casinos that you need to go all in to win big, and the teams in this two-day event are looking to do just that. Three of the top four teams in the country are in Sin City and undefeated – No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Texas.
The fourth, Duke was highly ranked just two weeks ago, but the Blue Devils are 3-3 and desperate to show they belong with the bluebloods of women’s basketball. They will match up with Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks and will need a game plan to stop a balanced attack, led by 6’3 sophomore Joyce Edwards (19.8 points per game).
The other side of the bracket will pit UCLA and Texas against each other, both of which lost in the national semifinals a season ago and want to make a return trip in 2026. The Bruins are centered around their 6’7 post Lauren Betts, and the Longhorns are driven by their backcourt of Madison Booker and Rori Harmon. But do not be fooled – both teams are stacked with talent inside and out.
Duke needs a royal flush to grab a win, and none of the other three teams want to incur two losses. Let’s roll the dice and see where the chips fall.
Cancun Challenge – Nov. 27-29
This is a stacked field of 10 teams split into two brackets, one where teams will play three games and the other just two. The three-game round-robin bracket consists of No. 12 North Carolina, South Dakota State, Kansas State and Columbia. This is a critical week for each of these teams, and in each game, they will face different styles of play.
Kansas State (4-3) needs to bounce back from a disappointing performance on the road at Green Bay that resulted in a 47-44 loss. Meanwhile, SDSU arrives in Mexico undefeated at 5-0 and looking for Power 4 wins for its resume. UNC’s only loss is to No. 3 UCLA, and the Tar Heels have four players averaging double figures. Columbia is a power in the Ivy League, winning 24 games last year and a first-round NCAA game against Washington.
We expect all these games to be physical, fast and close. However, do not be surprised if SDSU leaves with a sunny glow and two wins this week.
The two-game bracket has Southern Miss, UAB, Green Bay, Richmond, No. 25 NC State and No. 8 TCU. Green Bay is riding high from its win over Kansas State on Nov. 22 and has a very tough draw with matchups against NC State and Richmond. The Spiders will also face TCU, creating an intriguing matchup to see how Richmond plans to guard the Horned Frogs’ pick-and-roll system.
Neutral site tests tell us a lot about a team, and this will be the last time TCU leaves Fort Worth, Texas, for games before January. If there is a team that needs a win and some vitamin D this week to regroup, it’s NC State.
Cayman Islands Classic – Nov. 28 & 29
Eight teams in two divisions gives each squad two games on the island. Miami, Charlotte, George Washington and No. 24 Oklahoma State make up the Little Cayman Division, while Memphis, Georgia Tech, Florida and St. John’s are the teams in the Cayman Brac Division.
Irony as teams arrive at the airport? Oklahoma State lost at St. John’s on Nov. 19 by seven, making it the first loss of the season for the Cowgirls. Keep an eye on a pair of second games on the 29th: Miami versus Oklahoma State and Florida versus Georgia Tech.
Power conference matchups in a neutral site can give us a good barometer of where each team is right now. Miami’s leading scorer is 6’6 post Ra Shya Kyle (15.8 per game), and she could be a matchup problem for OSU in the paint. Florida ha
s one of the most explosive scorers in the country in sophomore speedster Liv McGill (20.6 per game). The Yellow Jackets will need to slow that gator chomp if they want to celebrate a W in the sunshine.
Fort Myers Women’s Tipoff – Nov. 28 & 29
It is the same setup in the Sunshine State as it is in the Caymans – eight squads in two divisions, giving each team two games. The Shell Division has Northwestern, Missouri, Bradley and Abilene Christian, while the Island Division is set with Georgia, Dayton, Butler and Kansas. All eight of these programs are looking for a spark in one way or another.
Kansas has the most to gain over the Thanksgiving holiday with a Power 4 matchup against Georgia and then tussling with an always-solid Dayton team out of the Atlantic 10. The Jayhawks head south at 6-0, led by one of the best talents in the Big 12 in S’Mya Nichols and one of the best freshmen in the Midwest, 6’2 Jaliya Davis.
Georgia is also undefeated at 7-0, and the Bulldogs hope to keep trending upwards, since they only won 13 games a year ago. Missouri is a puzzle still not all put together, and Northwestern is poised to be a tough foe in its second game on Nov. 29. While Fort Myers is a destination for MLB spring training, this is not a training exercise for any of these teams. It’s time to log wins before December descends.
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Full Court Press
Thanksgiving week means that teams are traveling to and from campuses for tournaments and key matchups. Coaches are challenging their teams to switch mindsets, looking at these next games not as the start of the season but rather as the time when you dial it in and focus on the opponent at hand.
Non-conference play will be ending sooner rather than later. Get your sunset photos on the beach and then get back to the scouting report – we have games that are ones you do not want to miss (check your local listings for game times and broadcast availability):
Nov. 26
Howard at Purdue
Princeton at Rhode Island
No. 4 Texas vs. No. 3 UCLA (Las Vegas)
Duke vs. No. 2 South Carolina (Las Vegas)
Creighton at UNLV
Auburn vs. California (Friso, TX)
Arkansas vs. Southern Illinois (Nashville, TN)
Nov. 27
No. 12 UNC vs. RV South Dakota State (Cancun Challenge)
North Texas vs. RV Texas Tech (Frisco, TX)
BYU vs. Virginia Tech (Virgin Islands)
Oregon State vs. No. 17 Vanderbilt (Virgin Islands)
RV Richmond vs. No. 8 TCU
Nov. 28
No. 10 Iowa State vs. Marquette (Fort Meyers, FL)
Kansas State vs. No. 12 UNC (Cancun Challenge)
Little Rock at Arizona State
Clemson vs. Western Carolina (Bahamas)
Georgia vs. RV Kansas (Fort Meyers, FL)
Green Bay vs. RV Richmond (Cancun Challenge)
Nov. 29
Boston College vs. Murray State (Dayton Beach, FL)
RV South Dakota State vs. Kansas State (Cancun Challenge)
Northwestern vs. Missouri (Fort Meyers, FL)
Charlotte vs. George Washington (Cayman Islands)
RV South Dakota at Wyoming
Utah at Montana
Florida vs. Georgia Tech (Cayman Islands)
Colorado State vs. Stanford (Las Vegas)
FGCU vs. Troy (Las Vegas)
Nov. 30
RV Fairfield at No. 11 Iowa
Ohio at Davidson
Yale at Penn State
DePaul at Princeton
Harvard at Arkansas
Oregon at Auburn
No. 12 Tennessee vs. No. 3 UCLA
Lindenwood vs. Vermont (Hawaii)
Dec. 1
Boston U. at Maine
Villanova at No. 21 West Virginia
Samford at Minnesota
San Jose State at No. 22 Washington
Dec. 2
No. 1 UConn at South Florida
UT Arlington at Little Rock
Saint Mary’s at No. 18 USC
*All statistics cited in this column are sourced from university and conference-provided statistics
The post The Weekly Fast Break: Giving thanks and feasting on W’s appeared first on The IX Basketball.
