Women’s College Basketball Conference Tournament Second & Quarterfinal Round Wins & Heartbreaks

ACC Tournament Second Round: Louisville Wins in Overtime

The first three games of the second round of the ACC tournament went as expected, with UNC (#5) defeating BC (#12), 78-71, Georgia Tech (#9) handing the Hokies a loss by a 15-point margin, 72-57, and Cal (#7) bursting past Virginia (#10) by a 17-point margin 75-58.

The final game of the second round between Louisville (#6) and Clemson (#14) turned out to be a closer matchup than expected with Clemson losing in overtime to Louisville 70 to 68. Louisville was able to pull away in overtime due to their 50% field goal shooting compared to Louisville shooting 37.5% in overtime. Louisville also had 32 combined points and 22 combined rebounds from Ja’Leah Williams and Tajianna Roberts. Louisville is a team that has seen a volatile year as they lost to nationally ranked out of conference opponents early in the year in UCLA, Kentucky, UConn, and Oklahoma, but beat then nationally ranked ACC opponents in Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Duke coming into the conference tournament.

ACC Quarterfinal Storylines: Tar Heels Hold off the Seminoles

Friday, to start the quarterfinals Florida State (#4) took on UNC (#5) losing 60-56 despite having the national leading scorer and ACC First Team Selection in Ta’Niya Latson. Latson has been averaging 25.4 points per game, but the Heels defense held Latson to only 13 points, five assists, and three rebounds. The Seminoles’ leading scorer another ACC First Team and All Defensive Team Selection, Makayla Timspon scored 15 points and contributed eight rebounds and eight blocks in the loss. For the Heels, their offense was spread evenly between four of their five starters with Alyssa Ustby (15 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 assists), Reniya Kelly (11 points), Lexi Donarski (12 points), and Indya Nivar (10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists).

Yellow Jackets Last Second Heartbreak

Perhaps the most perplexing game was NC State (#1) inching by Georgia Tech (#9) 73-72. The game had 14 lead changes and 12 ties. However, what was perplexing was with with seconds dwindling on the clock in the fourth quarter, down one, the Yellow Jackets Tonie Morgan brings the ball up the court and passes it off to ACC Sixth Player of the Year, Dani Carnegie. Seemingly unaware of the urgency, Carnegie lets the clock expire without getting a shot up. This causes Georgia Tech to lose a heartbreaker and the potential to knock off a one seed, something done only one other time in ACC conference tournament history.

Despite Louisville’s heroics early in the second round, the Cardinals did not have enough left in the tank to overcome the stifling defense of Duke Blue Devils (#3) as Duke won easily 61-48. Duke held their opponents to shooting 32% and 30% from deep range, and forced Louisville to make 21 turnovers. The Blue Devils offensive was evenly distributed between four players in double figures, with Oluchi Okananwa leading her team with 13 points.

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo Makes History

Later in the evening Notre Dame (#2) took care of business by knocking off Cal (#7) 73-64 largely due to the combination of the Irish big two in Hannah Hidalgo scoring 25 points and Olivia Miles contributing 14 points and six assists. In this game, Hidalgo passed former Irish standout 2018 national champion Arike Ogunbowale for the most 25-point games by a Notre Dame player over the last 25 seasons.

This is on top of recent news from the ACC, where Hidalgo was awarded Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards for this season. Hidalgo is just the third player in ACC history to earn both awards in a season, behind Duke’s Lindsay Harding (2007) and Virginia’s Monica Wright (2010). The guard also becomes the first player since Duke’s Elizabeth Williams (2012-2015) to win the Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons.

As the ACC inches closer towards the championship, the start of the semifinals begins today with the UNC and NC State playing each other for an instate rivalry at noon EST on ESPN2, followed by Notre Dame taking on Duke at 2:30 pm EST on ESPN2.

Big 10 Second Round Upset Wins for Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers

In the Big 10 second round Indiana (#9) defeats Oregon (#8) 78-62 to advance to the quarterfinals alongside Michigan (#5) who hands Washington (#12) a loss 66-58.

The second two games of the second round faired to be more interesting with Nebraska (#10) defeating Illinois (#7) 74-70, led by Big 10 All Freshman Team Cornhusker Britt Prince with 17 points and five assists. Nebraska was able to close the gap and take the win off 50% from beyond the arc, led by Prince. Nebraska is no stranger to a deep run in the Big 10 tournament. Last year the Cornhuskers made it the championship game but lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes on the back of basketball phenom Caitlin Clark who scored 34 points in the championship overtime win 94-89.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (#11) came into the Big 10 tournament on a hot streak having won five of their last six games, including a win against top five nationally ranked USC. The Hawkeyes cruised past Michigan State (#6) 74-61, in large part due to the scoring threat of Big 10 First Team Selection Lucy Olsen who had 21 points and nine assists, and Taylor McCabe who contributed four threes on the night. Perhaps, the unsung hero for the Hawkeyes on Thursday night was freshman Ava Heiden who contributed 11 points and four rebounds off the bench when senior forward Hannah Stuelke was in foul trouble. Michigan State’s Julia Ayrault, a redshirt senior for the Spartans, led the offense for her team with 17 points.

