Women's Tournament 2014: Subregionals Day 1 Scores, Updated Bracket and Schedule
With 16 games on the schedule for Day 1 of the 2014 women's NCAA tournament, basketball fans got their fill of heart-stopping action.
The men's tourney has already seen its fair share of remarkable upsets, and the ladies wouldn't be outdone on Saturday.
Here's a breakdown of the results from every game, along with Sunday's schedule and a full recap.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
For the full bracket, check out NCAA.com
Saturday Scores
| Lincoln | Duke (No. 2) | Winthrop (No. 15) | 87-45 |
| Notre Dame | Kentucky (No. 3) | Wright State (No. 14) | 106-60 |
| Notre Dame | Arizona State (No. 9) | Vanderbilt (No. 8) | 69-61 |
| Notre Dame | Oklahoma State (No. 5) | FGCU (No. 12) | 61-60 (OT) |
| Lincoln | DePaul (No. 7) | Oklahoma (No. 10) | 104-100 |
| Notre Dame | Notre Dame (No. 1) | Robert Morris (No. 16) | 93-42 |
| Notre Dame | Syracuse (No. 6) | Chattanooga (No. 11) | 59-53 |
| Notre Dame | Purdue (No. 4) | Akron (No. 13) | 84-55 |
| Louisville | Tennessee (No. 1) | Northwestern State (No. 16) | 70-46 |
| Lincoln | Nebraska (No. 4) | Fresno State (No. 13) | 74-55 |
| Notre Dame | California (No. 7) | Fordham (No. 10) | 64-63 |
| Stanford | Florida State (No. 10) | Iowa State (No. 7) | 55-44 |
| Louisville | St. Johns (No. 8) | USC (No. 9) | 71-68 |
| Notre Dame | Baylor (No. 2) | Western Kentucky (No. 15) | 87-74 |
| Lincoln | BYU (No. 12) | North Carolina State (No. 5) | 72-57 |
| Stanford | Stanford (No. 2) | South Dakota (No. 15) | 81-62 |
Sunday Schedule
| 12:30 p.m. | (13) Army vs. (4) Maryland | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
| 12:30 p.m. | (14) Wichita State vs. (3) Penn State | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
| 12:30 p.m. | (12) Hampton vs. (5) Michigan State | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
| 12:30 p.m. | (10) Georgia Tech vs. (7) LSU | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
| 3 p.m. | (15) Albany vs. (2) West Virginia | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 3 p.m. | (13) UT Martin vs. (4) North Carolina | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 3 p.m. | (12) Pennsylvania vs. (5) Texas | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 3 p.m. | (11) Florida vs. (6) Dayton | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 5:30 p.m. | (14) Idaho vs. (3) Louisville | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 5:30 p.m. | (16) Cal State Northridge vs. (1) South Carolina | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 5:30 p.m. | (11) James Madison vs. (6) Gonzaga | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 5:30 p.m. | (9) Saint Joseph's vs. (8) Georgia | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 8 p.m. | (16) Prairie View A&M vs. (1) Connecticut | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
| 8 p.m. | (14) North Dakota vs. (3) Texas A&M | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
| 8 p.m. | (11) Marist vs. (6) Iowa | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
| 8 p.m. | (9) Oregon State vs. (8) Middle Tennessee | ESPN 2 | Watch ESPN |
Recap
Duke 87, Winthrop 45
Not surprisingly, Duke had little trouble dispatching Winthrop on Saturday, winning by a score of 87-45.
Led by guard Tricia Liston (20 points, six rebounds and three assists), as pointed out by NCAA Women's BKB, the Blue Devils put on a clinic of offensive balance, as five players tallied double-digit points totals:
After Duke's men's team was shocked by Mercer the day before, many fans, including Will Oliver, were pleased that at least one of the Blue Devils squads lived up to expectations this March:
Duke wasn't the only top program that rolled a lesser opponent on Saturday.
