Lindsay Schnell,Nancy ArmourUSA TODAY
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Another day, another almost upset. Yes, fans are probably disappointed that there wasn’t much madness Saturday, with Syracuse, Oklahoma and Indiana all fighting back for wins, sending their lower-seeded opponents packing. It's always exciting to have chaos in the first round, but maybe not the kind that’s happening right now off the floor in Baton Rouge ...
Still, there's a silver lining to having a tame first round. There should be some incredible second-round games.
But first, we have to get through the first round, where Saturday Paige Bueckers made her triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament, Dyashia Fair moved higher up the women's all-time scoring list and in more proof that the 90s are in again, Tennessee and UConn routed their opponents.
On the flip side, we’ve got dogs being disrespected and coaches sticking their feet in their mouths. And then the West Virginia-Princeton game, which was not exactly a barnburner.
Read on for more winners and losers from the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament.
WINNERS
Paige Bueckers, UConn
It’s been 720 days since UConn’s All-American played in an NCAA Tournament game, but you’d never know it.
Bueckers, who earlier this week was named first team AP All-America, scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished seven assists in UConn’s 86-64 win over Jackson State. She shot 11-of-19 from the field and got busy on defense too, snagging three steals and blocking one shot. She was her usual spectacular self, and you’d never know she had such a long gap between tournament games.
Dyaisha Fair, Syracuse
With her team trailing by five, 66-61, with 3:16 to play, the Syracuse senior turned it on. She went on an 11-0 run, lifting the sixth-seeded Orange to a 74-69 win over 11th-seeded Arizona. Fair, also known as the best scorer in the country you haven’t heard of, scared the Syracuse faithful when she went down at the end of the third quarter and had to be carried off the floor. But she returned with just under eight minutes to go. Syracuse advances to play third-seeded UConn on the Huskies’ home floor, a rematch of the 2016 national title game.
Balanced scoring attacks
Every Oklahoma player who got minutes scored in the Sooners’ 73-70 nail-biting win over 12th-seeded FGCU. Ditto for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (81-67 winners over Kent State). In March, it’s a lot easier to make deep runs when you’re getting contributions from everyone on your roster, and while points are (obviously) not the only way to contribute, the winning team is the one with the most points, so getting scoring from everyone is one way to survive and advance.
Tomekia Reed, Jackson State
It’s hard to not root for Tomekia Reed at Jackson State. Yes, Reed and her team got beat by UConn 86-64 on the Huskies’ home floor. But afterward, the sixth-year coach spoke passionately about how important it is to her to be a positive representation for HBCUs across the NCAA, and her message resonated across social media.
“I not only wanted to put our university on the map, but put HBCUs on the map,” she said. “We have such a special community that a lot of people overlook … I’m an advocate for HBCUs, I’m an advocate for representation … We want the best representation to come to the NCAA Tournament so we can bring an awareness of what we do, an awareness of who we are, an awareness to our community.”
LOSERS
UCLA
The second-seeded Bruins might have beaten 15th-seeded Cal Baptist, 84-55, in their opening game, but they were missing a key piece: Sophom*ore center Lauren Betts did not play. Betts, who averages 14.7 points and shoots 65.3% from the field (fourth-best in the nation) injured her right foot in practice this week and is day-to-day. At 6-foot-7, Betts is a lot for any team to handle on the block. If she’s out long term, UCLA and its Final Four hopes are in big trouble.
Champ the Dog
As South Carolina's unofficial mascot — head coach Dawn Staley got the adorable Havanese after the Gameco*cks won the 2017 national title, hence his name — Champ is used to being treated well. But the NCAA officials running the Columbia regional must not have gotten the memo that they had a VIP in the building.
“He said until he gets a nameplate, he's not answering any questions,” Staley cracked.
Champ is a popular figure among South Carolina fans, with more than 11,000 followers on social media, and he often accompanies Staley to practices and news conferences. On Saturday, he lounged on the dais while his human and her players talked. But if he had thoughts about Sunday’s matchup with North Carolina, he kept them to himself.
Lower seeded teams that can’t hang on to leads
Three teams with lower seeds - 11th-seeded Arizona, 12th-seeded FGCU and 13th-seeded UC Irvine blew double-digit leads a day after 10th-seeded Maryland had a complete meltdown in the second half Friday, as each fell to their higher-seeded opponent. How will the women's game buck the narrative “the women’s tournament doesn’t have as many first-round upsets as the men so it’s not as exciting” if double-digit seeds can’t hang on to leads?
Everyone who sat through the last two minutes of Princeton-West Virginia
If you have to ask, you were fortunate enough to miss it.
Hoping to close a single-digit gap on West Virginia, Princeton sent the Mountaineers to the foul line nine times in the last 2 minutes. NINE! Those 2 minutes wound up taking more than 10.
And it didn’t even work. West Virginia made nine of 18 free throws and won the game, 63-53.
West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg
If you’re going to talk trash, at least have the guts to stand by it.
West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg was caught on camera on Selection Sunday telling the Mountaineers they were going to “send Caitlin Clark packing!” But he walked back the comments Friday.
Or at least that’s what it seemed like in his word salad.
“That wasn't the intent. I'm not a trash-talking – I wasn't out to get Caitlin Clark. It's not Mark Kellogg vs. Caitlin Clark,” Kellogg said. “Our seed is honestly really where it started. That wasn't really the seed, maybe, that some people in the room were expecting, not even from me necessarily.
“So it turned into, OK, well, let's get past that. … We discussed Princeton … and then we talked about Iowa and of course everybody in the room knows Caitlin Clark. So it turned into Caitlin Clark. And, actually, somebody else in the room is the one that used the `packing’ line to me, and it turned into, `Well, guys, if we want to do something special, we have to win one and then we'd have to send Caitlin Clark home essentially, metaphorically.”
OK. Sure.
West Virginia will, indeed, have the chance to send Clark and top-seeded Iowa packing, beating Princeton in the first round Saturday. No doubt Kellogg’s comments will find their way to Clark and the Hawkeyes in the next 36 hours.
Be careful what you wish for.
