Women's NCAA Tournament Kingston Elite Eight Breakdowns
While two of the Final Four teams have been decided, the other two are decided on Tuesday. Of course this regional may already be all but decided. The regional pits two longtime powerhouse programs against each other for the right to move on to Denver and the Final Four along with Baylor and Stanford.
Here is a look at what to expect from this regional final:
No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 2 Kentucky (7 p.m. Tuesday at Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island)
One of the nation’s elite women’s basketball programs gets a chance at its latest trip to the Final Four as Big East Conference powerhouse Connecticut goes up against Kentucky, one of the Southeastern Conference’s top schools.
Kentucky (28-6) started off the NCAA tournament with a struggle here and a struggle there, which nearly derailed the Wildcats before they could even reach the regional finals. Kentucky began the tournament with a 68-62 win over 15th seeded McNeese State in the first round, behind 11 points from Keyla Snowden, 10 points from Azia Bishop, and six points from SEC Player of the Year A’dia Mathies. That was a big reason why Kentucky struggled so much. Those struggles continued in the second round, when the Wildcats committed 34 turnovers and nearly blew a 17-point lead before beating a Wisconsin-Green Bay squad (65-62) that was much better than its seventh seed indicated. Samarie Walker scored a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Snowden added 13 points.
Just when it looked like the lights might go out on Kentucky, the light bulb collectively went on over the team’s head and the Wildcats responded with a 79-62 win over Gonzaga in the regional semifinals. This was the same Gonzaga squad that had knocked off Miami and Rutgers earlier in the tournament. Snowden had 17 points, including five 3-pointers, and Walker had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Mathies had 15 points and Bria Goss added 10 points. The interesting thing here is the top two scorers for Kentucky came off the bench.
Connecticut (32-4) began the tournament with a lopsided 83-47 win over Prairie View A&M, but the biggest surprise was yet to come when the Huskies all but demolished Kansas State, 72-26, behind Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis’ 15 points and Kiah Stokes’ 13 points. In the regional semifinals Connecticut topped Penn State 77-59 and advanced to its seventh straight Elite Eight. Bria Hartley scored 20 points and Kelly Faris added 15 points for the Huskies, who overcame Penn State’s strong offense of 87.5 points per game through the first two tournament contests.
Connecticut has not faced an SEC team all season while Kentucky is 1-1 against Big East Conference teams. Kentucky beat Louisville 74-54 and lost to Notre Dame 92-83, both games taking place in December.
I don’t think this game will necessarily be a runaway, although Connecticut certainly has all the momentum. The Huskies seem to flip a switch this time of year as Geno Auriemma has his Huskies squad firing on all cylinders. Meanwhile, Kentucky has had its share of adversity through the tournament. I think the margin of victory will be 10 points, give or take a few, but the Huskies will cut down the nets and head to Denver for another crack at a national title.
See All Women's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Game Breakdowns