Kentucky 106, Wright State 60
Kentucky absolutely stomped Wright State by a score of 106-60, thanks to a balanced offensive attack in which seven players scored at least 11 points.
It was the perfect way for the Wildcats to get their tournament started in what is essentially a series of home games in Lexington.
Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell had this to say before the game about playing at home in the tournament, via Jennifer Smith of Kentucky.com, saying the team needed to "enjoy being at home, enjoy being in Lexington, enjoy playing at our facility, but really understand that it's not going to guarantee you a thing. You have to go out and earn you some victories here."
There will be sterner tests to come, but the Wildcats are off to a tremendous start.
Arizona State 69, Vanderbilt 61
Arizona State outlasted Vanderbilt to advance, winning 69-61 in a thrilling contest that kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the contest.
Katie Hempen was on fire from behind the arc, as pointed out by ESPN's Beth Mowins, hitting on four of her five attempts:
She led the way for the Sun Devils with 16 points, while Sophie Brunner did solid work inside with 14 points and nine rebounds. Marqu'es Webb (18 points and eight rebounds) and Christina Foggie (16 points and six assists) were stellar for the Commodores, but they couldn't carry their team to victory.
Oklahoma State 61, FGCU 60
FGCU gave Oklahoma State a scare in the final early game, taking the Cowgirls to overtime.
In the end, however, Oklahoma State's balanced scoring and stifling defense proved too difficult to overcome, and the Cowgirls won by the thinnest of margins, 61-60. FGCU didn't play like a No. 12 seed on Saturday, as noted by Keegan Davis, and the contest was incredibly close throughout:
They had to overcome a poor showing by star guard Tiffany Bias, who couldn't find her shot and finished with just six points on 1-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Notre Dame 93, Robert Morris 42
Notre Dame routed Robert Morris, to nobody's surprise, winning by a blowout score of 93-42.
From the get-go, the Fighting Irish were dropping shot after shot into the bottom of the net—hardly the display of a team that hadn't hit the court in nearly two weeks, as pointed out by Angelo Di Carlo of WNDU in South Bend:
At the half, the contest was already in the bag, with Notre Dame leading 50-15, and Colonials couldn't do much to stop the bleeding in the second half.
Depaul 104, Oklahoma 100
DePaul appeared to be heading for a similarly easy win over Oklahoma after going up 50-34 at halftime. The Blue Demons were scorching the net early on, as relayed by Alicia Powers Pope of DePaul University, and the hot shooting continued throughout the contest.
However, Oklahoma came storming back with a tremendous second half, turning what looked to be another blowout into one of the most entertaining games of the season.
Both teams were dropping buckets, causing Wendy Parker of Blue Star Media to wonder which squad would come up with a pivotal defensive stop at the end:
In the end, DePaul found a way to hang on for a four-point victory, winning 104-100, despite the fact that neither team could generate much in the way of defense in the second half.
Purdue 84, Akron 55
The Akron Zips were no match for Purdue on Saturday.
The Boilermakers utilized stifling defense to hold Akron in check all afternoon long at Mackey Arena, and the team's shooters were in fine form as well, leading to a 84-55 victory.
The biggest difference in the game, however, was Purdue's dominance on the glass. The Boilermakers out-rebounded the Zips by 22 on the day, giving Akron few second chances while capitalizing on plenty of their own.
Syracuse 59, Chattanooga 53
The most agonizing contest in the second round of games on Saturday was between Chattanooga and Syracuse. Fans of defensive slugfests surely relished the action, but those who prefer high-scoring affairs likely turned the channel early in the proceedings.
Neither team could generate easy buckets, as defense reigned supreme.
Syracuse's full-court press ruled the day, as Phil D'Abbraccio of the Daily Orange pointed out, helping the Orange overcome their shooting woes:
Syracuse held on to win by a score of 59-53.
