The second day of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in San Antonio is in the book. Here are some quick takeaways:
Tipping off
We have upsets: Twenty-four hours after all 16 seeds won their openers on Sunday, the second wave of seeded teams didn’t escape unblemished. Three high seeds — No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Gonzaga and No. 6 Rutgers — were upended in the first round.
Perhaps no loss was more stunning than No. 13 Wright State’s 66-62 win over Arkansas, which defeated Connecticut and Baylor during the regular season. The Razorbacks, behind senior guard Chelsea Dungee’s 27 points, led 62-61 with 55 seconds left and appeared poise to ice the contest when Erynn Barnum came up with a steal. Barnum, though, dribbled the ball off her own foot and out of bounds, giving Wright State a new chance.
The Raiders capitalized as Angel Baker drained a 3-pointer with 30 seconds for the game-winner. Baker finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and four steals as Wright State became only the seventh No. 13 seed to defeat a No. 4 seed in 107 attempts.
No. 11 BYU nipped Rutgers 69-66 behind Paisley Harding’s 28 points, while No. 12 Belmont fended off Gonzaga 64-59 behind guard Destinee Wells’ 25 points and seven assists.
Tough day for locals: The first day of the tournament put a successful spotlight on former San Antonio-area athletes as East Central grad NaLyssa Smith led Baylor to a convincing win over Jackson State, Wagner alum Kiana Williams became Stanford’s career leader in made 3-pointers in an easy triumph over Utah Valley, and New Braunfels product Nell Fortner coached Georgia Tech from a 17-point deficit to edge Stephen F. Austin 54-52 in overtime.
Day 2 didn’t go quite as well. Former Wagner standout Amber Ramirez scored nine points on 3-of-14 shooting, including missing on a drive with 11 seconds left, as Arkansas lost to Wright State. Brandeis grad Gabby Connally, hampered by an ankle injury, went scoreless in 11 minutes, missing all five of her attempts.
Deja Kelly, who played her freshman and sophomore seasons at Johnson before transferring to Duncanville, was 1 for 13 and notched seven points, five rebounds and five assists in a setback to Alabama.
Shooting stars
Jordan Lewis, Alabama: 32 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists
Ashley Joens, Iowa State: 33 points, 9 rebounds
Charli Collier, Texas: 23 points, 15 rebounds
Ashley Owusu, Maryland: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists
Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA: 25 points, 7 rebounds.
Grace Berger, Indiana: 20 points, 8 rebounds
Ciera Johnson, Texas A&M: 16 points, 14 rebounds
Lasha Petree, Bradley: 33 points, 5 blocks
Arella Guirantes, Rutgers: 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
Erin Boley, Oregon: 22 points
Lindsey Pulliams, Northwestern: 25 points
Alexus Dye, Troy: 26 points, 11 rebounds
Jasmine Franklin, Missouri State: 17 points, 18 rebounds, 4 steals
Stephanie Watts, North Carolina: 29 points
By the numbers
32: Points Indiana limited Virginia Commonwealth to during the teams’ first-round encounter on Monday. The 32 points were the fewest in an NCAA tournament game since 2017 and the sixth-lowest output in a tournament game ever.
88: Consecutive games that Arizona senior guard Aari McDonald has scored in double figures, the nation’s longest active streak. McDonald scored 20 in the Wildcats’ 79-44 win Monday against Stony Brook.
1999: The last time that Alabama made the NCAA tournament before accomplishing the feat this season. The Crimson Tide defeated North Carolina 80-71. Ironically, Alabama’s last tournament game before Monday was a 70-56 loss vs. North Carolina.
Quotable quotes
“It just looked like she touched it and it went back court. It just looked very evident that that happened. We were seeing if we could get the call corrected, but that’s just not the way it went. We had all the momentum at that point. If we would have gotten that call, I don’t think there’s any way we would have lost the game. I don’t think the will of my players would have allowed us to lose.” — Troy coach Chanda Rigby on controversial late no-call on possible backcourt violation
“I think Angel Baker is one of the best guards in the country. I know people may be surprised she’s at Wright State, but there are a lot of really good guards in the country. It’s all about recruiting and identifying the players that fit your system the best. And every once in a while, you get an Angel Baker at Wright State.” — Wright State coach Katrina Merriweather
“The people in our league know how good she is. To play against a really good Big Ten team, to play in the NCAA tournament, on ESPN in the Alamodome, and all that stuff, I think it was a great individual showcase for her certainly, but certainly one that impacted our team as well.” — Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly on standout guard Ashley Joens, who had 33 points and nine rebounds in win vs. Michigan State
“I did a real poor job the last two weeks, last three weeks, getting us to peak at the right time. I think we peaked too early. I asked so, so much of this these kids in the middle part of our year, trying to get to this point, that I forgot to focus on the finish line. I apologized to them for that. This is gonna be a summer of ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda.’ We’re going to be doing that all summer long, looking at this film.” — Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors
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