Women’s March Madness: Elite 8 Program, Tip Times and Analysis


The Elite Eight round of the NCAA women’s tournament kicks off Sunday and brings even higher stakes and tight matchups. In the Greensboro and Spokane districts, two #1 seeds will fight for the Final Four, which they rightly believe belongs to them, and two lower cores – one much lower – will try to ruin their party.

#1-seeded South Carolina plays #1-seeded East (ESPN) and 10-seeded Creighton in the Greensboro regional final, while #1-seeded Stanford plays Eastern (ESPN) #2-seeded Texas at 9 p.m. in the Spokane region.

According to ESPN, 3 percent of women’s basketball tournament brackets Creighton, created using the platform, had seed #10 in Elite Eight. Even that seems high, and going further against South Carolina, a team whose all-season dominance has recently faltered, is a challenge.

The Gamecocks won their last 16 game against fifth-seeded North Carolina on Friday without posting gaudy statistics – at least not beyond forward Aliyah Boston’s 28 points and 22 rebounds. The Tar Heels were on hand until the end, and South Carolina went into their second game where they didn’t have enough clearance to be comfortable until the clock ticked off. Instead, the Gamecocks needed Boston to post numbers much higher than their season averages to survive, something Creighton was probably considering when putting together his game plan.

The Bluejays had to put up impressive, consistent defense to beat the top 3 seeded Iowa State. The Cyclones had been one of the highest scoring teams in the country to enter the game, but Creighton’s best offensive guns managed to frustrate the shrewd Iowa State veteran Ashley Joes. He fired only four shots from the field. The 6-foot Boston will have to use the significant size advantage over Creighton, who has no player taller than 6ft-1 – to score a consistent score inside once again, even if the Bluejays can take most of their guards. looks.

South Carolina will also need to protect the environment to clinch one of their strengths this season, their second straight trip to the Final Four. On average, opposing teams fire only 26.6 percent of their 3-pointers against the Gamecocks. They’ll need to catch or exceed that average against Creighton, who has been shooting 9.6 three-pointers per game so far this tournament and taking relatively few shots. While Creighton is battling the odds of being the first double-digit seed to make it to the Final Four, the game could very well come up.

When asked about the Longhorns’ win against reigning champion Stanford in November, Texas freshman quarterback Rori Harmon said, “That was quite a long time ago.” “It’s completely different now.”

The Cardinal, it seems, doesn’t quite see it that way. Texas beat them at home in the very game where they celebrated their titles and handed out the championship rings to the players. Stanford were leading by a 5-point lead going into the fourth quarter of that game and still lost – something coach Tara VanDerveer brought up when considering the matchup. “I don’t think anyone from our team has forgotten that,” he said after Stanford’s last 16 wins.

Unfortunately for Texas, the Stanford #4 seed looked as frightening as ever in Maryland’s near-total dominance. Still, his weakest quarter was in the fourth, when Terrapins were able to cut the 26-point lead to 6. It alarmed the Cardinal once again.

The challenge will be to stifle Stanford’s electric charge backed by young Haley Jones and a host of other shooters large enough to generate stares from across the pitch. If they want to get the upset, the Longhorns post players will have to put up careful and tight defenses to get one of the Cardinal’s most effective strikers, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, into foul trouble, which could be one of his weaknesses.

Even if the Longhorns are able to slow down Stanford using their press defense, they will likely have to fight to score. Joanne Allen-Taylor was Texas’ leading scorer in the round of 16, battling for pull-up shooters and shooting fouls. The veteran will need to keep their energy high and move the ball in order to find any offense against this seasoned Stanford team.





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