There were no upsets to report in the third series of games on Saturday, but there was a scare.
Tennessee 70, Northwestern State 46
Tennessee shouldn't have had any issues dispatching its first opponent, but Northwestern State took advantage of a poor effort by the Volunteers in the first half to keep things interesting, trailing by just two points at halftime.
As Matt Zemek pointed out, men's top seeds aren't the only ones to struggle come tournament time.
Thankfully for the top seed in the tourney, Isabelle Harrison helped engineer a 12-0 run in the second half, and the Lady Vols ran away with the game by score of 70-46.
Nebraska 74, Fresno State 55
Nebraska didn't fall into a similar trap in its contest against Fresno State.
The Cornhuskers jumped out to a 10-point lead at the half and then continued to pull away with a 74-55 win over the Bulldogs.
Jordan Hooper had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way, and Rachel Theriot dished 12 assists in an impressive display of vision and timing with her teammates.
As shown by B1G Women's Hoops, Hooper also made history on Saturday:
California 64, Fordham 63
The Cal Bears beat Fordham by just one point to advance, winning 64-63, thanks to Brittany Boyd's game-winner with just 14 seconds left.
Boyd led all scorers, and she added 10 assists and six rebounds. Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times loved what she saw from the junior guard, noting 16 of her 22 total points came in the second half:
Three Rams players scored at least 15 points, but there wasn't enough support behind them to secure the victory.
Florida State 55, Iowa State 44
Florida State scored a minor upset by taking down Iowa State, 55-44.
Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), Natasha Howard put together her school-record 15th double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Seminoles over the Cyclones.
A date with No. 2 seed Stanford in the second round could quickly put to bed any talk of advancing deep, however.
Stanford 81, South Dakota 62
The Cardinal cruised over South Dakota late in the evening, 81-62. It While it didn't match Notre Dame's gargantuan blowout over Robert Morris, there was never any doubt about which team would win.
Chiney Ogwumike led with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, adding a block and a steal on defense.
Jeremy Hoeck of the Yankton Press and Dakotan pointed out a key reason for Stanford's easy win:
Stanford's offense was in cruise control, and the team cleaned up on the boards, out-rebounding the Coyotes by 11.
Baylor 87, Western Kentucky 74
Baylor needed every ounce of offensive prowess to beat Western Kentucky, as the two teams combined to score 161 points. The Bears did just enough to stave off a nail-biter, winning 87-74.
Nina Davis and Odyssey Sims combined to score 63 of Baylor's 87 points, and if not for their inspired efforts, an upset special would have been on the menu. Both totaled over 30 points, as pointed out by Baylor Proud, and Davis' 32 were a career high:
The strong performances were exciting to watch, but Baylor will need more from its role players going forward to compete for a title.
St. Johns 71, USC 68
Just as we saw earlier in the day when Arizona State and Vanderbilt gave one another a tremendous fight as No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, USC and St. Johns were an equal match. Ultimately, the Red Storm prevailed 71-68 over the Trojans.
Aliyyah Handford led all scorers with 27 points. She was particularly active attacking the basket inside, resulting in 15 free-throw attempts—11 of which she made.
BYU 72, North Carolina State 57
Closing things out on Saturday was the tournament's first big upset.
North Carolina State fell hard to BYU, 72-57, sending the No. 12-seeded Cougars into the second round.
Four Cougars scored in the double digits, and the entire team was firing on all cylinders. BYU Women's Hoops provided stats for its top scorers:
The Wolfpack couldn't buy a bucket, hitting on just 27.4 percent of their attempts from the field, and BYU gobbled up rebounds like it was cotton candy, totaling 53 on the day.
The tournament is just getting started, and, as such, there will surely be plenty of shocking results in the latter rounds. Unlike the men's tourney, however, top-seeded teams almost always end up competing for the championship.
It will be fascinating to see which Cinderella emerges from the fray after the first few rounds are completed.
Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
