NCAA Women's Tournament 2015: Analyzing Top Games to Watch in Round of 32
Sports fans are a fickle lot. They love to see greatness, but only for so long before it gets torn down. The NCAA women's tournament may find itself in that kind of predicament through no fault of its own thanks to one team in particular.
It's no secret that Connecticut is the best women's basketball program in the country. That's not up for debate, even with other great programs like Notre Dame and South Carolina, to name a couple, doing terrific things.
What Geno Auriemma has built the Lady Huskies to be may fall on the same level as John Wooden's UCLA teams from the 1960s when we look back on things in 10 years. Yet the fascination with wanting to see the hierarchy topple when it gets too dominant for its own good will only grow.
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In looking at some of the remaining round of 32 games, let's step back to appreciate what individual teams are doing right now. None of the other programs still alive in the tournament have to be UConn in order to win a national championship. That's the magic of March basketball.
No. 1 Maryland vs. No. 8 Princeton
There isn't going to be a more intriguing game in the women's tournament than Maryland vs. Princeton in the second round. The Terrapins are the top seed in the Spokane Region after going 18-0 in the Big Ten and winning the conference tournament title.
What makes this matchup so unique is Princeton enters the game as the only undefeated team in the country at 30-0. The Tigers got here with a 10-point victory over Green Bay in the round of 64, but now the real test starts.
Maryland is an odd team because it's not loaded with star-caliber players. In the first tournament win over New Mexico State, three players scored double figures, and four of the five players in the starting lineup had at least five rebounds.
Brionna Jones has size on the inside that can give a lot of teams problems, like she did against New Mexico State with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Keli Fulton of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic pointed out how well Jones did even with extra defenders her way:
That's not meant as a dig at the Terps, who are like the female version of this year's Atlanta Hawks. Yet if it's possible to call an undefeated team an underdog, the Tigers are a bunch that deserves to be praised and merit more respect than it has gotten already.
Mark Whicker of the Los Angeles Daily News wrote that Princeton doesn't view being undefeated as a burden because it's been building to this moment:
"The pressure disappears when you exercise the privilege of beating everyone else into vapor. Princeton got those 30 wins by an average margin of nearly 25 points. Their rebound margin was more than 10 a game, and their opponents shot just 24.7 percent from the 3-point line.
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Whicker also notes that this is an experience-laden team with five juniors, a star in Michelle Miller and a terrific head coach in Courtney Banghart.
There's no way it would be a surprise if Maryland won. There's never been a No. 1 seed that has won in the round of 32 anyone would classify as a surprise, yet Princeton is ascending. It's also not like the Tigers haven't been tested, ranking 12th in RPI, which is only six spots behind Maryland.
This isn't a typical No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed matchup in the women's tournament. Princeton is going to make this a thrilling battle for 40 minutes. I will even go so far as to call the upset.
No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 8 Rutgers
With one No. 1 seed predicted to go down, why not have two? I'm just kidding. There's little doubt the Huskies will continue their torrid pace after making St. Francis BRK feel bad about getting in the tournament in an 89-33 loss.
The sports equivalent for UConn women's basketball right now is Ronda Rousey. UFC's top star and women's bantamweight champion has taken a total of 96 seconds to win her last three fights. That's the kind of domination never seen in the sport.
Despite the dominance consistently displayed by the Huskies, it's a hard team to root against because of the playing style. This is why you need to pay close attention to UConn, which was described in detail by John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant:
"The Huskies play defense better than anyone else; they've held their first 34 opponents to just 47.2 points and a shooting percentage of 29.9, currently an all-time program record. That takes effort.
But surviving defensive pressure is literally just half the battle. More imposing, perhaps even logistically impossible, is stopping an offense that this season features five starters scoring in double-figures and may soon have them all with at least 100 assists. That takes unselfishness.
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In no way do I want to suggest watching this game expecting to see any kind of upset. I am telling you to watch this to see team basketball played at the highest possible level.
For instance, in the game against St. Francis, Morgan Tuck went 12-of-13 from the field with 26 points. That on its own would be a great stat line, but adding a team-leading eight assists takes it to another level.
No, it wasn't against top-level competition, but how many players are putting up that kind of line against a No. 16 seed?
Pure basketball is not always prevalent on the men's or women's side, as too many players try to create their own highlights, but Connecticut does things as a team that no one in the country comes close to matching.
No. 3 Arizona State vs. No. 11 Arkansas-Little Rock
Moving back to games you should watch because of the competitiveness, Arkansas-Little Rock is a sneaky No. 11 seed capable of advancing to the Sweet 16. The Trojans don't have the kind of eye-popping resume that will jump out, with no wins against ranked opponents.
Yet there's been a level of consistency from this team in the last three months that's hard to ignore. Its last two losses have come by a total of four points, and it got here with an impressive win over Texas A&M.
Arkansas-Little Rock shot well, hitting 45.5 percent of its field goals against the Aggies, but the defense forcing 12 turnovers and limiting them to two made three-pointers is impressive.
Upsets happen in large part thanks to defense. Scoring is easy for a lot of teams, so finding one capable of shutting down an opponent is critical. Arizona State had a strong team effort against Ohio in the round of 64, but the Bobcats relied so heavily on three-point shooting that once it failed, there was no way to stick around.
Arkansas-Little Rock's stars stepped up on the big stage against Texas A&M, as noted by Troy Schulte of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:
That's also crucial to pulling off upsets for smaller programs, getting the most out of key players in big games. Taylor Gault was unstoppable, and she will command a lot of attention from the Sun Devils.
Another reason for optimism is Arizona State's issues scoring the ball consistently. The Sun Devils have been held under 60 points in three of their last five games. It hasn't mattered because the defense has stepped up to get them four wins in that stretch.
Sophie Brunner is the only offensive threat that scares opponents, as her performance in the Pac-12 tournament shows, via ASU basketball:
The Sun Devils are more talented and have the right mix of talent to win, so they get the slight edge, but Arkansas-Little Rock should not be underestimated in this spot.
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