Women’s NCAA Tournament Raleigh Regional 2nd Round Breakdowns
With the exception of one pretty solid upset, the Raleigh regional went according to form with a minimal amount of turmoil and little excitement. Georgia fans may beg to differ with this story, as the Bulldogs were denied a repeat trip to the sweet 16 thanks to a determined Marist squad.
Here is a look at the upcoming matchups as the round of 32 gets underway:
No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 7 Louisville (7:10 p.m. Monday at Comcast Center in College Park, Maryland)
Three of the four games in this region involve teams essentially playing home games, with the first pitting the Atlantic Coast Conference against the Big East. Maryland (29-4) has an eight-game winning streak following a 59-44 win over Navy in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Terrapins prevailed despite some first-half struggles by star Alyssa Thomas, who still finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Laurin Mincy added 14 points for Maryland, which faces Louisville for the first time this season. Louisville (23-9) rebounded from a disastrous overtime loss to St. John’s in the Big East tournament to post a 67-55 win over Michigan State in the first round. Balanced scoring helped Louisville to a victory, led by Becky Burke with 14 points, Shawnta’ Dyer with 13 points, and Asia Taylor and Bria Smith with 10 points. The game is a homecoming of sorts for Louisville coach Jeff Walz, who used to coach at Maryland under Brenda Frese before he moved to Louisville for the Cardinals’ position. Maryland has beaten one Big East team already (Georgetown), but Louisville won the last meeting between these teams in the 2009 regional finals. Be careful when it comes to this game if you’re picking winners. If Alyssa Thomas struggles again it could be a long night for Maryland, especially if Louisville puts four scorers in double figures once again.
No. 6 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (9:35 p.m. Monday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas)
The Southeast Conference faces the Big 12 in the second matchup of this regional. Arkansas (24-8), which tied for fourth place in the SEC, cruised past Dayton 72-55 as the Razorbacks held Dayton without a field goal in the last 12 minutes. Like Louisville, Arkansas used spread-out scoring to prevail, led by 15 points from Quistelle Williams, 14 from Keira Peak and Lyndsay Harris and 13 from C’eira Ricketts. Arkansas has won eight of its last 11 games. Texas A&M (23-10) recovered from a shellacking against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament finals to beat Albany, 69-47. Tyra White, who missed three games with a foot injury following a string of 87 straight starts, made the most of her return to the court with 18 points and seven rebounds. Like with Louisville, this game is old home week for a coach, specifically Texas A&M coach Gary Blair, who was at a coach at Arkansas before joining the Aggies program. Texas A&M has seen one other SEC opponent this season but it was no contest, as it slammed Mississippi State 93-47 in the fourth game of the season. Texas A&M has had the more difficult road, with five losses to ranked teams (three to Baylor alone), so the Aggies should move on to Raleigh with little difficulty thanks to Monday’s projected victory.
No. 5 St. Bonaventure vs. No. 13 Marist (7:10 p.m. Tuesday at Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida)
In the first-round breakdown, I projected that Marist might give Georgia a hard time if everything came together as one. That was exactly what happened, as Marist shot 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) from 3-point range and got superb scoring of 21 points from Corielle Yarde and 18 from Brandy Gang in a 76-70 upset of the Bulldogs. Don’t take my projections as gospel, because upsets can happen in any game, but there was something about that contest that just smelled of upset. This game will be quite different. St. Bonaventure (30-3), the champions of the Atlantic 10, needed overtime to hold off a pesky Florida Gulf Coast squad in a 72-65 win. Megan Van Tatenhove scored 18 points and Armelia Horton chipped in 17 points as St. Bonaventure ended FGCU’s 21-game winning streak. Marist (26-7) has seen St. Bonaventure once before this season, with the Bonnies winning 67-56 on December 18. St. Bonaventure shot 24-for-55 (43.6 percent) in its game with FGCU but was just 3-for-12 (25 percent) from 3-point range. Marist could knock off another big-time foe if its 3-point shooting remains hot, and the Red Foxes certainly have the momentum following their shocking win over Georgia. Neither team has really faced intense competition. Don’t be surprised if Marist pulls off another shocker.
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 California (7:20 p.m. Tuesday at Joyce Center in South Bend, Indiana)
The Big East’s top team faces off against the Pac-12 in another match with plenty of home cooking behind it. Notre Dame (31-3) has a recent nine-point loss to Connecticut to fuel its fire, and Liberty found out the hard way just how good Notre Dame is in a 74-43 loss to the Fighting Irish. An 11-0 run in the first two minutes decided the game right away. Notre Dame, which is 16-1 at home, got 15 points from Kayla McBride and 12 points from Natalie Novosel. Skylar Diggins, the team’s leading scorer, only came up with seven points, but this was easily a game where coach Muffet McGraw could rotate starters and subs in and out with ease. California (25-9), which finished second behind Stanford in the Pac-12, ended up having a tougher time with Iowa but prevailed 84-74 behind Layshia Clarendon’s 16 points. Brittany Boyd had 15 points to go with eight assists and six steals. There is a reason why Notre Dame is the top seed in this regional, however, and California will likely bow out in the second round. It will take a ton of great play to top the Irish, and even then that might not be enough. Look for Notre Dame to win once again by double digits and take the trip to Raleigh for the round of 16.
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