Women’s N.C.A.A. Tournament: What to Watch on Day 2

Welcome to Half 2 of the primary spherical of the N.C.A.A. girls’s event, with a densely packed slate of video games and various probabilities to make historical past. As soon as once more, the video games shall be aired throughout ESPN’s networks in addition to, within the circumstances of Connecticut and Tennessee’s first spherical video games, on ABC (at 1 and three p.m., all occasions Jap, respectively).

Beneath you’ll find a information to a number of the names you can be seeing, the upsets you need to look ahead to, and a few recommendation to assist handle squeezing in as a lot event motion as potential, even when you have only one tv.

Search out the lower-seeded stars.

The event will be a superb showcase for the sorts of gamers that girls’s basketball powerhouses can remorse not recruiting extra aggressively.

Dyaisha Truthful grew up in Rochester earlier than committing to the College at Buffalo, a workforce that has turn out to be perennially fun-to-watch within the postseason beneath coach Felisha Legette-Jack. Truthful has seized the chance, and was awarded an honorable point out when the A.P. introduced its All-People earlier this week. The prolific scorer will lead the push to upset No. 4 Tennessee, one among girls’s basketball’s most commemorated packages.

Ameshya Williams-Holliday was recruited by a powerhouse, Mississippi State, however enjoying with the Bulldogs didn’t stick. It was solely this season, her first at Jackson State, that Williams-Holliday realized the potential she was recruited for — not simply main her workforce to its second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Convention event championship, however incomes a S.W.A.C. Participant of the Yr award within the course of. The Woman Tigers will try to topple the No. 3 Louisiana State Tigers, and spoil Kim Mulkey’s first event sport as L.S.U. head coach.

Kansas State got here onto sports activities followers’ radars earlier this season due to Ayoka Lee, a junior middle who broke the Division I single-game scoring file in a victory over Oklahoma by scoring 61 factors in simply 35 minutes on the courtroom. It was not an uncharacteristic efficiency from the 6-foot-6 Lee, who has turned Kansas State right into a contender along with her environment friendly scoring and dominant protection — however the truth that her record-setting sport got here in an upset of an A.P. ranked opponent ought to make No. 8 Washington State a little bit nervous. When the stakes are excessive, Lee has proven that she will be able to meet the second.

It’s all concerning the underdogs.

For those who’re in search of underdogs to root for, 9 groups enjoying on Saturday have by no means gained an NCAA Division I event sport. Central Florida, American, Jackson State, the College of Massachusetts, Charlotte, Mercer and Washington State will all be in search of their first event wins — within the case of No. 8 Washington State and No. 7 Central Florida, they’re really in good place to make program historical past.

Two colleges are enjoying within the event for the primary time: Indiana College-Purdue College Indianapolis, and Longwood. I.U.P.U.I had gained a bid to the 2020 event earlier than it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so 2022 shall be their first time really enjoying within the event.

Be careful for these upset-ready colleges.

The final time Villanova made the ladies’s event was in 2018, and that yr they pulled off a first-round upset in additional time as a No. 9 seed. This yr, although the Eleventh-seeded squad has a a lot harder spot on the bracket, they’ve additionally proven how excessive their ceiling is. Led by Division I’s second-best scorer Maddy Siegrist, the Wildcats toppled a depleted Connecticut throughout convention play. Villanova might want to muster the whole lot they utilized in that victory in the event that they’re going to beat Brigham Younger and their star Shaylee Gonzales.

Stephen F. Austin was two factors away from its first event win in twenty years final yr, when it finally fell to Georgia Tech in additional time. This yr finds them in the very same place: seeded No. 12, and making an attempt to beat an Atlantic Coast Convention workforce. The Ladyjacks shall be fielding one among Division I’s higher defenses as they try to drag off the upset and discover redemption for sophomore Avery Brittingham, who missed a last-second, game-tying tip shot in 2021.

The Missouri State Woman Bears probably have a keenness for the No. 11 seed they’ve earned. In 2019, the one different time they have been seeded No. 11, the Woman Bears made it to the Candy Sixteen. This yr, they barely made it into the bracket in any respect after having to beat Florida State within the First 4 video games — however now that they’re formally a part of the 64-team subject, they’ve a shot to upset Ohio State and make it to the Candy Sixteen for the third straight yr.

A highway map to the second day of the event.

As soon as once more, the primary spherical slate begins with an interesting 8-9 matchup (all occasions Jap): the aforementioned Ayoka Lee and No. 9 Kansas State making an attempt to get previous Washington State (11:30 a.m., ESPN2). Tune in for the second half earlier than flipping to B.Y.U. versus Villanova (1 p.m., ESPNEWS). If it’s not shut, verify in on Connecticut (1 p.m., ABC) and see how Paige Bueckers is responding to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

Two video games with upset potential will overlap within the subsequent window. Head to ESPNU to catch Missouri State versus Ohio State round 3 p.m., and when that sport is at halftime, change to Buffalo versus Tennessee on ABC. These video games ought to present one of the best competitors till Kentucky versus Princeton (sure, one other 6-11 matchup — in case you’re sensing a theme) begins at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

The schedule rounds out with three strong 5-12 video games: first Oregon vs. Belmont (which gained its first event sport final yr) at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2, after which Stephen F. Austin versus North Carolina and Massachusetts versus Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS and ESPN2, respectively.