NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2023: Odds, Picks for Monday's Bracket
The Indiana Hoosiers will try to avoid the early elimination suffered by one of their fellow No. 1 seeds in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
Indiana is the last top seed left to play in the second round. The Big Ten side will try to join the South Carolina Gamecocks and Virginia Tech Hokies in the Sweet 16 and avoid an upset like the Stanford Cardinal suffered on Sunday night.
The Hoosiers could be in more danger Monday than they were in their 30-point first-round win.
Leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes missed the first-round game as a precaution because of a knee injury, but she is expected to play against the Miami Hurricanes at Assembly Hall.
The 6'3" forward's presence on the floor makes Indiana a Final Four contender. She averages 22.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Holmes is just one of a few dominant scorers who will play in Monday's second-round games.
Villanova's Maddy Siegrist, the NCAA's leading scorer this season, will try to lead the Wildcats into the Sweet 16 against one of the two double-digit seeds left in the tournament.
Monday Second-Round Odds
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No. 6 North Carolina at No. 3 Ohio State (-5) | 4 p.m. ET, ESPN
No. 12 Toledo at No. 4 Tennessee (-14.5) | 6 p.m. ET, ESPN2
No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast at No. 4 Villanova (-6.5) | 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
No. 5 Louisville at No. 4 Texas (-8) | 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
No. 9 Miami at No. 1 Indiana (-14.5) | 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2
No. 7 Baylor at No. 2 UConn (-15) | 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
No. 6 Colorado at No. 3 Duke (-7) | 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU
No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 4 UCLA (-6.5) | 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2
No. 9 Miami at No. 1 Indiana (-14.5)
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Indiana cruised to a 30-point victory without Holmes in the first round, but that was the expected result for a top seed playing at home against a No. 16 seed.
Holmes scored over 20 points in six of her last seven appearances, the last of which was in the Big Ten tournament semifinal loss to Ohio State in a 12-point game.
Indiana's leading scorer practiced Sunday and she is expected to play in some capacity on Monday.
"She's more than ready to be in the lineup [Monday] and see playing time," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said, per the Associated Press' Michael Marot. "Whether that will be limited, probably, but we're prepared for that."
Indiana will still rely on guards Grace Berger and Sydney Parrish to score a bulk of the points, but if Holmes is able to go for even 15-20 minutes, it could make a huge difference against a Miami team that has had trouble containing a trio of scorers in recent losses.
The Hurricanes allowed three players to reach double figures in recent ACC losses to Virginia Tech, Louisville and Syracuse.
Miami has a 2-5 record against Top 25 teams, and it scored a combined 82 points in its last two matchups with ranked foes.
Holmes can help with Indiana's defense as well, and that could be vital to the Hoosiers coming away with a double-digit win, covering the spread and avoiding the same fate as Stanford.
No. 12 FGCU at No. 4 Villanova (-6.5)
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Villanova suffered three losses since December 21, all of which came against UConn.
The Wildcats have been terrific against every other team they have faced in that span, and one of college basketball's most prolific scorers should power her team into the Sweet 16 on her home court.
Siegrist has reached the 20-point mark in every game this season. She started Villanova's NCAA tournament run with 35 points against Cleveland State.
Florida Gulf Coast's chances of winning come down to slowing Siegrist's scoring production. The Eagles held Washington State's Charlisse Leger-Walker, who averages 17.7 points per game, to five points in their first-round upset.
Holding another star player under 10 points will be a difficult task in a true road game for FGCU.
Five of Villanova's last six home victories were by double digits. DePaul was the only team to stick within single digits of the Wildcats in their recent wins at Finneran Pavilion.
If Siegrist gets to the basket early, it could be a long night for FGCU, and that could eliminate the possibility of a double-digit seed advancing to the Sweet 16.
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No. 12 Toledo at No. 4 Tennessee (-14.5)
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Tennessee is tied with Indiana as the second-biggest favorite on the board for Monday's second-round games.
The Lady Volunteers are expected to knock out the other double-digit seed left in the bracket, Toledo, on their home floor, where they have been dominant for most of the season.
Tennessee blew out Saint Louis by 45 points in the first round, and it had six double-digit home wins in SEC play. It held four of those opponents under 60 points in those large victories.
The only true struggles that the Lady Vols felt at home since January 1 were against UConn and South Carolina, who are two of the top five teams in the sport.
Toledo comes into Monday on a 17-game winning streak, including a first-round upset of fifth-seeded Iowa State.
The Rockets had a mixed bag of success in nonconference play against Power Five conference teams. They scored 41 points in a loss to Duke and 59 points in a defeat to Penn State, but they beat Michigan on the road on December 8.
The MAC champion could pose a threat to Tennessee early on, but it could have hard time containing Rickea Jackson and Jordan Horston, who both average over 15 points per game for the Vols.
Jackson and Horston combined for 39 points in the first round and they helped the Lady Vols hold Saint Louis to 32.8 percent from the field and 15.0 percent from three-point range.
Tennessee is capable of slowing down Toledo's offense, and if it can hold another opponent under 40 percent from the field, it should cruise into the second weekend.
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