A couple more first-round games that messed up one of our brackets struck us as memorable:
1. Not a good weekend to be a Mountain West team: after the Cowgirls lost in the Lobos' gym, the Lobos lost in their own gym in a one-point heartbreaker.
WVU overcame foul trouble, turnovers, and the roar of the crowd: Chakia Cole led everybody, and scored the final, game-winning field goal as well. Her team faces Vanderbilt tonight.
UNM coach Don Flanagan says Cole nearly blindsided his team: "She has good quickness, she plays hard -- we really didn't have much of an answer... In fact I think that might be the most talented team we've played this year."
2. Before Saturday, some people-- OK, a lot of people-- didn't think Florida State belonged in the field. And some people-- OK, a lot of people-- remembered that Ohio State has a history of choking in tournament play.
Maybe the committee had some of both kinds of people: the committee looks better (and plenty of brackets look worse) after what must have been the last at-large bid throttled the Buckeyes, preserving a comfortable first-half lead.
The Seminoles had a double-digit edge on the boards. They'll play Oklahoma State, a fun but very beatable team who won by just twelve over Eastern Tennessee, with star guard Andrea Riley turning the ball over nine times.
What's up in Columbus? Voepel says the Buckeyes aren't motivated; why not?
3. Coppin State looked scrappy against Maryland, staying within one possession early in the second half-- but it was a one-sixteen game, after all, and it ended the way you'd expect.
The Basket Cases saw three of four College Park games; we hope to read their takes on the next two. Maryland will face Nebraska Tuesday.
Usually conference records are meaningless, because conferences that get rewarded (by placing bubble teams in the tourney) then look "bad" when their bubble teams lose. This year, not so much: the Big XII won all eight of their first round games. The Big East are, so far, 5-2, the ACC 5-1, the Big Ten 1-3, the A-Ten 1-2, and the MWC 0-3.
1. Not a good weekend to be a Mountain West team: after the Cowgirls lost in the Lobos' gym, the Lobos lost in their own gym in a one-point heartbreaker.
WVU overcame foul trouble, turnovers, and the roar of the crowd: Chakia Cole led everybody, and scored the final, game-winning field goal as well. Her team faces Vanderbilt tonight.
UNM coach Don Flanagan says Cole nearly blindsided his team: "She has good quickness, she plays hard -- we really didn't have much of an answer... In fact I think that might be the most talented team we've played this year."
2. Before Saturday, some people-- OK, a lot of people-- didn't think Florida State belonged in the field. And some people-- OK, a lot of people-- remembered that Ohio State has a history of choking in tournament play.
Maybe the committee had some of both kinds of people: the committee looks better (and plenty of brackets look worse) after what must have been the last at-large bid throttled the Buckeyes, preserving a comfortable first-half lead.
The Seminoles had a double-digit edge on the boards. They'll play Oklahoma State, a fun but very beatable team who won by just twelve over Eastern Tennessee, with star guard Andrea Riley turning the ball over nine times.
What's up in Columbus? Voepel says the Buckeyes aren't motivated; why not?
3. Coppin State looked scrappy against Maryland, staying within one possession early in the second half-- but it was a one-sixteen game, after all, and it ended the way you'd expect.
The Basket Cases saw three of four College Park games; we hope to read their takes on the next two. Maryland will face Nebraska Tuesday.
Usually conference records are meaningless, because conferences that get rewarded (by placing bubble teams in the tourney) then look "bad" when their bubble teams lose. This year, not so much: the Big XII won all eight of their first round games. The Big East are, so far, 5-2, the ACC 5-1, the Big Ten 1-3, the A-Ten 1-2, and the MWC 0-3.
posted by Jessie B at 11:35 AM
