Visits: 7
The N.C.A.A. women’s basketball tournament began on Friday with a romp by a team not used to being a mere No. 2 seed, and a scare for a No. 2 seed that almost yielded the first-ever victory for a No. 15 seed.
Napheesa Collier scored 23 points and Connecticut, which was last lower than a No. 1 seed in 2006, rolled to a 110-61 win against 15th-seeded Towson in Storrs.
The freshman Christyn Williams scored 21 points and Crystal Dangerfield added 20 for The Huskies (32-2), which had five players in double figures and scored more than 100 points for the fourth time this season.
“The difference in this year is that we know, even if we play our best game, we can lose,” UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said. “We just don’t have enough pieces, which is O.K. Because then the goal becomes, let’s see how close we can come to playing a great game and then take our chances, because the other team still has to play great, and there is no guarantee of that.”
UConn has won 26 straight first-round games by an average of almost 50 points since a loss to Louisville in 1993. The Cardinals and the Huskies have a chance of meeting this season in the Albany Region final.
Kionna Jeter had 20 points for Towson (20-13), which was making its first tournament appearance.
Iowa, the second seed in the Greensboro Region, had a much tougher time, holding on for a 66-61 victory against Mercer in Iowa City.
“We personally liked our seed; we didn’t love our opponent,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said of Mercer (25-8), which had won 17 in a row. “We played against somebody that was much more difficult than a 15 seed. Everybody can recognize and understand that.”
Marquette, a fifth seed, was pushed against 12th-seeded Rice but prevailed in overtime, 58-54, in the Chicago Region in College Station, Tex.
The Golden Eagles (27-7) overcame a 9-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the Owls (28-4), who had won 21 in a row.
“No matter what the score is, how much time is left, we’re going to give it our all,” said Natisha Hiedeman, who made two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining to secure the victory.
Missouri, a No. 7 seed, was also taken to overtime. The Tigers got past 10th-seeded Drake, 77-76 in a Greensboro Region game in Iowa City, where they will face Iowa.
Fifth-seeded Florida State (24-8) avoided overtime, overcoming a 4-point deficit in the fourth quarter and then holding on for a 70-67 victory against 12th-seeded Bucknell (28-6) in a Greensboro Region matchup in Charlotte, N.C. Bucknell almost tied it, but Kaitlyn Slagus and Kyi English missed 3-pointers on a frantic final possession.
Things were not nearly as stressful for other higher-seeded winners. Louisville, the top seed in the Albany Region, were short-handed but not challenged in a 69-34 rout of No. 16 Robert Morris. Mississippi State, the No. 1 seed in the Portland Region, rolled over Southern, 103-46. South Carolina, the No. 4 seed in the Greensboro Region, took care of No. 13 Belmont, 74-52 after a sluggish start. Texas A&M, the No. 4 seed in the Chicago Region, won by 84-61 against Wright State behind 27 points from Chennedy Carter. Fifth-seeded Arizona State beat No. 12 Central Florida, 60-45, in the Portland Region. And eighth-seeded Michigan rolled over No. 9 Kansas State, 84-54, in the Albany Region.
Another No. 8 seed, South Dakota, lost to No. 9 Clemson, 79-66, in the Portland Region as Simone Westbrook scored 27 points for the victors.
Falling Short of a First
With 51 seconds left and Mercer trailing, 66-61, KeKe Calloway had an open look at the basket from about 18 feet. The ball bounced off the rim and hung in the air before it fell into the hands of Megan Gustafson, who had 30 points and 16 rebounds for Iowa (27-6).
Calloway scored 21 points and Amanda Thompson had 18 for Mercer. But in the end, the Bears made it 0-101 for No. 15 seeds in the tournament.
“It’s disappointing with the outcome,” Mercer Coach Susie Gardner said. “Our guys kept bouncing back. We had opportunities. We never went away.”
With its loss to Connecticut, Towson became the 102nd No. 15 seed to fall. Portland State (25-8) was the 103rd, falling in Eugene, Ore., by 78-40 to second-seeded Oregon (30-4) in the Portland Region. This year’s final hope for No. 15 seeds, U.C. Davis (25-6), plays at second-seeded Stanford (28-4) on Saturday.
No Coach, No Problem
Louisville did not need its coach or its starting point guard to roll at home. And with Robert Morris missing shots for much of the first half, the Cardinals did not really need that many baskets, either.
Asia Durr and Sam Fuehring each had 19 points, and Louisville (30-3) scored 27 straight points in the first half to overwhelm the Colonials (22-11).
The Cardinals rolled despite the absences of Coach Jeff Walz — who sat out a one-game suspension for a profane sideline tirade during last year’s Final Four — and the injured point guard Arica Carter. They led, 32-4, early in the second quarter by holding Robert Morris scoreless for nearly 15 minutes.
“There was no pressure at all,” said Durr, who was 6 of 12 from the field with three 3-pointers. “We have to coach ourselves. We did a great job of playing as a team.”
Worst Time for a Foul
Jordan Roundtree won it for Missouri (24-10) with a free throw after being fouled by Becca Hittner with 1.1 seconds left in overtime while putting up a desperation 3-point shot.
Roundtree missed the first free throw, hit the second and missed the third. Drake (27-7) got the rebound and, after two timeouts, Hittner, a 40 percent 3-point shooter, had a chance to be the hero after all. But her open shot from beyond the arc missed.
Two other No. 7 seeds were not as fortunate as Missouri. Rutgers (22-10) was beaten, 82-71, by Buffalo (24-9) in Storrs, and Texas (20-13) fell by 69-65 against Indiana (21-12) in a Portland Region opener in Eugene, Ore.
New home for a Two-Time Champ
Courtney Ekmark has two N.C.A.A. championship rings from her time at Connecticut. Clearly, she knows how to win at this time of year.
Ekmark scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead Arizona State (21-10) past Central Florida (26-7) in Coral Gables, Fla.
“She has probably been the most closely guarded player that I’ve ever coached in 30 years of coaching,” Sun Devils Coach Charli Turner Thorne said of Ekmark, who left UConn after two seasons to return to her home state. She added, “When she heard we were facing a zone, she went, ‘Yes!’ ”
On Sunday, Arizona State will face fourth-seeded Miami (25-8), which wasted a 14-point lead but held on for a 69-62 win against 13th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (28-5), which had won 19 in a row.
Food for Thought
On the eve of her team’s first N.C.A.A. tournament game ever, Bethune-Cookman Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis summed up the task the Lady Wildcats face on Saturday against top-seeded Notre Dame, the defending national champion, in South Bend, Ind.
“Notre Dame has about eight McDonald’s All-Americans,” Blair-Lewis said she told her team before it left Florida. “We have about eight players who like to eat at McDonald’s.”
The Lady Wildcats (21-10), who earned the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference automatic berth by winning 10 of their last 11, face Muffet McGraw’s Fighting Irish (30-3), who have averaged 96 points in winning its last nine.
“We know we have a daunting task ahead of us, but we’ve been the underdogs all year,” Blair-Lewis said of having six players miss time for various injuries, including five knee operations.
