Around the NCAAW Weekly: Yoki fever and Caitlin Clark’s name alongside NBA greats!

“Around the NCAAW Weekly” highlights the notable events of the week. Check out the milestones, surprises, best games and outstanding performances for games played through Sunday, Jan. 23.

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Milestones/accomplishments

1/23/2022: Ayoka “Yoki” Lee of the Kansas State Wildcats dropped 61 points to break the single-game scoring record for NCAA Division I women’s basketball. The previous record was 60 and it was accomplished by Cindy Brown (Long Beach State, 1986-87) and Rachel Banham (Minnesota, 2015-16). Brittney Griner was the previous Big 12 record-holder with 50 for Baylor in 2012-13. Lee topped her own Kansas State record of 43.

Lee was 23-of-30 from the field and 15-of-17 from the charity stripe.

1/20/2022: Caitlin Clark of the No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes had 35 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for her second 30-point triple-double in a row.

Clark now has a Big Ten-record four triple-doubles this season and five for her career.

1/20/2022: Iowa dropped the Minnesota Golden Gophers 105-49. It was the third-most amount of points the Hawkeyes have ever won by and team’s biggest blowout win in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes also set a program record with nine made threes in a row.

1/19/2022: Graduate student Kendall Spray of the FGCU Eagles reached sixth place all-time in NCAAW made threes. She now has 418 career triples.

1/19/2022: Taylor Robertson of the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners reached 400 career 3-pointers made. She is the 11th NCAAW player to reach that milestone.

1/23/2022: Tamari Key of the No. 4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers reached 231 career blocks (third all-time at Tennessee) and 73 on the season with five against the Georgia Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Vols improved to 18-1 overall (best start since 2007-08) and 7-0 in the SEC (best conference start since 2014-15).

1/23/2022: Ashley Joens of the No. 13 Iowa State Cyclones reached 928 career rebounds (fifth all-time at Iowa State) and 214 made threes (tied 10th all-time at Iowa State).

1/20/2022: The No. 3 NC State Wolfpack came back from down 14 entering the fourth quarter to defeat the No. 5 Louisville Cardinals. Diamond Johnson posted 14 points in the final frame and the Pack even won by nine. The two teams have both been ranked in the Top 10 for each of their last six meetings.

1/20/2022: The No. 7 Michigan Wolverines achieved their best-ever 18-game start by improving to 16-2.

1/23/2022: The No. 3 NC State Wolfpack improved to 9-0 in conference play for just the third time in program history.

1/20/2022: Junior Jacy Sheldon of the Ohio State Buckeyes reached 1,000 career points. She also notched a career-high 10 assists to go along with 24 points. Teammate Taylor Mikesell set a new career high in scoring with 33 points against her former team in the No. 17 Maryland Terrapins. Mikesell was 11-of-13 from the field, 5-of-5 from downtown and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

1/18/2022: Senior Elizabeth Balogun of the No. 21 Duke Blue Devils reached 1,000 career points.

1/19/2022: Senior Queen Egbo of the No. 11 Baylor Bears reached 1,000 career points.

1/23/2022: Senior Lotta-Maj Lahtinen of the No. 14 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reached 1,000 career points.

Streak tracker

No. 10 UConn Huskies consecutive seasons without losing back-to-back games - 28

No. 5 Louisville Cardinals consecutive weeks in Top 10 - 87 (longest active streak in the nation)

No. 5 Louisville Cardinals consecutive weeks in Top 25 - 116

No. 10 UConn Huskies consecutive conference wins - 167

No. 11 Baylor Bears consecutive non-conference home wins - 67

No. 2 Stanford Cardinal consecutive Pac-12 wins - 20

No. 3 NC State Wolfpack consecutive ACC wins - 17

FGCU consecutive ASUN wins - 28 (third-longest active conference winning streak in the nation)

FGCU Eagles consecutive road wins - 26 (longest active streak in the nation)

No. 6 Indiana Hoosiers consecutive road wins - 12

Texas A&M Aggies consecutive wins vs. non-Power 5 opponents - 25

Surprises (rankings from last week)

Upsets

1/23/2022: Florida Gators over No. 11 LSU Tigers, 73-72

Kiara Smith had 23 points, eight assists and three steals in what was the Gators’ fifth straight SEC win.

Florida was a No. 11 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while LSU was a No. 2 seed.

1/22/2022: Cincinnati Bearcats over Central Florida Knights, 61-57

Akira Levy (13 points, five assists) made the go-ahead three for the Bearcats with 11 ticks remaining. Caitlyn Wilson (17 points, five rebounds) and Braylyn Milton (12 points, seven assists) also came up big for Cincinnati.

The Bearcats (No. 191 in the NET rankings) weren’t even included on the bubble of ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while the Knights (No. 37 in the NET rankings) were a No. 9 seed.

1/20/2022: Boston College Eagles over No. 19 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 73-71

BC was a No. 10 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while Notre Dame was a No. 5 seed.

