2014 NCAA Tournament Stanford Region 2nd Round Game Breakdowns
#1 South Carolina vs. #9 Oregon State (Seattle, Washington)
South Carolina got the best shot from the 16 seed Cal State Northridge and a 26 point performance from Janae Sharp of the Matadors in a 73-58 victory. The Gamecocks got an excellent performance from guard Tiffany Mitchell, who scored 24 points and did a nice job of getting to the foul line, hitting 13-of-17 from the charity stripe. The shooting was sound for South Carolina at 44 percent from the field but the foul line was problematic as they were only 27-of-42. Oregon State was outstanding defensively against Middle Tennessee State as they took care of the Blue Raiders 55-36. The Beavers were led by guard Sydney Wiese who scored 26 points including six three pointers. The ability of Oregon State to completely take away the perimeter game of the Middle Tennessee State was critical in the victory as they limited the Blue Raiders to 2 of 17 from behind the arc. This matchup is going to be an epic display of defense by both teams.
#4 North Carolina vs. #5 Michigan State (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
North Carolina had their backs against the wall and then some against upset minded Tennessee-Martin. They were down by as many as 18 points in the second half. But, a flagrant foul by the Skyhawks with a 50-37 lead set the Tar Heels on the spurt they needed and they rallied to win 60-58. North Carolina is going to need to come out of the blocks much faster in the next round against Michigan State as the Spartans can match up much better athletically with the Tar Heels. Michigan State was excellent in its opener against Hampton in an easy 91-61 victory. Forward Aerial Powers was outstanding, as she scored 26 points to go along with her 18 rebounds. Offensively, Michigan State shot over 52 percent from the floor thanks to perfect shooting from forward Annalise Pickrel. One thing the Spartans will need to cut down on is the turnovers as 20 is way too many. This has the potential to be one of the best games in the NCAA Tournament.
#3 Penn State vs. #11 Florida (State College, Pennsylvania)
Penn State was staring down the barrel of being the first number three seed to lose to a number 14 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions trailed underdog Wichita State 30-25 at halftime after struggling mightily in the first half offensively. However, senior guard Maggie Lucas for Penn State would have none of it as she sparked a 17-0 run to start the second half and the Nittany Lions escaped with a 62-56 victory. Florida was outstanding offensively against sixth seed Dayton in an 83-69 win where the Gators scored 54 points in the second half. Cassie Peoples led the way with 21 points as the Florida starters accounted for 73 of the 83 points. For Penn State, they will need to start fast against the Gators and force them to have to utilize more of their bench and wear them down in the second half. For Florida, just keep playing with nothing to lose in order to have a chance for the upset.
#2 Stanford vs. #10 Florida State (Ames, Iowa)
Stanford got some much needed balance with four players scoring in double figures to take care of South Dakota 81-62 in the first round on Saturday. The Cardinal did a nice job on the boards, winning that battle 41-30, and did an outstanding job of taking care of the basketball, just turning the ball over eight times. Florida State parlayed a fantastic defensive effort to a 55-44 win over the home standing Iowa State Cyclones. Head coach Sue Semrau employed a 2-3 zone defense that held Iowa State to 7-of-38 shooting from three point range. The Seminoles are very likely to employ this exact same strategy to slow down Chiney Ogwumike down in the post and dare Stanford to beat them from the outside. This game should be a relatively low scoring game where the first team to 65 points should come out on top.
