Women's NCAA Tournament Des Moines Regional 2nd Round Breakdowns
Florida’s frontcourt got the best of Ohio State’s backcourt and beat the Buckeyes 70-65. The Gators got off to a 9-0 start and never relinquished the lead. With solid defense and superior interior play, the Gators got the job done. Their reward for winning is playing Baylor in the second round. The Bears, as expected, had no trouble running over UCSB.
Can Florida pull of the shocker of the Women’s NCAA Tournament? Probably not, but this is not a total mismatch for the Gators. They are a team with a strong frontcourt and maybe they can actually contain Baylor’s Brittney Griner. But it works both ways. If Griner stops Florida’s interior scoring threats, most notably Jennifer George, the Gators will be in trouble. But if George is scoring inside and Jordan Jones is knocking down three-pointers, Florida could make this one interesting. However, Baylor is undefeated for a reason and will very likely stay that way.
#5 Georgetown vs. #4 Georgia Tech
Georgetown’s stifling defense overtook Fresno State’s dynamic offense in the first round, but it was a close game. The Bulldogs made a frantic comeback before falling short. That may have been Georgetown’s wake up call. The Hoyas survived and advance to play Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets, coming off of a first round rout of Sacred Heart, have a new offensive weapon in Sydney Wallace.
Wallace scored a career-high 28 points during Sunday’s victory and it is not like the Ramblin’ Wreck lacked scoring options in the first place. Wallace adds yet another scoring threat to the perimeter to add to leading scorer Tuaunna Marshall and sharpshooter Metra Walthour. Sasha Gooldett is the strong interior scorer. But scoring against Georgetown will not be as easy as it was against Sacred Heart. The Hoyas defense is very tough and that will be difficult for Georgia Tech to crack even with all of those offense weapons..
Kansas proved they belonged in the NCAA Tournament after they knocked off a very good Nebraska team. The Jayhawks were one of the last teams to make the field and many questioned whether or not they really deserved it, especially after the injury to Carolyn Davis. For Delaware, they did not have any trouble with Arkansas-Little Rock despite having to play the game in Little Rock. Elena Delle Donne was her usual self, scoring 39 points, grabbing 11 boards and blocking three shots.
Like everybody else, Kansas will have trouble containing Delle Donne, but they can slow the game down and limit her opportunities. Delle Donne will get all of the press, yet Kansas will have to keep an eye on Danielle Parker in the paint and Lauren Carra beyond the arc. In the end, the Fightin’ Blue Hens just have too much firepower for the Jayhawks.
Tennessee got over the first hump without much of a problem. The way the Lady Vols have been playing lately, it is no surprise they were able to put away Tennessee-Martin on the shoulders of Glory Johnson’s double-double. DePaul had a little tougher time against BYU. The Blue Demons got double figure scoring from four different players, but they will need to be even more efficient if they want to knock Tennessee out of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
These are two teams that have been extremely inconsistent throughout the season. The Volunteers are playing very well right now, but DePaul has the ability to step up their game and beat a team with the talent of Tennessee. The Lady Vols will likely claim victory and move onto the Sweet Sixteen since they are the more talented team, but Tennessee has lost to teams much worse than DePaul this year. One thing that could play a big role in Tennessee’s favor is their huge amount of depth and the Blue Demons lack of depth. In the first round (keep in mind Tennessee had the luxury to rest their starters against Tennessee-Martin) the Lady Vols had 11 players tally at least ten minutes on the floor. DePaul had five.
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