Sioux Falls Region Round of 32 Game Breakdowns
#1 South Carolina vs. #9 Kansas State
South Carolina took care of business against Jacksonville in the first round as they wore down the Dolphins in a 77-41 victory on Friday. The frontcourt for the Gamecocks was outstanding. Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson combined for 37 points and collected 21 rebounds. Tiffany Mitchell did what you would expect from a senior of her caliber in the postseason and scored 14 points. South Carolina also limited Jacksonville to just 28 percent shooting from the floor. Kansas State represented the Big 12 nicely as they beat a tough George Washington team 56-51. Guard Megan Deines stepped up for the Wildcats with 14 points and helped lead a tremendous defensive effort against Jonquel Jones and the Colonials. Kansas State did surrender 20 points to Jones, but limited Geode Washington to just 25 percent shooting from the floor. This should be a defensive knock down drag out type of contest on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.
A good old fashioned in-state battle awaits at the Carrier Dome on Sunday as the Orange will take on the Great Danes. Syracuse put away Army 73-56 with their trademark defensive intensity, sprinting out to a 36-6 lead in the first half and never looked back. They also held Kelsey Minato of the Black Knights to 10 points on a 3-of-14 shooting effort from the field. Alexis Peterson took care of business in the backcourt leading the Orange offensively with 24 points. Albany secured its first ever win in the NCAA Tournament as a Division I program by knocking out the fifth seed Florida 61-59. The Great Danes showed tremendous resilience as they were down by 11 with 6:18 left and were without Shereesha Richards, who had fouled out. Imani Tate was a critical difference maker for Albany and she led the way with 28 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Both teams will get after each other defensively and if Syracuse can get the game into the 70’s they should be fine. But, if they don’t, then drama should rule the day at the Carrier Dome as the Great Danes will be a tough out for the Orange.
#3 Ohio State vs. #6 West Virginia
Chalk was the theme of the day in Columbus as both higher seeds took care of business. Ohio State had little trouble with Buffalo as they defeated the Bulls 88-69. The impressive thing about this victory is that the Buckeyes did this without Ameryst Alston, who missed the game due to a wrist injury and her status for Sunday against the Mountaineers is in the air. Kelsey Mitchell recovered from a slow start missing her first five shots of the game and scored 27 points to lead the Ohio State offensive attack. West Virginia had issues against the zone of Princeton, but persistence paid off in a 74-65 victory of the Tigers to advance on to the second round to face the Buckeyes. Bria Holmes led the Mountaineers with 26 points and Anja Martin added 16 points while collecting eight rebounds on the afternoon. These two are going to have to post similar numbers against Ohio State in order for West Virginia to advance. With the uncertainty of the Alston injury, this game is going to be a toss-up since the Buckeyes will be playing a shorter than normal bench if Alston can’t play.
#2 Arizona State vs. #7 Tennessee
If you are a fan of a high quality defensive basketball, then this battle between the Sun Devils and Lady Vols will be a fun one. Arizona State did not have any problems with New Mexico State as they defeated the Aggies 74-52. Katie Hempen was lights out shooting the basketball and set an NCAA Tournament record making six three-point shots without a miss on the way to 20 points. Elisha Davis also did a very nice job, scoring 13 points. Defensively, the Sun Devils caused 21 turnovers and got 25 points from their bench, including eight points from Quinn Dornstauder. Tennessee won a defensive battle with Green Bay and the Lady Vols snuck pass the Phoenix 59-53. Te’ a Cooper led Tennessee with 15 points and Jordan Reynolds scored 11 of the final 15 points of the game to send the Lady Vols through to the second round once again. Offensive execution is going to be vitally important for both teams since points and possessions as a whole will be at a premium. If Arizona State can get to at least 60 points they will win on Sunday.
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