Women's Tournament 2014: Sweet 16 Day 1 Scores and Schedule for Sweet 16 Day 2

The Sweet 16 is only sweet for the winners.

The first day of action from the regional semifinals in the 2014 women's tournament featured four highly anticipated contests, and there are still four more to be played on Sunday.

BYU surprised many by making it to this point as a No. 12 seed. But as Lindsay Schnell of SI.com points out, "Parity is growing in women’s college basketball..."

At this point in the proceedings, every player, team and coach is holding nothing back, and as such, the level of competition is peaking to a crescendo heading into the Elite Eight.

Here's a look at the results from Saturday's action, followed by Sunday's schedule and a full recap. 

For the full bracket, check out NCAA.com.

Saturday's Scores

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday's Schedule

Winner	Loser	Score
Baylor (No. 2)	Kentucky (No. 3)	90-72
Notre Dame (No. 1)	Oklahoma State (No. 5)	89-72
Connecticut (No. 1)	BYU (No. 12)	70-51
Texas A&M (No. 3)	DePaul (No. 7)	84-65

Recap

Baylor Cruises Past Kentucky

Time (ET)	Matchup	Watch	Live Stream
12 p.m.	(4) Maryland vs. (1) Tennessee	ESPN	Watch ESPN
2:30 p.m.	(7) LSU vs. (3) Louisville	ESPN 2	Watch ESPN
4:30 p.m.	(3) Penn State vs. (2) Stanford	ESPN 2	Watch ESPN
6:30 p.m.	(4) North Carolina vs. (1) South Carolina	ESPN 2	Watch ESPN

The Lady Bears couldn't be contained on Saturday, pummeling Kentucky by a score of 90-72.

And the game wasn't even as close as the score indicates.

Odyssey Sims and Nina Davis combined to score half of Baylor's 90 points, and Niya Johnson pitched in with an impressive double-double with 11 points and 11 assists.

Sims led the way with 25 points to spur the Bears into the Elite Eight once again, as shown by NCAA Women's BKB:

Paul Sancya

Sims' outstanding tournament sets her up for a potential record-breaking season. Richard Deitsch of SI.com provides the context:

She's emerged as a true leader for Baylor this year, but the role isn't one she's always been comfortable with. 

"She didn't want that role before, she never embraced it," coach Kim Mulkey said recently, as noted by the Associated Press (via the Tulsa Daily World). "This year, she embraced it, she wanted to be a captain and she is just mature now. ... She's always been talented, but it's just a level of maturity away from the floor, the level of maturity in how to handle herself and her teammates."

Kentucky couldn't buy a bucket for long stretches at a time, finishing the game having made just 34.8 percent of its shots from the field. 

Baylor was in control of this contest from start to finish, and the Bears appear poised for a run at the national championship. 

Notre Dame Continues Its Perfect Season Over Oklahoma State

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 14-0 lead over Oklahoma State, thanks to a flurry of defense-driven fast breaks, and never relented its lead, winning by a score of 89-72. 

The crowd in South Bend lauded the home team afterward, as shown by Notre Dame WBB:

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Natalie Achonwa and Jewell Loyd led the way for the Fighting Irish with 23 and 20 points, respectively, and Loyd dominated the glass with 12 rebounds.

The super sophomore Loyd passed a living legend, becoming the top scorer in school history through two seasons, as noted by ESPN Stats & Info:

The victory wasn't surprising in the least. 

Notre Dame has been rolling over opponents all year long, and this team is favored to win it all by many experts. 

Connecticut Steamrolls BYU in Second Half

The Cougars appeared to be a match for the Huskies through one half of play, as BYU trailed UConn by just one point, 30-29. BYU Women's Hoops provided stats for the top performers, with Kim Beeston leading the way:

As NJ.com's Andrew Zuckerman pointed out, it would have been a huge upset if BYU has managed to pull out the victory:

Unfortunately, the Cougars ran out of gas in the second half, and the undefeated Huskies outscored BYU 40-22 to win the game by 19 points. 

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis led the way for UConn with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Stefanie Dolson was one point away from a double-double, scoring nine points and tallying 13 boards. 

There's no shame in losing to a top-seeded team—especially an undefeated one. BYU's season was a huge success, whereas Connecticut won't be satisfied by anything other than a national title. 

There is still plenty of basketball to be played before the final contest, however, and momentum can shift in a hurry in the high-pressure environment of the NCAA tournament. 

Only one team will finish on a happy note, which is why these games offer so much for both fans and those competing. 

Balanced Texas A&M Overwhelms Upstart DePaul

All five Aggies starters scored in double figures to push past the seventh-seeded Blue Demons and advance to the Elite Eight.

Star guard Courtney Walker was extremely efficient, netting a game-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead Texas A&M. It was a showcase of outstanding execution, as the Aggies shot 60 percent from the floor as a team.

That helped to overcome a great performance by DePaul forward Jasmine Penny, who had 24 points and seven rebounds in defeat.

One the Aggies jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead, the game was too far out of hand for the Blue Demons to make a run. TexAgs.com noted this is the third trip to the Elite Eight in seven years for Texas A&M:

DAVE WEAVER

Point guard Jordan Jones shared her thoughts regarding what lies ahead for the Aggies on Monday: A matchup with undefeated Connecticut.

"If we follow our game plan, play hard and not worry about the fact it says UConn on their jersey, we'll be fine," said Jones, per the Associated Press' Eric Olson. "So many get caught up in the hype of it being UConn. It's that mental aspect of it."

As for DePaul, at least it can take solace in the fact that it made a valiant push in an era where women's college basketball is dominated by superior powers such as UConn and Notre Dame, who showed their might on Saturday.

Even Baylor has managed to remain a staple atop the sport following the departure of Brittney Griner. It often takes a sensational class or incredible player to turn the fortunes of a program around, so for the  Blue Demons to get to this point is an achievement to be proud of—and a foundation to build on for the future.

Top seeds in Tennessee and South Carolina headline Sunday's action, where the next four teams will be set for the regional finals. Those games shouldn't offer too much suspense, but hopefully a battle between second-seeded Stanford and No. 3 Penn State will provide a dose of March Madness suspense to the women's game.