What About the Girls?

The NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament completed its first round this weekend at various sites around the country. The field began with 64 teams and has now been cut down to 32 after two days of action. The women's tourney doesn't feature many first round upsets and doesn't begin to get competitive until the second round (which begins today). Here's a breakdown of what has happened so far and what we can look forward to in the next few weeks on the road to Indianapolis. 


BLOWOUT CENTRAL - The first round of the women's tournament doesn't produce a lot of great games like the men's tournament, but some of the blowouts are absolutely epic...

• Tennessee took out Stetson 99-34. The Lady Volunteers led by 35 at halftime and never let up.
• Duke downed Tennessee-Martin 90-45. Duke only led by 10 at the half before outscoring UTM 49-14 in the second half.
• Connecticut eliminated in-state rival Hartford with a 75-39 beating. This margin of victory is a little bit low for Uconn's high standards.
• Texas A&M absolutely drilled McNeese State 87-47. The Aggies led 41-15 at the half and obviously didn't slow down in the second half.
• Baylor didn't score a lot against Prairie View A&M, but the Panthers barely scored at all. The Lady Bears won 66-30, but PVAM had to rally to get those 30 points after going to halftime down 36-8.

WELL, THEY ALMOST PULLED OFF AN UPSET - On the women's side of things, upsets don't happen very often. That's why we appreciate the teams that keep it close...

• Hampton took Kentucky to overtime before falling 66-62 in the most thrilling upset bid of the weekend.
• Green Bay has only lost one game all year, but the Phoenix was close to losing their first game of the NCAA's. Arkansas-Little Rock tested Green Bay until the final minute before falling 59-55.
• Northern Iowa had a chance to tie the game on their final possession but couldn't convert, allowing Michigan State the opportunity to escape with a 69-66 victory.

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, CINDERELLA HAS ARRIVED - Only three double-digit seeds advanced to the second round. Two of them where 10-seeds, the third team is...

• The Gonzaga Bulldogs have out-grown their mid-major label on the men's side of the gym, but the ladies are working to rid themselves of that tag as well. The 11-seeded Zags took out Iowa 92-86 behind future pro Courtney Vandersloot's career high 34 points and now look to extend their tourney run into the second weekend. The Bulldogs are the lowest remaining seed in the field but they don't have the look of an underdog. They look as if they have just as much of an outside shot at the Final Four as every other team outside of the top 8 overall seeds.   

The women's tournament may not possess as much pizazz as the men's tourney, but the ladies definitely know how to play, and the tournament picks up a lot of intensity in the later rounds. The Final Four could be one of the best ever if all four top seeds make it through.