The Weekly Roundup: Recapping Day 1
The opening day of the NCAA Tournament featured lots of offense, lots of defense, zero upsets, and an absolute heartbreaker in overtime
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After the first 16 games of the tournament, no lower seed managed to pull an upset over the higher seed, although a few teams were close. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994, there has been at least one upset by a No. 11 seed or higher in the first round every year. Harvard in 1998 is the only (and the first in any tournament) No. 16 seed to ever take down a No. 1 team, but it hasn’t been done on the women’s side since, and no second or third seeded team has ever fallen in the first round.
The Best Almost Upset
The matchup between No. 12 Stephen F. Austin and No. 5 Georgia Tech in the first round of the NCAA tournament was everything March Madness is about. SFA hasn’t had the opportunity to play in a big game this year, but still managed to rank highly in the NET (19) and our Her Hoop Stats Ratings (7). The SFA Ladyjacks have the stats to back up the high ratings — they entered the tournament forcing the most turnovers and ranked fifth in the nation in defensive rating, third in steal rate, and third in effective shooting percentage.
By halftime, it looked like SFA was set to run away with the game after leading 34-17. SFA had 12 assists on 13 made field goals and held Georgia Tech to just 7-of-29 from the floor in the first half. While the Ladyjacks had the hot hand and the stifling defense in the first half, ACC Coach of the Year Nell Fortner managed to completely transform her team in the locker room. Georgia Tech fought back from a 17-point deficit on the back of shooting 44.4% in the second half while holding SFA to 4-of-26 shooting. Despite that, SFA had chances to close out the game in regulation and came within seconds of forcing double overtime. SFA freshman Avery Brittingham, who led her team with 16 points and13 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench, handled the final shots in the post and managed to grab her two misses, but couldn’t get the third - a make - released before the buzzer. March has begun, folks, and it’s just the beginning.
Round of 64 Day 1 Results
No. 5 Iowa over No. 12 Central Michigan (87-72)
No. 7 Virginia Tech over No. 10 Marquette (70-63)
No. 8 Oklahoma State over No. 9 Wake Forest (84-61)
No. 4 Kentucky over No. 13 Idaho State (71-63)
No. 3 Tennessee over No. 14 Middle Tennessee (87-62)
No. 6 Michigan over No. 11 Florida Gulf Cast (87-66)
No. 1 NC State over No. 1 N.C. A&T (79-58)
No. 2 Baylor over No. 15 Jackson State (101-52)
No. 5 Georgia Tech over No. 12 SFA (54-52 OT)
No. 8 Syracuse over No. 9 South Dakota State (72-55)
No. 1 South Carolina over No. 16 Mercer (79-53)
No. 8 Oregon State over No. 9 Florida State (83-59)
No. 1 UConn over No. 16 High Point (102-59)
No. 4 West Virginia over No. 13 Lehigh (77-53)
No. 8 South Florida over No. 9 Washington State (57-53)
No. 1 Stanford over No. 16 Utah Valley (87-44)
Round of 64 Day 2 Schedule
No. 14 Drexel vs. No. 3 Georgia - 12 p.m. ET / ESPN2 (Lobo’s Look)
No. 11 BYU vs. No. 6 Rutgers - 12 p.m. ET / ESPNU (Lobo’s Look)
No. 10. North Carolina vs. No. 7 Alabama - 12 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
No. 13 VCU vs. No. 4 Indiana - 2 p.m. ET / ESPNU (Lobo’s Look)
No. 14 Stony Brook vs. No. 3 Arizona - 2 p.m. ET / ESPNU (Lobo’s Look)
No. 13 Wright State vs. No. 4 Arkansas - 2 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
No. 12 Belmont vs. No. 5 Gonzaga - 4 p.m. ET / ESPN2 (Lobo’s Look)
No. 15 Mount St. Mary’s vs. No. 2 Maryland - 4 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
No. 10 UCF vs. No. 7 Northwestern - 4 p.m. ET / ESPNU (Lobo’s Look)
No. 10 Michigan State vs. No. 7 Iowa State - 6 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
No. 15 Troy vs. No. 2 Texas A&M - 6 p.m. ET / ESPN2 (Lobo’s Look)
No. 12 UC Davis vs. No. 5 Missouri State - 7:30 p.m. ET / ESPNU (Lobo’s Look)
No. 11 Bradley vs. No. 6 Texas - 8 p.m. ET / ESPN2 (Lobo’s Look)
No. 15 Marist vs. No. 2 Louisville - 8 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
No. 11 South Dakota vs. No. 6 Oregon - 10 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
No. 14 Wyoming vs. No. 3 UCLA - 10 p.m. ET / ESPN (Lobo’s Look)
By The Numbers
Here are some of the most impressive stats from Day 1:
Natasha Mack tallied 27 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks in her NCAA Tournament debut for Oklahoma State. She also earned her 1,000th career points in just 54 games and recorded her 18th double double this season.
