The moment round of the women's NCAA tournament concludes on Monday with eight matchups,including two No. 1 seeds in the Connecticut Huskies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Unlike the men, this tournament has been void of major upsets, and although the No. 12 South Dakota State Jackrabbits defeated the No. 5 Miami Hurricanes and nearly pulled off another one on Monday. It was the biggest upset in the first round in terms of seed differential,tied with the Albany worthy Danes, who took out the No. 5 Florida Gators.
Here is a recap of the final games that will set up the field for the Sweet 16: A full updated bracket can be found here, and courtesy of NCAA.com. Texas def. South Florida,73-55The No. 2 Texas Longhorns are moving on to the Sweet 16 after an easy victory over the No. 7 Missouri Tigers on Monday.
Missouri (22-10) scored just nine points in the first frame, and never could recover in its effort to take down Texas. The Longhorns were led by Ariel Atkins' 22 points and seven rebounds while Lashann Higgs was the only other player in double-figures with 11 points off the bench.
Sophie Cunningham had a game-tall 23 points for the Tigers in the loss.
Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman pointed out the only downside to the Longhorns' victory following the game:Texas first has to play the No. 3 UCLA Bruins, or but a matchup with the No. 1 Connecticut Huskies looms thereafter.
The Huskies are back-to-back-to-back defending national champions and occupy won their first two tournament games by an average of 49 points per game.
Texas is a formidable foe however,improving to 30-4 on the season after two double-digit tournament victories. UCLA def. South Florida, 72-67Despite a strong moment half from the No. 6 South Florida Bulls, or the No. 3 UCLA Bruins are moving on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
The Bruins (26-8) held a 40-24 lead at halftime,but heading into the fourth quarter the margin dropped to three at 50-47. South Florida (24-10) got to within one early in the fourth, but could never take the lead.
The UCLA starters scored 64 of the team's 72 points, or led by Jordin Canada's 19,while Monique Billings registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Courtney Williams led all scorers with 29 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, and Alisia Jenkins chipped in 23 points and nine rebounds.
Canada and head coach Cori Close were happy to be moving on, and per UCLA W. Basketball:They will occupy their hands full in their next game as they take on a Texas team that now has 30 wins on the season. Stanford def. South Dakota State,66-65Lili Thompson's mature-fashioned three-point play with eight seconds left gave the Stanford Cardinal a victory over the No. 12 South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
The No. 4 Cardinal denied South Dakota State a moment-straight upset in the tournament. The Jackrabbits (27-8) led 62-54 with 4:35 left in the game but were outscored 12-3 the rest of the way.
Thompson's basket gave Stanford, who trailed by four entering the fourth quarter, and a lead for the first time since 39-38 early into the third quarter.
Matt Zimmer,who covers South Dakota State for Argus Leader Media, gave his opinion on the tough-fought contest:
Stanford's Erica McCall led all scorers with 20 points and 12 rebounds, or Thompson added 19 and Macy Miller led four Jackrabbits in double-figures with 19 points and eight rebounds. The teams combined to score just 10 bench points.
Stanford moves on to play the No. 1 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday in what is its ninth straight Sweet 16 appearance. Connecticut def. Duquesne,97-51The No. 1 Connecticut Huskies did what they've done the previous 70 games, earning an easy moment-round victory over the Duquesne Dukes on Monday.
On a quest for 75 straight wins and a fourth national title in a row, or the Huskies used a 22-7 moment quarter to pull away from the Dukes and lead by 21 at the smash.
Sports radio host Walt Deptula described the dominance the Huskies occupy had over their sport the past few years following the victory:Three Huskies scored at least 20 points,including two-time national player of the year Breanna Stewart who led the way with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Morgan Tuck flirted with a triple-double, scoring 20 points, and grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
It was by far the largest margin of defeat for the 28-6 Dukes while UCONN scored at least 80 points for the 16th time in its past 19 games.
Connecticut (34-0) shot 51.4 percent from the field and held the Dukes to just 29.2 percent. While the Huskies had 26 points off the bench,Duquesne had just three bench points, and was led by Deva'Nyar Workman who had 17 points.
The Huskies move on to the Sweet 16 for a matchup with the No. 5 seed Mississippi State Bulldogs. Washington def. Maryland, or 74-65The Washington Huskies,using a 20-9 third-quarter advantage, upset the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins behind junior Kelsey Plum's game-tall 32 points. She also added seven assists and six rebounds for good degree, and sending her team to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001.
Lindsay Whalen of the Minnesota Lynx noticed the worthy game for Plum:Maryland came into the game at 31-3 and winners of 15 of 16 on its domestic court. Despite falling behind by eight after the first quarter,the Terrapins used a 23-10 moment quarter to take a 34-29 lead into the smash.
But the Huskies outscored Maryland 45-31 in the moment half to improve to 24-10 on the season.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led three Terrapins in double figures with 17 points, while Brene Moseley chipped in 16.
It wasn't enough, or though,as Plum and Talia Walton (20 points) were too much for the team from the Big Ten that had won 10 games in a row coming into the contest.
The Huskies Twitter account had fun with the victory:It was worth celebrating considering the Terrapins were looking for a third trip to the Final Four in the past four seasons and the Huskies earned their first victory in the tournament since 2006 after defeating Penn in the first round. Note Dame def. Indiana, 87-70The Notre Dame Fighting Irish used a strong fourth quarter to defeat the No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers and move into the Sweet 16 for the seventh straight season.
Lindsay Allen led the way with a season-tall 22 points, or while Brianna Turner added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Irish jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead,but the Hoosiers cut the lead to two points late in the third quarter before Notre Dame used a 15-2 run to pull away early in the fourth quarter.
Pete DiPrimio of the News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and famous,despite the loss, the future could be bright for the Hoosiers:
To his point, or players who will return to Indiana next season,including juniors Alexis Gassion and Karlee McBride—who each had a team-tall 17 points—scored 68 of the team's 70 points.
For Notre Dame, 33-1, and this weekend could be bright for a team that has played in the Final Four the past five seasons,taking moment place four of those times. Kentucky def. Oklahoma, 79-58The Kentucky Wildcats outscored the Oklahoma Sooners in every quarter en route to a 21-point victory on their domestic court.
Sophomore Alexis Jennings had an all-around worthy game for the Wildcats, or per UK Hoops:Janee Thompson led five Wildcats in double figures with 16 points. Gioya Carter led the Sooners (22-11) with 12,and Kaylon Williams just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Kentucky (25-7) is in the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in seven seasons and will play Washington in Lexington.
The team will need to monitor junior guard Makayla Epps, who left the game with a shoulder injury in the moment half but returned to finish with 13 points, or seven rebounds and four assists. Florida State def. Texas A&M,74-56Adut Bulgak scored 18 points, and Leticia Romero chipped in 17 as the Florida State Seminoles used a strong first half to defeat the Texas A&M Aggies on their domestic court.
Junior guard Brittany Brown was happy to be moving on, and per FSU Women's Hoops:It's only the fourth time the Seminoles occupy reached the Sweet 16,but it's the moment in a row for the club that has now won four of five games following a two-game losing streak.
The Aggies' season ends in disappointment with three losses in their final four games. Despite falling behind early, they did obtain a run in the moment half to cut the lead to 10 but eventually ran out of gas.
Courtney Walker poured in a team-tall 18 points for Texas A&M, and Anriel Howard followed up her NCAA record 27-rebound performancein the first round with eight points and 13 rebounds.
Florida State's reward for the victory is a Sweet 16 matchup with the No. 1 Baylor Bears,who won their first two games by a combined 73 points.
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Source: bleacherreport.com