Women’s NCAA Tournament Oklahoma City Second Round Game Breakdowns
#1 Baylor vs. #8 Florida State (Waco, Texas)
Baylor avoided what would have been the biggest upset in sports history by beating up on lowly Prairie View A&M. The question now is whether or not Florida State can do any better. The Seminoles had a surprisingly effective defensive effort when they beat a potent Princeton offense on Sunday. But FSU is very good at winning in the first round…they have now done it ten years in a row. The huge test comes against the Bears and the matchup does not bode well for the Seminoles. This is not a very good team defensively and they do not have the outside shooting threats to stretch Brittney Griner away from the basket. When a bulk of your offense comes from slashing to the rim, going up against Griner is going to be a huge problem. Some teams may be able to shoot their way to a close game against Baylor, but FSU connects on just 3.7 three-pointers per game, so this is not the team that is going to do it.
#4 Purdue vs. #5 Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky)
Both Purdue and Louisville had pretty easy times during the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers beat Liberty 77-43 and the Cardinals knocked off Middle Tennessee State 74-49. Purdue outrebounded the best rebounding team in the nation thanks to Sam Ostrello’s 17 boards. The battle on the glass should be pretty equal against Louisville’s Sara Hammond and guard Bria Smith, who grabbed a team high ten rebounds in the first round victory. Thus, this game may become a battle of who can score more on the perimeter. For Purdue, KK Houser and Courtney Moses, who scored 21 against Liberty, will carry the load. For Louisville, Shoni Schimmel usually leads the way. Smith is also a very capable scorer and keep an eye on Antonita Slaughter, who came into the tournament averaging nearly ten points per game, but was just 1-for-6 with two points in the Cardinals tournament opener.
#3 UCLA vs. #6 Oklahoma (Columbus, Ohio)
Unlike UCLA who cruised past Stetson, Oklahoma had a bit of trouble in the first round against Central Michigan. But the Sooners eventually came away with a 77-73 win over the Chippewas. As expected, the game came down to three-point shooting. OU went 9-for-19 beyond the arc, while CMU shot 8-for-33. Joanna McFarland had her way in the paint against the Chips and that allowed her team to not have to hoist up so many three-pointers, even though most of them were falling. But it will be more difficult to get things done in the paint against UCLA. The Bruins do not have an imposing shot blocking threat, but they do have decent size. Do not be surprised if the Sooners fall behind a bit and start hoisting up three-pointers. That is not a bad thing necessarily as this is a very, very good shooting team. Aaryn Ellenberg and Morgan Hook will have to be hitting their shots. Otherwise, the balanced scoring attack of the Bruins will chip away and leave Columbus for a trip to Oklahoma City.
#2 Tennessee vs. #10 Creighton (Knoxville, Tennessee)
Despite Kevi Luper’s best effort, Tennessee easily avoided an upset at the hands of Oral Roberts. They will move on to face 10 seed Creighton, fresh off their minor upset over Syracuse. The Bluejays have a plethora of outside shooting threats, but on Thursday it was McKenzie Fujan who led the way, connecting on 6-of-10 three-pointers and leading all scorers with 24. Yet, if Creighton hopes to pull off a bigger upset against Tennessee, they will need another shooter to step up and hit the long with consistency. Tennessee has the home court advantage and way too many scoring threats for Creighton to stop, so it will take a very special effort from Fujan, Marissa Janning, Sarah Nelson and Ally Jensen from long range to move on to Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City Regional Overview
Norfolk Region Second Round Game Breakdowns
Bridgeport Region Second Round Game Breakdowns
Spokane Region Second Round Game Breakdowns
Women's NCAA Tournament Central
