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Oregon fought for its fourth Sweet 16 look in program historical past — in some circumstances, fairly actually.
Oregon’s 57-50 win over Georgia, a No. Three seed, was very bodily, with gamers diving, ducking and knocking one another over in a joust for management. The Ducks’ peak benefit helped them to cross the ball effectively over Georgia, forcing the Bulldogs to play nearer to the ground and, in some circumstances, inflicting them handy the ball over.
Tied at halftime, the Ducks, a No. 6 seed, capitalized on these bad-pass and dropped-ball turnovers to take a 7-point lead within the third quarter. Taylor Mikesell took a quick break for a layup, adopted shortly by Nyara Sabally hitting a jumper within the paint with simply over three minutes left within the third.
Oregon shot 5 for 12 from past the arc whereas Georgia made solely considered one of its 13 3-point makes an attempt. Sedona Prince was the most important scorer with 22 factors for the Ducks. Georgia’s main contributor, Jenna Staiti, had 18.
But Georgia fought again within the fourth, at one level taking a 1-point lead with 4 minutes left on a layup by guard Mikayla Coombs. From there, the groups traded baskets till Oregon solidified a six-point lead on a layup and a jumper by Sabally.
By the tip, the Bulldogs seemed downtrodden, and a set of free throws by Mikesell sealed the victory.
After the sport, the Ducks huddled up on the courtroom for a celebration, the cheers of invited family and friends echoing within the background.
Maryland flexed its offensive may in a dominant win over No. 7 seed Alabama, beating the Crimson Tide, 100-64. The Terrapins reached their 2020-21 season common — 91 factors — with almost 5 minutes left within the fourth quarter. It was Maryland’s seventh sport scoring no less than 100 factors this season.
Angel Reese, a freshman who entered Maryland because the No. 2 recruit within the nation and was sidelined by a foot harm in her fourth collegiate sport, made Eight of 12 pictures for 19 factors in a usually environment friendly efficiency. Faith Masonius, who comes off Maryland’s bench, went 7 for Eight for a profession excessive 16 factors.
Alabama senior Jasmine Walker, a high W.N.B.A. prospect, led all scorers with 23 factors — which nonetheless wasn’t sufficient to stymie the Maryland’s onslaught.
Maryland’s win was one thing of a turnabout two days after its males’s staff fell to Alabama within the second spherical of the lads’s event, a sport by which the Crimson Tide scored 96 factors.
When the Wright State Raiders beat No. 4 Arkansas on Monday, they stunned lots of people. It was the primary time a No. 13 seed had received a ladies’s N.C.A.A. event sport since 2012, in any case. But nothing about the best way the 66-62 victory transpired stunned them.
“We just played our game: made a couple upsets, busted a couple brackets,” Angel Baker informed reporters after scoring 26 factors to steer the Raiders to their first N.C.A.A. event win. “We can beat anybody.”
Baker was undoubtedly the staff’s star, and her environment friendly, fast scoring and spectacular courtroom imaginative and prescient immediately made that apparent to anybody watching.
The Raiders’ power, although, is fundamentals. They’re among the best rebounding groups within the nation, and so even with out capturing notably nicely they’re capable of collect 42.5 p.c of their misses — the fifth-most within the nation.
That emphasis comes from fifth-year head coach Katrina Merriweather, who has received Horizon League Coach of the Year thrice. Wright State is her first head teaching place.
“We are a driving, rebounding, defending team,” Merriweather mentioned. “I don’t think we can pretend to be anything else. I don’t think we can try to be anything else and be any good at it. So that had to be our game plan.”
The Raiders get one other defense-oriented staff within the No. 5 seed Missouri State Bears, who common greater than 40 rebounds per sport.
“Sometimes we can get a little distracted with how good we think we are,” Merriweather mentioned. “But we just talk about playing to our potential. If we do that, and stay bought into what our plan is, we’ll have a chance to compete with anybody.”