Big 10 Quarterfinals: USC Hangs On, Betts Leads UCLA past Nebraska

To start quarterfinal play on Friday in the Big 10, USC (#1) was challenged by Indiana (#9) but pulls out the win 84-79. This was in large part due to the dynamic play of The Athletic’s & Big 10’s Player of the Year JuJu Watkins who had 31 points, 10 rebounds, and shot an impressive 77% from the field for the game, alongside Big 10 Conference First Team selection Kiki Iriafen who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. The game was largely back and forth with nine lead changes and 5 times throughout the game the score was tied. Indiana outscored USC in the second and third quarters, but USC’s late scoring efforts in the fourth quarter earned them the win to advance to the semifinals.

The second and third games of the day saw Michigan (#5) pound the Maryland Terrapins (#4) by a 27-point margin to coast into the semifinals and UCLA (#2) halt Nebraska’s (#10) run in the tournament defeating the Cornhuskers 85-74 on the back of center Lauren Betts, Big 10’s Defensive Player of the Year, who had 28 points and 13 rebounds.

Joy for the Buckeyes, Heartbreak for the Hawkeyes

The final game of Friday evening saw Ohio State (#3) win in the final seconds of the game over Iowa (#11) 60-59. Again, at this point in these conference tournaments, the parity is undeniable and despite the Hawkeyes ranking, they battled with the Buckeyes until the last seconds of the game. This game saw eight lead changes, and nine times that the score was tied. The final play of the game came down to baseline inbound play with guard Olsen inbounding the ball with .07 seconds left on the clock, enough to throw a lob to Stuelke who attempted to turn and shoot, but the shot hit the rim and missed for the go ahead to win the game. The Buckeyes advance on to the semifinals with Big 10 First Team Selection Cotie McMahon leading all scorers with 18 points on the night.

The semifinals will resume today with USC (#1) taking on Michigan (#5) at 3 pm EST on the Big Ten Network and UCLA (#2) playing Ohio State (#3) at 5:30 pm EST on the Big Ten Network.

Big 12 Second Round Heroes: Texas Tech Lady Raiders

In the Big 12 second round Kansas State (#5) defeats UCF (#13) by 15 points 80-65. Colorado (#9) moves past Arizona 61-58, and Iowa State (#7) led by sophomore sensation and Big 12 First Team selection Audi Crooks wins over Arizona State (#15) 96-88.

Notably, the upset of the day was Texas Tech (#14), who had previously beaten Kansas (#11), beats University of Utah (#6), in an upset 75-64. Tech was led by Bailey Maupin who had 22 points and seven rebounds, but what was most impressive was the Lady Raiders kept the Utes to just 39.3% field goal shooting and 28.6% from beyond the arc for the day to advance to the quarterfinals.

Big 12 Quarter Finals

Moving into the quarterfinals on Friday, West Virginia (#4) holds off opponent Kansas State (#5) 73-69. The Mountaineers were led by all scorer and Big 12 back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year JJ Quinerly who has 24 points. The Kansas State Wildcats went into the second half with the lead 44-36 but West Virginia’s second half scoring allowed them to close the gap and take the win, as the Mountaineers outscored the Wildcats 20-14 in the third quarter and 17-11 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Van Lith and Hornfrogs Advance

TCU (#1) played their first contest of the Big 12 tournament on Friday as they had a double bye. The Hornfrogs defeat the Colorado Buffaloes (#9) 69-62, in large part due to the scoring and dominance of Hailey Van Lith who had 24 points coupled with center Sedona Prince’s 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Van Lith was recently named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year alongside Prince who was selected to the First Team. Colorado had very little offense outside of Jade Masogayo who contributed 22 points in her team’s loss on the afternoon.

In the evening games on Friday, Baylor (#2) holds on to beat Iowa State (#7) 69-63, despite Audi Crooks 32 point performance in the loss for the Cyclones. Baylor’s offense was spread evenly through a joint effort by Jada Walker (18 points), Aaronette Vonleh (12 points), Bella Fontleroy (12 points), and Aliyah Matharu coming off the bench with 12 points. The Bears also caused the Cyclones to commit 22 turnovers in the contest.

Texas Tech’s Run Comes to an End

The last matchup of the night saw the fall of Texas Tech (#14) who was playing for their third straight day in the tournament. Oklahoma State (#3) beat Texas Tech, coming down to the final minutes of the game, 62-59. As the game came to down to the final seconds, Texas Tech’s Jada Wynn missed a deep three attempt as the buzzer rang that would have tied the game for her squad and sent it to overtime. The Cowgirls were able to capitalize at the end of the game off free throws, converting 12-for-17 to pull ahead in the final minutes. Cowgirls Stailee Heard, another Big 12 First Team Selection, tied her career high 34 points in match up and led all scorers.

Semifinal games will begin today in the Big 12 at 3 pm CT between TCU (#1) and West Virginia (#4), followed by Baylor (#2) and Oklahoma State (#3) at 5:30 pm CT. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Other Nationally Ranked Top 25 Notable Teams to Watch

UConn (#3) and Creighton (#23) both had a bye during the opening of the Big East Conference tournament as the first and second seeds. They will both play today, UConn will play St. John’s (#8) in the Big East tournament at noon EST and Creighton will play Georgetown (#10) at 7 pm EST. Both of these games can be found on FS1.

South Dakota State, the final team in the top 25, will start play in their conference tournament next week in the Missouri Valley Conference in Evansville, Indiana.

More updates and news to come on all the women’s basketball Division I conference tournaments this weekend, continue to stay tuned.

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