Oklahoma City Round of 32 Game Breakdowns
Iowa will face Baylor in the round of 16 following a convincing victory over the Hurricanes in Oklahoma City. This is the first trip to the Sweet 16 for the Hawkeyes since 1996 and the first time for current coach Lisa Bluder. Iowa standout Bethany Doolittle scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the victory, which was due in part to the Hawkeyes’ red-hot shooting from the field (52.6 percent). This was Miami’s fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in the last five years and three starters return next season, so the Hurricanes should be fairly strong for future tournament runs.
Would Baylor have problems getting to the Sweet 16 following the loss of key players like Brittney Greiner? The answer was no. Baylor made the round of 16 for the seventh year in a row following a decisive win over the Razorbacks. Nina Davis scored 21 points and Niya Johnson had 12 assists and two steals in the Baylor victory. In this game Johnson upped her assists mark to 641. Keep in mind Johnson is only a junior, and it took Odyssey Sims all of four years to set an assists mark Johnson broke in under three seasons. Baylor has now won 21 consecutive home games with this win over Arkansas in the teams’ first meeting since 2001.
#1 Notre Dame vs. #9 DePaul (South Bend, Indiana)
The teams are only separated by over 100 miles and an interstate highway, but there is more separation than that on the charts. This game is on Notre Dame’s campus, where the Irish (32-2) have a decisive edge. Notre Dame has only lost five times at home in the last five seasons, but this game could be interesting if the same DePaul team shows up that faced the Irish in December. In that game, Notre Dame defeated DePaul 94-93 in overtime. The Blue Demons (27-7) upset eighth-seed Minnesota 79-72 to reach the round of 32, while Notre Dame destroyed Montana by a 77-43 margin. The winner of this game heads to Oklahoma City to take on either Stanford or Oklahoma in the Sweet 16.
#5 Oklahoma vs. #4 Stanford (Stanford, California)
This is the fifth tournament meeting since 2001 for Oklahoma and Stanford. Oklahoma took the first meeting all the way back in 2001 but since then it’s been all Cardinal all the time. Stanford won meetings in 2004, 2006 and 2010. The secret to winning for Oklahoma lies with its three freshmen. Vionise Pierre-Louis, McKenna Treece and Gabi Ortiz combined for 45 points in Oklahoma’s first-round victory. Oklahoma (20-11) has a 73.6 scoring average, while Stanford (24-9) carries a 68.9 scoring average into this contest. Two stats to watch here: Oklahoma has not had the best success on the road with a 6-6 mark in 12 games this season, and Stanford has surrendered 59.5 points per game this season. Oklahoma steamrolled Quinnipiac 111-84 in the first round, and Stanford swept to a 73-60 win over Cal State Northridge.
