The NCAA women’s tournament is back, with trips to the Elite Eight on the line Friday in Fort Worth Region 1 and Sacramento Region 2.
No. 1 UConn will have a chance to write the latest chapter of its undefeated season, and, lower in that quadrant of the bracket, No. 6 Notre Dame will have a shot to knock off a top-three seed for the second game in a row. Elsewhere, No. 1 UCLA will be in action, too, and the day will be capped off with a highly anticipated rematch between a red-hot No. 3 Duke team and No. 2 LSU.
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2:30 p.m.: No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt (ESPN)
5 p.m.: No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 1 UConn (ESPN)
7:30 p.m.: No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 1 UCLA (ESPN)
10 p.m.: No. 3 Duke vs. No. 2 LSU (ESPN)
Must-see: LSU vs. Duke
These teams met on Dec. 4 in the ACC/SEC challenge, and it wasn’t close. LSU, then undefeated and ranked No. 5 in the country, used a 31-point second quarter to take the lead and then create some distance before halftime. After that, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas en route to a 93-77 win. As a result, Duke dropped to 3-6 on the season. Since then, Kara Lawson’s squad has gone 23-2 and hasn’t given up more than 74 points in a single game. Most recently, the No. 3-seeded Blue Devils gave up just 49 points to the No. 6-seeded Baylor Bears, who averaged 70.6 per game this season.
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Duke will get another crack at a Kim Mulkey team that sports the highest-scoring offense in the nation. Containing the likes of Flau’jae Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley and Mikaylah Williams is no small task. That said, keeping pace could prove even more difficult. Either way, the Blue Devils are gunning for their second straight Elite Eight appearance. LSU has advanced to an NCAA tournament regional final each of the past three seasons.
Senior guard Flau’jae Johnson leads LSU with 14.3 points per game this season. (Photo by Ella Hall/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
(Ella Hall via Getty Images)
Must-skip: UNC vs. UConn
On one hand, watching the favorite is intriguing. On the other hand, UConn serves blowouts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Huskies toppled No. 16 UTSA by 38 points in the first round and then more than doubled No. 9 Syracuse’s scoring output in the second round. They lead NCAA Division I women’s basketball in average margin of victory, after all. Just one of UConn’s games has been decided by fewer than 13 points this season.
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No. 4 UNC’s win over No. 5 Maryland was impressive — Elina Aarnisalo and Lanie Grant combined for 41 in that one — but the Tar Heels’ run will likely end in the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. They’ve lost seven games this season. Two of those defeats, one by 18 points to UCLA and one by 15 points to Texas, came against top seeds in this year’s NCAA tournament. A third double-digit setback to a team of that ilk could be on the way. More threatening competition is on the horizon for the Huskies.
Most likely upset: Notre Dame vs. Vanderbilt
If UConn does in fact get by UNC, it will face the winner of Notre Dame-Vanderbilt. The Fighting Irish haven’t needed luck so far. They’ve only needed Hannah Hidalgo, a National Player of the Year candidate and a renowned stat-sheet stuffer. In this year’s March Madness, she’s posted 24.5 points, 11 rebounds, 8 steals and 4 assists per game. Hidalgo already powered No. 6 Notre Dame to an upset win over No. 3 Ohio State. She could propel the Irish to another victory of that kind against a No. 2-seeded Vandy group that’s trying to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2002. Plus, she needs just five thefts to break the single-season NCAA Division I women’s basketball steals record.
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Notre Dame has controlled the glass and won the turnover battle in each of its two NCAA tournament games. Granted, the Commodores do a pretty good job of taking care of the ball, but they rank 294th in the country in defensive rebounding rate (65.8%), according to Her Hoop Stats. Critical second-chance points could make the difference for the Irish.
Players to watch
Vanderbilt G Mikayla Blakes vs. Notre Dame
Hidalgo is the nation’s third-leading scorer, but she and Notre Dame will be up against Mikayla Blakes, who leads the country with 27 points per game. She deserves National Player of the Year consideration as well. The headlining act on a Vanderbilt team that’s one victory shy of tying the program’s single-season wins record, Blakes earned SEC Player of the Year honors for a reason. She’s hit or eclipsed the 30-point mark on 13 occasions this season and finished with at least 20 points in all but five of her 33 outings.
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UCLA C Lauren Betts vs. Minnesota
Betts is at the heart of the fourth game on Friday’s schedule, as she’s a top prospect in this year’s WNBA Draft and playing some of her best basketball at the moment. The 6-foot-7 center is coming off a career-high 35-point performance, in which she also logged 9 rebounds and 5 assists during a 19-point win over Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. She opened the tourney with 22 points and 10 boards amid a resounding victory against California Baptist. For just the second time all season, Betts has stacked back-to-back games with 20-plus points.
