Selection Sunday has passed. The field is set. The bracket has been revealed. For the next three weekends, 64 teams will vie for the NCAA basketball championship. Here is a preview of the women’s bracket.
What We Know
The #1 Seeds: UCLA is the top overall seed, with South Carolina, Texas and USC joining them. South Carolina comes into the Tournament having won last year’s championship. While they’re missing the dominant interior presence they’ve had in years past, they’re still a formidable opponent for anyone else in the field. The Gamecocks and their supporters may be a little surprised at not being the overall number one seed, but either way, they’re done talking. UCLA has been the best team for the most part of the season, but their two losses are to their biggest rival, who’s also on the #1 line. If chalk holds, the two Final Four matchups—Texas and South Carolina as well as USC and UCLA—will be the fourth time they occur this season. That makes for a hard-fought and well-earned trip to the Title Game.
The Field
But we know chalk rarely holds, especially these days. Part of the magic that is March Madness is the fact that upsets happen all through the bracket. Though a top-3 seed has won every women’s NCAA basketball championship since its inception, there are some very good teams outside of those 12 teams—but I’d still pick one of those 12 to win. UConn is the #2 seed no one wants to play, and Notre Dame is the #3 teams would rather avoid. The ACC still gets two #2 seeds even without the Irish, with Duke and NC State playing their way to host games the first weekend. Familiar faces like Baylor, LSU, and North Carolina are also in that top-4 tier. But the intrigue is outside of that as well. Teams like Tennessee, West Virginia and Vanderbilt have a chance to advance to the second weekend, given a seemingly favorable draw. There is also likely to be at least one double-digit seed to win a game, but it’s difficult to be even somewhat sure of who.
Several schools have earned their first Tournament bids ever. These include Fairleigh Dickinson, Arkansas State, George Mason, William & Mary, Grand Canyon and UC San Diego. That’s another great aspect of the Tournament—teams that experience going to The Big Dance for the first time. In between the heavy favorites and those newbies are a few dozen teams looking to go on a surprise run like NC State’s Final Four run a year ago.
Underappreciated Players to Watch
Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State. The nation’s leading scorer plays for the Seminoles. Latson comes into the Tournament averaging 25 a game for a Florida State team that finished with 23 wins and defeated Notre Dame in the ACC regular season. Latson is relentless to the basket, averaging nearly eight free throw attempts a game in 30 minutes on the floor. In addition, she shoots 45 percent on 19 shots a night. So despite being a volume scorer, she’s still efficient. She also doesn’t bog down the Noles’ offense, since teammate Makayla Timpson still averages a double-double. Florida State has George Mason in the round of 64 before a potential matchup with 3-seed LSU in Baton Rouge, with LSU down star forward Aneesah Morrow out with injury.
Harmoni Turner, Harvard. With her flowing blonde hair, Harmoni Turner nearly does it all for the Harvard Crimson. She leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. In the two games in the Ivy League conference tournament, Turner had 44 in the semifinal against Princeton and 24 against Columbia in the final. She is shooting a career-high 44% from the field and 36% from three. At 5’10”, Turner has the size to complete with other guards. The 10th-seeded Crimson have a first round date with Michigan State and those 7-10 matchups can get really interesting. Watch either against the Spartans this coming Saturday.
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia. The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year is also a 20-point scorer. And in March, quality guard play carries teams through the weekends. Quinerly is a tough-minded guard for the Mountaineers and poses a major threat for 3-seeded North Carolina if both teams win on Saturday in the Round of 64. Quinerly plays hard and applies pressure every minute she’s out there, which could be every minute of the game.
Sonja Citron, Notre Dame. I know the Fighting Irish are a high-profile team in college basketball, even appearing in national commercials and such. And a lot of the attention the team gets is due to head coach Niele Ivey and the All-American backcourt of Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo. But senior Sonja Citron has been the steady glue for the Irish. She’s their defensive stopper, sometimes asked to defend the opponent’s best player and sacrifice her scoring. But there’s a reason she’s on the first round board of WNBA scouts. She’s that good. She always makes the right play and is in the right position on the court. That is essential for the Irish to advance in the Tournament.
Sedona Prince, TCU. Sedona Prince is arguably the best player in the country that does not get the recognition as one of the best players in the country. Prince is the Horned Frogs’ 6’6” center and she is the fulcrum of everything the team does on offense and defense. Her chemistry with Louisville and LSU transfer point guard Hailey Van Lith is a big part of why TCU won the Big 12 outright in the regular season and conference tournament. While guards may be a major key to a team advancing to the next weekend and beyond, a dominant center is the great equalizer in college basketball—just ask Dawn Staley and South Carolina. Prince is 0.1 points behind Van Lith in scoring on the team, to go along with her 9 boards, 3.1 blocks per game and 58.7% shooting. TCU is in a tough draw with potential matchups against Notre Dame and Texas in the second weekend, but Prince and the rest of the Horned Frogs are more than capable of making it to Tampa.
“Predictions”
I don’t really like giving predictions. I don’t care about being wrong—we’re all guessing, anyway–but I would rather just let the Tournament unfold as is. With that said, I did fill out one bracket and that bracket has UCLA cutting down the nets. If the Bruins’ guards do not forget they have the best center in America on their team and let Lauren Betts lead them to six straight wins, then it’ll be tough to beat them. If their guard lead with their egos, they can be defeated, even before they reach Tampa. I think only about six teams can win it all, which are the four #1 seeds, UConn and Notre Dame. The winner of Texas’ region won’t win it, to me, because it’s so grueling of a run to get through, especially compared to South Carolina’s draw on that same side of the bracket. It’s a tall task to ask any team there to win the region and potentially beat the Gamecocks to get to the title game.
It also kind of feels like UConn is due for one, huh? It’s been none years since Geno and the Huskies have won, and Paige Bueckers would like nothing more than to cap off her legendary career with a title. No matter what happens, there will be excellent basketball played with drama, heartbreak, joy and passion. Happy March Madness everyone!
