Sunday brought madness for Cinderella teams and sadness for others including No. 2 Baylor falling to 10th seed South Dakota and No. 10 Creighton shocking No. 2 Iowa.
The action continues Monday with a slate of evening games in the women’s bracket starting at 4 p.m. ET. No. 1 seed N.C. State tips off the eventful evening, playing No. 9 Kansas State. The night ends with last year’s national championship runner-up, Arizona, hosting North Carolina in 4-5 matchup.
Monday’s games will determine which teams advance to the Sweet 16, which begins March 25. Eight women’s teams already punched their tickets on Sunday.
NCAA Tournament bracket:Follow March Madness
Stay up-to-date:Subscribe to our Sports newsletter now!
Follow along for all the action on Monday in the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments:
Notre Dame off to sizzling start vs. Oklahoma
Senior guard Dana Mabrey could hardly miss as fifth-seeded Notre Dame exploded out of the blocks in a second-round matchup against No. 4 seed Oklahoma.
Mabrey connected on six of her seven field goal attempts in the first quarter, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, as the Fighting Irish opened up a 35-12 lead on the Sooners. With 17 points, Mabrey outscored Oklahoma by herself with the Irish connecting on 58.3% of their shots in the quarter, while holding the Sooners to just 26.3% field-goal shooting.
NC State moves onto the Sweet 16
The top-seeded Wolfpack ran away with it in the second half and toppled No. 9 Kansas State by more than 30 points, 89-57. NC State outscored the Wildcats by 16 points in the second half, by a margin of 46-30.
Forward Kayla Jones led all scored with 18 points and added 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Wolfpack will now play the winner between No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 6 Oklahoma, which just tipped off at 6 p.m. ET.
Stars on the post
Monday’s game between No. 3 seed Michigan (23-6) and No. 11 seed Villanova (24-8) pits the Big Ten Coach of the Year, Kim Barnes Arico, against the Big East Coach of the Year, Denise Dillon. But the second-round game in Ann Arbor (6 p.m. ET) also features a fascinting duel in the post.
Villanova junior Maddy Siegrist averages 25.8 points per game — second-best in the country — and leads the Wildcats in rebounds (9.4), steals (1.5) and blocks (0.9). The forward also became the first Wildcat since the 1987-88 season to earn the Big East Player of the Year award.
“They have a great scorer in Siegrist, a really unbelievable player,” Barnes Arico said. “If you’re Big East Player of the Year and you’re not on the UConn team, you must be really special.”
Likewise, the Wildcats will have to work together to contain highly decorated Michigan star Naz Hillmon. The first-team All-American leads the Wolverines in scoring (21 points a game), rebounding (9.5) and steals (1.1).
— Julie Walker, Special to Detroit Free Press
Wolfpack running away with it
All indications, from the first half of Monday’s first second-round game, are that the top-seeded NC State team will move on. The Wolfpack opened up a 43-27 lead at halftime against No. 9 Kansas State behind balanced and efficient scoring and solid defense on the other end.
NC State shot 55.2% from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, as guard Raina Perez (10 points) led the way in scoring, trailed by forward Kayla Jones (9) and center Camille Hobby (8).
The Wildcats, meanwhile, struggled on offense, converting just 9-of-24 (37.5%) attempts and just 3-of-10 from three-point range.
By the middle of the third quarter, the Wolfpack extended their lead past 20 points, taking a 55-34 advantage with just fewer than five minutes to play in the period.
And we’re off…
Monday’s action is officially underway, as No. 9 Kansas State is looking to upset the No. 1 seeded NC State Wolfpack. For the Wildcats to do so, they’re likely going to need a big day from center Ayoka Lee, who set the NCAA single-game scoring record with 61 points in a January game against Oklahoma.
“I haven’t really ever played with a post player as talented as Yokie, believe it or not,” freshman point guard Serena Sundell said recently. “It just makes it hard for defenses to have to choose if they want to guard inside (or) guard our guards.
“They struggle most of the time to guard her with one player, so it helps me get some assists.”
If Sunday was any indication of what’s to come, buckle up
A pair of historic upsets shook the women’s bracket Sunday, with two No. 2 seeds dropping their games — both against No. 10 seeds.
The first of the day was Creighton, which pulled off a shocker in Sunday’s first game, slaying mighty Caitlin Clark and Iowa, 64-62, on the Hawkeyes’ home floor. Creighton advances to its first Sweet 16 in school history.
The second was South Dakota taking down Baylor 61-47 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. The Coyotes never trailed, and led by as many as 16 in the third quarter.
— Lindsay Schnell and Nancy Armour
Are you not entertained? If not, the problem isn’t women’s basketball. It’s you.
Can we finally be done with all the silly stereotypes, USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour asks?
As ratings have risen, attendance has grown and more sponsors have signed on, the fragile male egos who can’t handle the idea of women’s sports being mainstream have fumbled around in desperate search of a new excuse to knock the NCAA Tournament. The latest, that there are no upsets and that the tournament is too predictable, went down in a flaming heap Saturday.
Or maybe those flames were from all the brackets that are now toast after a day when utter chaos reigned.
Six double-digit seeds advanced to the second round, one shy of the NCAA Tournament record, and third-seeded LSU needed a furious rally to withstand what would have been a historic upset. Belmont, in shades of the Gonzaga and Butler men’s teams two decades ago, advanced to the second round for a second consecutive year with a double-overtime win over fifth-seeded Oregon.
But, please, tell me again how this tournament isn’t exciting.
— Nancy Armour