Syracuse passed team highs in blocks and steals in a game in their opening tournament matchup. The team recorded 13 steals and 14 blocks in the win against South Dakota State. It’s only the second time this season for a team to have at least 13 steals and 13 blocks in a game this year.
FGCU averaged 11.8 made threes per game from 35.1 attempts coming into their game against Michigan. The Wolverines held FGCU to nine made threes and just eight assists compared to the Eagles’ usual 16.7 assists per game.
In that same game, Leigha Brown of Michigan nearly outscored FGCU singlehandedly in the third quarter by dropping 19 of her 28 points in the frame. The Eagles had 20.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley earned her 500th career win and the Gamecocks’ ninth straight first round NCAA tournament win.
What We’re Working On
Her Hoop Stats released a new feature! Game predictions and an updated Her Hoop Stats rating have been added throughout the site. You can see predictions for any matchup, just in time for March Madness.
Calvin Wetzel provided a full range of hot takes before the first round - from mild and medium to fire and dangerously irresponsible hot takes.
Jenn Hatfield wrote about a valuable member of the Louisville Cardinals who doesn’t wear a jersey on game nights. Brady Walz, the nephew of head coach Jeff Walz, is a graduate student manager and practice player whose day can range from guarding Dana Evans in practice to doing laundry for the team.
Now that the bulk of 2021's WNBA free agency is over, Richard Cohen took a look at how he expects all 12 WNBA rosters to unfold ahead of the start of the season.
Kim Doss reviewed Pac-12 X-Factors in the NCAA tournament for the six Pac 12 tournament teams.
Adam Vachon took a look at how the neutral site format of this year’s tournament could influence more upsets.
For The Her Hoop Stats Podcast, John Liddle interviewed Jared Olson, head coach of the 26-0 California Baptist Lancers, after the completion of the program’s first undefeated season before the WNIT. The Lancers will face off against Rice in the WNIT Quarterfinals tonight at 8 p.m. ET on FloHoops.
Gabe Ibrahim, Calvin Wetzel, and Christy Winters-Scott made their bracket picks and preview each region during last week’s Her Hoop Stats live stream.
Jenn and Calvin joined Megan Gauer on Unplugged to talk about all things March Madness, including the best matchups of the first round, potential Cinderella teams, and Final Four picks.
Other Recommended Reading
For USA Today, Lindsay Schnell wrote about Dawn Staley’s determination to uplift other Black female coaches with her success.
For The Washington Post, Sally Jenkins penned a powerful column about the inequities and NCAA shortcomings in men’s and women’s basketball.
For The Athletic, Lyndsey D’Arcangelo profiled Kierstan Bell, a finalist for the 2021 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award and the stat-stuffing sensation who powered a really good FGCU team during her first year in Fort Myers.
For Peoria Public Radio, Joe Deacon details Missouri Valley tournament champions Bradley Braves’ first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.
For The Times Herald-Record, Ken McMillan wrote about Marist associate head coach Erin Doughty, a former Marist player - turned student assistant who is primed to take over for head coach Brian Giorgis once he’s ready to step down.
The Players’ Tribune published three stories from stars in this year’s NCAA tournament before the first round: Aari McDonald (Arizona), Naz Hillmon (Michigan), and Aliyah Boston (South Carolina).
Before You Go
The shocking (but not shocking at all) disparities between the NCAA men’s and women’s tournament, followed by a weak NCAA response was the biggest story off the court last week. Here are a few statements from some of the biggest names in women’s basketball on the inequities for female student athletes and the nonchalant attitudes from NCAA leadership.
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