The event video games can be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU and can be streamed on the ESPN app. Here’s the schedule for Wednesday (all occasions Eastern):
Wednesday
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1 p.m. — No. 2 seed Maryland vs. No. 7 seed Alabama, ESPN2
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Three p.m. — No. Three seed Georgia vs. No. 6 seed Oregon, ESPN2
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Three p.m. — No. 5 seed Missouri State vs. No. 13 seed Wright State, ESPNU
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5 p.m. — No. 2 seed Louisville vs. No. 7 seed Northwestern, ESPN 2
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5 p.m. — No. Four seed Indiana vs. No. 12 seed Belmont, ESPNU
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7 p.m. — No. 2 seed Texas A&M vs. No. 7 seed Iowa State, ESPN2
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7 p.m. — No. Three seed Arizona vs. No. 11 seed Brigham Young University, ESPNU
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9 p.m. — No. Three seed U.C.L.A. vs. No. 6 seed Texas, ESPN2
Alabama hasn’t pulled off any upsets but, however the seventh-seeded squad has already made historical past with its first event win since 1999.
The Crimson Tide are taking part in their finest basketball of the season proper now, led by a trio of seniors who share the ball nicely and are used to taking part in powerful groups — even when they haven’t normally been capable of safe a win. Alabama is 0-Eight in opposition to packages ranked within the Associated Press Top 25, and is in search of its first victory over an elite staff Wednesday in its matchup with No. 2 seed Maryland.
“When you put the work in, you have to be confident enough to come out here and know that you can do it,” redshirt senior Jordan Lewis informed mentioned. She has began each sport for the Crimson Tide since becoming a member of this system in 2016.
“I think when a lot of people doubt you or don’t have confidence in you, you have to have it within your team and your coaches,” she added. “We’ve really had each other’s back throughout the whole year.”
Lewis, a 5-foot-7 guard, had a profession sport in Alabama’s defeat of North Carolina on Monday, almost incomes a triple-double with 32 factors, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Lewis and her senior compatriots Ariyah Copeland and Jasmine Walker every common no less than 10 factors. Walker is considered one of Division I’s high 3-point shooters, making 40 p.c of her makes an attempt.
Still, they’ll must play their finest sport of the season once more to have an opportunity in opposition to Maryland, which boasts the best scoring offense within the nation. The Terrapins aren’t untouchable: They have misplaced 5 occasions within the second spherical of the event since 2010, and in 4 of these matchups they have been the upper seed.
Plus now, the Tide are taking part in unfastened. “I think it takes off a lot of weight off of us,” Lewis mentioned. “It’s just so fun to play with your teammates and not have that weight on your shoulders anymore.”
It’s inconceivable to disregard how rapidly Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers have developed into offensive juggernauts — the freshmen lead their groups and are each among the many finest in Division I in scoring and assists. When they meet within the Sweet 16 it guarantees to be one of many event’s splashiest matchups.
There are loads of different freshmen in search of to make their mark within the postseason, nonetheless. Several have already got, simply with barely much less eye-popping numbers.
Belmont freshman guard Destinee Wells led her 12th-seeded staff to its first N.C.A.A. event win over Gonzaga with 25 factors, 7 assists and three steals. The 5-foot-6 Wells even had a block — a testomony to the willpower and vitality she confirmed all through the sport. Plus, she performs finest in massive circumstances: Wells’ profession scoring excessive got here in the course of the Ohio Valley convention event, the place she scored 32 factors to push her staff to a win and its fifth consecutive N.C.A.A. event berth.
“We just played a really good defensive team and for her to do what she did against those guys gave us a chance to showcase how good she is,” Belmont Coach Bart Brooks mentioned after the sport. “Now, I don’t think anyone who’s watched us play would walk away without some major respect for Destinee Wells.”
It’s not simply underdogs which are fueled by younger expertise. The freshman duo in Louisville’s beginning lineup, Hailey Van Lith and Olivia Cochran, mix for 21 factors per sport and supply important help to all-American Dana Evans. Cochran averages almost 13 rebounds per sport and in her first event sport, Van Lith led all scorers with 17 factors.
“We were talking and only two of our players have played in the N.C.A.A. tournament for Louisville,” Van Lith mentioned. “So obviously, it’s a really young team. And I wouldn’t say we were nervous or scared, but there was just overall excitement.”
Stanford’s Cameron Brink is yet one more freshman starter for a high staff. The 6-foot-Four ahead has an A-list pedigree: She shares a coach with Megan Rapinoe, and Dell and Sonya Curry — the dad and mom of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry — are her godparents. That’s all irrelevant on the courtroom, after all. There, she blocks almost 15 p.c of the pictures that come her approach, and is as dependable as may be scoring under the basket — in her second event sport, she even hit a 3-pointer, her 10th of the season.
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