1/21/2022: Arizona State Sun Devils over No. 22 Colorado Buffaloes, 57-52 (OT)

The Sun Devils hadn’t played since Dec. 30; this was their first Pac-12 game. They were missing leading scorer Jade Loville, but received 17 points and seven rebounds from Taya Hanson and eight points, 11 rebounds and five blocks from Mael Gilles.

Arizona State was part of the “first four out” in ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while Colorado was a No. 8 seed.

1/17/2022: Oregon State Beavers over No. 22 Colorado Buffaloes, 69-66 (OT)

Talia von Oelhoffen (17 points, three blocks) made the game-winning three for the Beavers with 18 seconds remaining in overtime. Ellie Mack was also key for the winners with 16 points (4-of-4 from distance) and seven boards.

Oregon State was part of the “last four in” in ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while Colorado was a No. 8 seed.

1/17/2022: Oregon Ducks over No. 9 UConn Huskies, 72-59

Te-Hina Paopao paced the Ducks with 22 points.

Oregon was a No. 5 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while UConn was a No. 4 seed.

1/23/2022: Villanova Wildcats over Creighton Bluejays, 74-64

Maddy Siegrist did Maddy Siegrist things with 31 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Villanova (No. 95 in the NET rankings) wasn’t even included on the bubble of ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology while Creighton (No. 32 in the NET rankings) was part of the “last four in.”

1/20/2022: Ohio State Buckeyes over No. 12 Maryland Terrapins, 95-89

Maryland won the final three quarters by four points, but lost the first by 10.

The Buckeyes and Terps are both now No. 6 seeds in ESPN’s bracketology (updated Jan. 25).

1/23/2022: Kansas State Wildcats over No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners, 94-65

Both teams are now No. 5 seeds in ESPN’s bracketology (updated Jan. 25th).

1/19/2022: No. 15 Texas Longhorns over No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones, 66-48

The Cyclones were without Ashley and Aubrey Joens. DeYona Gaston had 14 points, five rebounds, three steals and five blocks for the Longhorns.

1/23/2022: No. 15 Baylor Bears over No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones, 87-61

Jordan Lewis (6-of-7 from deep, 9-of-11 from field) dropped 24 points for the Bears, while Queen Egbo hauled in a career-high 21 rebounds to go along with 14 points.

1/20/2022: Florida Gators over No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats, 77-52

The Wildcats were missing Dre’una Edwards.

Smith had 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists in what was the Gators’ fourth SEC win in a row. The last time they accomplished that was 2010-11.

Kentucky has fallen to the “first four out” of ESPN’s bracketology (updated Jan. 25).

1/23/2022: Ole Miss Rebels over No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats, 63-54

Shakira Austin scored 24 points as the Rebels improved to 5-1 in the SEC — their best start in the conference since 2010.

Ole Miss moved up to a No. 6 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 25 bracketology.

Close calls

1/20/2022: No. 13 Georgia Lady Bulldogs over Mississippi State Bulldogs by just three

Mississippi State (No. 63 in the NET rankings) was not even included on the bubble of ESPN’s Jan. 25th bracketology, while Georgia (No. 26 in the NET rankings) was a No. 3 seed.

Other news

1/19/2022:

1/17/2022: Former Florida guard Lavender Briggs is transferring to Maryland.

Other games of the week

1/22/2022: Charlotte 49ers over Rice Owls, 88-83 (4OT)

1/22/2022: Lamar Cardinals over Utah Valley Wolverines, 59-55 (2OT)

1/22/2022: Holy Cross Crusaders over Bucknell Bison, 63-62 (OT)

Other top performances

1/22/2022: Alex Fowler — 32 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the Portland Pilots in a win over the Santa Clara Broncos.

1/23/2022: Amaya Scott — 35 points, 13 rebounds and three assists for the George Mason Patriots in a loss to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.

1/23/2022: Aneesah Morrow — 32 points, 15 rebounds and two steals for the DePaul Blue Demons in a win over the Xavier Musketeers.

1/22/2022: Octavia Jett-Wilson — 36 points, seven rebounds and five steals in Charlotte’s 4OT win over Rice.

1/19/2022: Lauren Park-Lane — 31 points and eight assists for the Seton Hall Pirates in a win over the St. John’s Red Storm.

AP rankings (Jan. 24)

Texas, which had the early-season upset of Stanford before faltering, moved back into the Top 10 at No. 9. Baylor, which has been ranked as high as No. 5 the year, moved up four spots to No. 11. Iowa State fell six spots to No. 13 after two weeks in the Top 10. Georgia Tech achieved its highest ranking of the season at No. 14. Maryland, which has been ranked as high as No. 2, fell five spots to No. 17. Oklahoma fell four spots to No. 18. Oregon (No. 19), Ohio State (No. 22), Ole Miss (No. 24) and Kansas State (No. 25) all entered the rankings, replacing FGCU (previously No. 24), the UNC Tar Heels (previously No. 20), Colorado (previously No. 22) and Kentucky (previously No. 23).