This was one of the most dramatic weeks of the college basketball season thus far. NC State lost its first game almost at the buzzer, as Elizabeth Kitley hit a game winner for Virginia Tech with 0.9 seconds to play. Oregon State lost its first contest despite having the ball while down 2 with 15 seconds left. Arizona had a chance to upset Colorado, but freshman Breya Cunningham came up just short. The Wildcats found themselves in a similar situation two days later against Utah, this time prevailing thanks to Kailyn Gilbert drawing two free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining in overtime.
Oh, and Caitlin Clark hit the shot of the season as she squared up from the logo as time expired against Michigan State to give the Hawkeyes their 11th straight win. It brought back memories of her buzzer-beater to defeat Indiana last February, though the degree of difficulty of that shot — combined with the fact Iowa was trailing when Clark put it up — means Clark has some work to do to surpass that moment. She’ll have a chance when the Hawkeyes host the Hoosiers on Saturday in what could be the game of the week.
Before we get to the rankings and some more superlative individual performances from a truly enjoyable seven days of games, best wishes to NC State’s River Baldwin, UConn’s
