Women’s NCAA Tournament Norfolk Sweet 16 Game Breakdown
#1 Notre Dame vs. #12 Kansas (Norfolk, Virginia)
Notre Dame was the only #1 seed that had to play away from home. But like the rest of the top seeds, the Irish survived and advanced without much difficulty. They dropped 97 points on the Skyhawks of Tennessee-Martin and beat Iowa in Iowa City 74-57. Kansas, again, has reached the Sweet Sixteen after a couple of huge upsets. It started at #5 seed Colorado and continued against #4 South Carolina. Against the Gamecocks, Kansas was able to push the tempo thanks to point guard Angel Goodrich. That was a huge advantage against a South Carolina squad that wants to slow the game down. Kansas was able to dictate the tempo and as a result they won the game.
It was at this same point last season that the Jayhawks magical run ended at the hands of Tennessee. The story will likely be the same, but this time at the hands of the Irish. Kansas’ ability to play uptempo against a team that wants to play slow worked amazingly well against South Carolina, but the Irish can out run Kansas. This time Goodrich may have to slow things down and keep the ball out of the hands of Skylar Diggins and the rest of the talented Notre Dame scoring threats as much as possible. The Jayhawks can rely more on forward Carolyn Davis and work the offense through their talented senior. For Davis to get room to operate in the paint, Monica Engelman and Goodrich will have to stretch the defense and shoot better than usual from beyond the arc. At this point, Kansas needs to play practically perfect basketball to beat Notre Dame, but they have come pretty close to playing perfectly against Colorado and South Carolina.
#2 Duke vs. #6 Nebraska (Norfolk, Virginia)
After pulling away late against Hampton in the first round, Duke had to come from behind to beat Oklahoma State in the second round. While Duke is looking a bit susceptible for a #2 seed, Nebraska is coming off of a huge win against a very good Texas A&M squad at College Station. Lindsey Moore and Jordan Hooper both hit the 20 point plateau against the Aggies and those two will again attempt to keep the Cornhuskers season moving forward.
The Blue Devils were able to survive at home, but now they are moving a little bit further away from Durham, North Carolina to Norfolk, Virginia. It will still be a pro Duke crowd, but it is not home and that could be a huge difference for this Duke team that is still trying to move on without Chelsea Gray. Duke can keep just about any game close due to their tough defense and efficient shooting, but Nebraska has momentum on their side. Duke should win the battle on the glass and Elizabeth Williams will not make it easy for any Cornhusker to score in the paint, but Nebraska should win the turnover battle. If Nebraska can find a third, most likely Emily Cady or Hailie Sample, to compliment Moore and Hooper, this team has the talent to pull off the upset over #2 seed. However, they must get some sort of offense going in the paint or Moore and Hooper will not get many open looks from outside and Duke can dominate this game if Moore and Hooper are not making outside shots.
Oklahoma City Regional Overview
Oklahoma City Region Sweet 16 Game Breakdowns
Spokane Region Sweet 16 Game Breakdowns
Bridgeport Region Sweet 16 Game Breakdowns
