This season emphasizes parity and competition. However, a few teams are underperforming in Women’s basketball. This piece will focus on three teams that should be playing better but are not. Additionally, I will explain how these underperforming women’s basketball teams can turn their seasons around.
Three Current Underperforming Women’s Basketball Teams
Texas A & M Aggies
This team was picked second in the SEC preseason, yet they are currently 13th. Including this underperforming women’s basketball team hurts me because this is Gary Blair’s final season. However, the Aggies are now 11-8 and 1-6 in conference play. Their non-conference record was 10-2, but everything has gone downhill. They have some great wins over South Dakota, DePaul, Northwestern, and SF Austin. Yet in SEC play, the only team they beat is winless Auburn. The Aggies have talent Kayla Wells, Qadashah Hoppie, Destiny Pitts, and Jordan Nixon, all average double-figures in scoring. Despite all of this talent, the Aggies are an underperforming women’s basketball team.
For Texas A & M to turn their season around, they must see balanced scoring from all four players in their games. Additionally, Aaliyah Patty must become a reliable scoring threat down low to help their bench. Recently, the defense has been a problem for the Aggies; they must fix this if they want to make the tournament. They will need an excellent finish to the season with some big wins. Their next four games are against the bottom half of the conference, so they need to win. They still have LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, and South Carolina on the schedule. They need to win at least two of those four games.
West Virginia Mountaineers
The Mountaineers are 9-7 and 2-4 in the Big 12. They were 7-3 in non-conference play; the non-conference non-conference was over Purdue. A challenging 58-57 loss to BYU hurts them as the Cougars have been on a serious run since then. West Virginia has talent in KK Deans, Esmery Martinez, and Kari Niblack, yet they have zero top 25 wins.
The Mountaineers must get more bench production to turn their season around, and Niblack must be more consistent. Fortunately for the Mountaineers, they still have Baylor and Texas at home left on their schedule to get big wins. They must take advantage and avoid a loss to the bottom half of the league if they want to remain in the tournament discussion.
Florida State Seminoles
FSU was ranked 17th early in the year, yet they are 9-8 and 3-4 in ACC play. Their recent seven-point loss to Miami hurts significantly. No one on their entire team scored more than nine points in that game. However, the Seminoles have talent in Morgan Jones, Kourtney Weber, and Sammie Puisis. Each of these players has earned all-ACC honors in the past.
They need a consistent effort from everyone to turn their season around. Unlike the other two teams on this list, FSU does not have a good non-conference win. The Seminoles need at least two; maybe three big wins down the stretch to get back into the tournament discussion. Their next game is at Louisville, number five in the country. This victory is a big ask, but if they want a chance at the tournament, a win here will do wonders for their resume. They also play NC State, Notre Dame, Duke, and Georgia Tech later in the season. Again, they need at least two or three wins in these five games to ensure a tournament berth. The Notre Dame and Georgia Tech games are at home, making them a little easier. However, the way this team has looked recently, they are not a tournament team.
These three schools have underperforming women’s basketball teams; however, there is a lot of time left, and each one has an opportunity to improve its record. I predict that Texas A and M have the best chance to make the tournament because their next four games are more manageable, but none of these teams will be in our field come March if they do not win those games.
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