Taylen Collins’ 23 rebounds leads this week’s women’s basketball Starting Five

NCAA Basketball

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Welcome to this week’s Starting Five in women’s basketball. Below, you can find standouts at each position from the past week. Let’s jump into it!

Taylen Collins, Oklahoma State

Taylen Collins, Oklahoma State women's basketball

Junior forward Taylen Collins had a record-setting performance on Saturday in Oklahoma State’s 82-64 win over North Texas, recording her third double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and matching the school’s single-game rebounding mark with 23 boards.

Her rebound total matched the previous standard set by All-American Natasha Mack on Dec. 20, 2019 against Oral Roberts and is tied for the seventh-best total in Big 12 Conference history. Additionally, the Muldrow, Okla., native connected on six of her seven shots from the floor and had a team-best two steals against the Mean Green.

Collins’ showing comes on the heels of her performance in Oklahoma State’s win over Florida State Nov. 24, when she pulled down a then-career best 17 rebounds.

Oklahoma State, 7-2, will next host Loyola Marymount on Dec. 6 before a short break to be followed by a home game with UNLV on Dec. 18. 

TOTW: Indiana earns women’s basketball Team of the Week after staying undefeated

Anaya James, Pacific

Anaya James, Pacific women's basketball

Pacific, 5-3, is off to its best eight-game start since the 2019-20 season as sophomore Anaya James recorded her second straight 20-point game, pushing Pacific past previously undefeated UNLV, 75-68 in its lone game of the week.

In her first outing after missing two games, the guard was 7-of-14 from the field, 3-of-6 from behind the three-point line, helping her match her season-high for points (21), while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds and dishing a game-high-tying seven assists in 39 minutes of action.

Before missing the last two games, James’ previous outing was a triple-double of 21 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds on Nov. 22 against the Academy of Art.

Pacific returns to action on Dec. 6 at Cal State Fullerton before then going to California on Dec. 10.

POWER 1️⃣0️⃣: South Carolina, Stanford, Ohio State lead the women’s Power 10 college basketball rankings

Olivia Miles, Notre Dame

Olivia Miles, Notre Dame women's basketball

Notre Dame handed No. 3 ranked UConn its first loss of the season as sophomore guard Olivia Miles led the way with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in the 74-60 victory on Sunday.

Against UConn, Miles scored Notre Dame’s first seven points and had 13 by the end of the first 10 minutes as Notre Dame nearly led from start to finish in defeating UConn on its home court for the first time since 2013. For Miles, it was the second time this year that she has hit the 20-plus points mark and the third time in eight games that she has been Notre Dame’s leading scorer.

Earlier in the week on Dec. 1 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the Irish fell to then-No. 20 Maryland at the buzzer, 74-72. In the loss, Miles was a constant presence with whom the Terrapins had to deal. She had a team-leading seven assists in addition to 14 points and four rebounds.

Between the two games, Miles went 16-27 from the floor (.593) and averaged 17.5 points against two ranked foes.

Notre Dame’s star point guard is averaging 16.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game through eight contests. She currently ranks 16th nationally and third in the ACC in the assists category. She has posted three double-doubles this season, twice with points and rebounds and once with points and assists.

The Irish, 7-1, will return to action on Dec. 8 at Lafayette.

Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall

Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall women's basketball

Seton Hall senior Lauren Park-Lane opened Big East Conference play in a big way last week in a pair of Seton Hall victories, averaging 27.5 points and 6.5 assists per game. 

On Friday against Xavier, Park-Lane had a game-high 24 points to go with six assists and three rebounds in the Pirates’ 19-point victory (74-55). 

Against No. 24 Marquette on Sunday, she erupted for game-highs of 31 points and seven assists as Seton Hall prevailed 82-78. The Hall’s victory over Marquette was its first win over a ranked team since beating No. 24 DePaul on Jan. 20, 2019. With the 31 points, Park-Lane moved past former Pirate Marcia Foster into eighth place on Seton Hall’s career scoring list. She also became only the eighth player in Seton Hall history to record 1,400 career points in a Pirate uniform. Park-Lane now has 1,413 career points.

Seton Hall, 6-3 overall, has now won four straight games and has opened the Big East portion of their schedule 2-0. The Pirates will return to action on Dec. 9 when it hosts local non-conference rival Rider. 

FUTURE HOSTS: NCAA Women’s Final Four host cities for 2027-31 announced

Savannah Wheeler, Middle Tennessee

Savannah Wheeler, Middle Tennessee women's basketball

Middle Tennessee junior guard Savannah Wheeler played a key role in wins against Tennessee Tech and No. 18 Louisville, averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and four assists for the week. 

Playing in all 40 minutes of Sunday’s 67-45 win over the ACC preseason favorite Louisville, Wheeler poured in 23 points, dished out five assists and pulled down six rebounds. Seventeen of Wheeler’s 23 points came in the second half. It was Middle Tennessee’s first win against a ranked opponent since 2011.

Wheeler finished Thursday’s game vs. Tennessee Tech with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Wheeler has scored in double figures in all seven games in 2022-23 and extended her double-digit scoring streak to 11 dating back to last season. The 83-45 win over Tennessee Tech marked the largest margin of victory for the Lady Raiders in their all-time series vs. the Golden Eagles, which dates back to 1976.

Middle Tennessee, 5-2 on the season, next travel to Memphis on Dec. 10 for an in-state matchup with the Tigers.

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