WB2K23: Opening Night

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Monday, Nov. 7, is the opening night of the season for NCAA women's basketball. Until then, enjoy a peak of some of the games and players to watch as we await the tip-off the 2022-23 season.

Houston at Louisiana

Houston starts its season on the road against Louisiana. Laila Blair is a junior guard who averaged 13.3 points per game last season. She thrived against tough opponents posting 28 points making six of her 10 three-point attempts against No. 6 Baylor during the first month of the season. In three American Athletic Conference tournament games she averaged 23.3 points per game. Blair also shot 14-28 from three during the tournament.

Louisiana's Tamera Johnson is preparing for her third season. As a sophomore she showed drastic improvement shooting 50.5 percent overall. That number was up from 36.4 percent during her freshman season. From Feb. 5 - 24, Johnson shot 25-40 overall in five games. Her team went 4-1 during that stretch as she averaged 11.4 points per game. She started in all of her 25 games in 2021-22 averaging 9.8 points per game, while yanking down 5.4 rebounds per game.

Houston defeated Louisiana 63-51 last year. The Cougars have won three-straight against the Ragin' Cajuns, also taking wins in 2016 and 2015.

Cincinnati at No. 7 Louisville

The Bearcats of Cincinnati have a tall test, opening the season at Louisville. Junior Jillian Hayes returns as the Bearcats most productive player last year. She led the team with 11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game. The 6-1 guard/forward posted 20 or more points on three occasions last season. On the defensive side, Hayes swatted two or more shots in 11 different contests. Her free-throw percentage improved by nearly 13 percent last season. She connected on 70 percent from the charity stripe as a sophomore.

Louisville's Hailey Van Lith is a handful for opponents. She averaged 14.4 points during her second collegiate season. Van Lith terrorized Clemson scoring 34 points, while shooting a perfect 6-6 from three-point land. One of the stars of the NCAA Tournament, Van Lith scored at least 20 points in each of the first four rounds, as Louisville advanced to the Final Four. During the entire season she topped 20 points eight times.

Since 2005, Louisville has beaten Cincinnati 14 out of 15 times. The two teams last played against each other in 2014 when Louisville won 75-51. Cincinnati last won 74-68, Feb. 2, 2010, at Louisville.

LIU at Ohio

Emaia O'Brien leads Long Island into battle on the road against Ohio. As a freshman O'Brien averaged 9.8 points, starting in 12 of her 25 appearances. She posted a season high of 21 points in her sixth game which was on the road at Cleveland State. O'Brien made five-of-seven threes that game. She nailed 36 percent of her threes during the season.

Madi Mace is a 5-11 guard for Ohio. Last season, Mace started all but one of her 30 appearances. She posted averages of 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and one steal per game. One of Mace's top performances came against Big Ten opponent Minnesota. She scored 16 points, shooting 7-14. Mace scored a season high of 17 points against Western Michigan and Binghamton.

This is the first meeting between Long Island and Ohio.