Welcome to Half 2 of the primary spherical of the N.C.A.A. girls’s event, with a densely packed slate of video games and various possibilities to make historical past. As soon as once more, the video games will likely be aired throughout ESPN’s networks in addition to, within the circumstances of Connecticut and Tennessee’s first spherical video games, on ABC (at 1 and three p.m., all instances Jap, respectively).
Beneath you’ll find a information to a number of the names you can be seeing, the upsets you need to look ahead to, and a few recommendation to assist handle squeezing in as a lot event motion as doable, even when you have only one tv.
Search out the lower-seeded stars.
The event may be a superb showcase for the sorts of gamers that girls’s basketball powerhouses can remorse not recruiting extra aggressively.
Dyaisha Honest grew up in Rochester earlier than committing to the College at Buffalo, a workforce that has change into perennially fun-to-watch within the postseason below coach Felisha Legette-Jack. Honest has seized the chance, and was awarded an honorable point out when the A.P. introduced its All-People earlier this week. The prolific scorer will lead the push to upset No. 4 Tennessee, considered one of girls’s basketball’s most honored packages.
Ameshya Williams-Holliday was recruited by a powerhouse, Mississippi State, however taking part in with the Bulldogs didn’t stick. It was solely this season, her first at Jackson State, that Williams-Holliday realized the potential she was recruited for — not simply main her workforce to its second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Convention event championship, however incomes a S.W.A.C. Participant of the 12 months award within the course of. The Girl Tigers will try and topple the No. 3 Louisiana State Tigers, and spoil Kim Mulkey’s first event sport as L.S.U. head coach.
Dive Deeper Into the N.C.A.A. Tournaments
Kansas State got here onto sports activities followers’ radars earlier this season due to Ayoka Lee, a junior heart who broke the Division I single-game scoring file in a victory over Oklahoma by scoring 61 factors in simply 35 minutes on the court docket. It was not an uncharacteristic efficiency from the 6-foot-6 Lee, who has turned Kansas State right into a contender along with her environment friendly scoring and dominant protection — however the truth that her record-setting sport got here in an upset of an A.P. ranked opponent ought to make No. 8 Washington State somewhat nervous. When the stakes are excessive, Lee has proven that she will meet the second.
It’s all in regards to the underdogs.
In case you’re in search of underdogs to root for, 9 groups taking part in on Saturday have by no means gained an NCAA Division I event sport. Central Florida, American, Jackson State, the College of Massachusetts, Charlotte, Mercer and Washington State will all be in search of their first event wins — within the case of No. 8 Washington State and No. 7 Central Florida, they’re truly in good place to make program historical past.
Two colleges are taking part in within the event for the primary time: Indiana College-Purdue College Indianapolis, and Longwood. I.U.P.U.I had gained a bid to the 2020 event earlier than it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so 2022 will likely be their first time truly taking part in within the event.
Be careful for these upset-ready colleges.
The final time Villanova made the ladies’s event was in 2018, and that 12 months they pulled off a first-round upset in additional time as a No. 9 seed. This 12 months, although the Eleventh-seeded squad has a a lot more durable spot on the bracket, they’ve additionally proven how excessive their ceiling is. Led by Division I’s second-best scorer Maddy Siegrist, the Wildcats toppled a depleted Connecticut throughout convention play. Villanova might want to muster every little thing they utilized in that victory in the event that they’re going to beat Brigham Younger and their star Shaylee Gonzales.
Stephen F. Austin was two factors away from its first event win in 20 years final 12 months, when it in the end fell to Georgia Tech in additional time. This 12 months finds them in the very same place: seeded No. 12, and attempting to beat an Atlantic Coast Convention workforce. The Ladyjacks will likely be fielding considered one of Division I’s higher defenses as they try to drag off the upset and discover redemption for sophomore Avery Brittingham, who missed a last-second, game-tying tip shot in 2021.
The Missouri State Girl Bears possible have a keenness for the No. 11 seed they’ve earned. In 2019, the one different time they had been seeded No. 11, the Girl Bears made it to the Candy Sixteen. This 12 months, they barely made it into the bracket in any respect after having to beat Florida State within the First 4 video games — however now that they’re formally a part of the 64-team discipline, they’ve a shot to upset Ohio State and make it to the Candy Sixteen for the third straight 12 months.
A street map to the second day of the event.
As soon as once more, the primary spherical slate begins with an interesting 8-9 matchup (all instances Jap): the aforementioned Ayoka Lee and No. 9 Kansas State attempting to get previous Washington State (11:30 a.m., ESPN2). Tune in for the second half earlier than flipping to B.Y.U. versus Villanova (1 p.m., ESPNEWS). If it’s not shut, test in on Connecticut (1 p.m., ABC) and see how Paige Bueckers is responding to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
Two video games with upset potential will overlap within the subsequent window. Head to ESPNU to catch Missouri State versus Ohio State round 3 p.m., and when that sport is at halftime, change to Buffalo versus Tennessee on ABC. These video games ought to present the very best competitors till Kentucky versus Princeton (sure, one other 6-11 matchup — in case you’re sensing a theme) begins at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
The schedule rounds out with three strong 5-12 video games: first Oregon vs. Belmont (which gained its first event sport final 12 months) at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2, after which Stephen F. Austin versus North Carolina and Massachusetts versus Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS and ESPN2, respectively.
