No. 6 Texas brought the brakes to No. 2 Maryland’s high-scoring offense in an instant classic to finish off Sweet 16 action in the 2021 NCAA ladies’s competition.
The Terrapins rode the “all gas, no brakes” slogan through a season in which they balanced 91.2 points per video game. They won huge en path to a No. 2 seed and had not played a close contest considering that January. All gas.
The Longhorns, in their very first season under head coach Vic Schaefer, are the opposite. They use the brakes greatly and frequently, rather making simply a couple of more baskets than their challenger. Texas remains in the leading quarter of Department I groups in rebounding and, especially crucial versus Maryland, consisting of the 3-point shot. They likewise understand how to slow the video game down, keeping challengers from a high variety of belongings.
Texas fell Maryland, 64-61, in what may be the greatest upset of the competition even after No. 4 Indiana removed No. 1 N.C. State. This Maryland team looked a lot more unsafe once the competition started and the Longhorns keeping it close appeared not likely to many.
Yet the Longhorns defense plainly annoyed the Terrapins late and protected 4 protective rebounds in the last minute. Lauren Ebo’s take simply under the minute mark that resulted in Kyra Lambert’s consent layup was the distinction that Maryland could not return from.
” Each and every single among us, one through 5, got some stops and we finished the job tonight,” Charlie Collier, the most likely No. 1 choice in the draft, informed ESPN’s Holly Rowe.
It establishes an Elite 8 video game with No. 1 South Carolina and another Schaefer vs. Dawn Staley face-off. Schaefer invested the last 8 seasons at Mississippi State, a consistent SEC competitor beside Staley’s Gamecocks. Collier will take on sophomore and Naismith finalist Aliyah Boston.
That video game will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Louisville: Dana Evans back to form
Dana Evans is back.
The Louisville seniorwas not having her best tournament Evans, an All-American two-time ACC Gamer of the Year and Naismith award finalist, entered the No. 2 ranked Cardinals’ Sweet 16 conference with No. 6 Oregon having actually made just 11 of 33 basket. It was a lot more frustrating from 3-point variety, where she had not linked on more than 28 percent considering that mid-February.
No matter rooting interest, you wish to see leading gamer play their finest in March. So viewing Evans battle on shots she usually strikes with ease was rough in the very first 2 rounds. Her colleagues stepped up to assist them advance. And versus the Ducks,Evans came alive again
She connected a career-high with 29 points and made 3 of her 8 3-point efforts. Evans was striking them from the logo design.
And squashing it in shift with some slick assistance from Mykasa Robinson.
Louisville has playmakers beyond Evans, however the Cardinals weren’t going to get far without their leading gamer in her finest kind. The Cardinals advanced, 60-42, paired with significant injuries to Oregon’s stars. Their next opponent is No. 1 total seed Stanford, a job that will take all the offense Louisville can summon.
The 2 play in the 9 p.m. ET time slot on ESPN on Tuesday.
Stanford, South Carolina trip 3-pointers, depth
It was an afternoon of “anything you can do, I can do much better” for the No. 1 seeds on the left side of the bracket.
South Carolina doubled up on its average 3-pointers in a game with eight against No. 5 Missouri State, which was practical considering that Aliyah Boston didn’t have her normal production. It was the most effective basket video game (56.4 percent) for the Gamecocks considering that the season-opening blowout.
” Our offense brought us today with our capability to strike layups and extend the flooring and struck some threes,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley stated. “Hope it continues to improve. You got some excellent programs here that can put a great deal of points on the scoreboard.”
No. 1 total seed Stanford followed in the second afternoon game of the day with 15 3-pointers. It connected a season-high and marks the 3rd successive competition video game of a minimum of 13 from variety. The Cardinal were 46.5 percent from the flooring.
In some cases the shots aren’t going to fall from outdoors. The greatest thing each No. 1 revealed on Sunday was depth. The Gamecocks reached the competition behind Boston down low and the backcourt duo of Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson. Cooke was clutch from behind the arc, however it was Victaria Sexton and Laeticia Amihere who truly actioned in. Amihere had 15 of the bench’s 21 points.
” The bench is a huge part of who we are,” Amihere stated. “Having the ability to go deep in our bench is going to be so crucial, specifically down the stretch today.”
Stanford’s high scorer was Hannah Dive off the bench. She scored 17 going 6-for-9 total, consisting of 5-for-7 from 3-point variety. Ashten Pretchel had a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench. There is no lack of star power for Stanford and if somebody is having an off video game, or in nasty problem, there are plenty fill-ins.
Elite 8 schedule, TELEVISION, time
No. 1 UConn (27-1) vs. No. 2 Baylor (28-2)
Monday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
UConn vs. Iowa was constantly predestined to be a shootout. Now UConn vs. Baylor will be the opposite.
The Elite 8 match will feature some of the best defensive teams in the country. Baylor is initially in basket portion defense (31.7) and 4th in challengers points per scoring effort (0.83 ). UConn is the swap of that, ranking 4th in basket portion defense (33.3) and initially in points per scoring effort (0.81 ).
” You’re taking a look at 2 programs that worth defense,” Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey stated after the Sugary food 16 win. “I believe Baylor and UConn remain in the leading 3 in the nation in basket portion defense. Then you take a look at rebounding. That may describe to you why both programs are appreciated throughout the nation.
” So, yeah, it might be an unsightly video game. When I state awful, it might be low scoring, it might be some turnovers. Some individuals wish to state boring. It might not be 80 and 90. I do not understand.”
She included she would not be out-coaching UConn’s Geno Auriemma, so the Bears gamers require to contend and finest the Huskies. Auriemma stated Sunday he believed the Bears must have been a No. 1 seed and they were “physically daunting.”
UConn is riding high after 3 big wins, consisting of a synergy versus No. 5 Iowa and Caitlin Clark on Saturday. Baylor is cleaning it eyebrow after narrowly avoiding upset-minded No. 6 Michigan in an overtime video game hours later on. This is the video game everybody wished to see in January and were hoping would occur now in March.
It’s just the 2nd time they have actually satisfied in the competition. The programs’ first-ever meeting was in the 2010 Final Four in the Alamodome. UConn, then led by Maya Moore and Tina Charles, beat the Brittney Griner-led Bears, 70-50, and went on to win the title.
No. 3 Arizona (19-5) vs. No. 4 Indiana (21-5)
Monday, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN
Neither Arizona nor Indiana have actually ever made it this far, ensuring a newbie Last 4 group. It’s the very first time considering that 1997 that 2 newbies are satisfying in the Elite 8. They are 2 programs with storied males’s histories that have actually grown their own recently. Indiana won the WNIT in 2018 and Arizona won it in 2019.
The Hoosiers are among the very best in Department I on offense, balancing 75.3 points per video game 45.7 percent shooting primarily from 2-point variety. The Wildcats are among the very best defensively, enabling 55.2 points per video game and keeping challengers to 39.1 percent inside the arc.
Each has a senior transfer blazing a trail. All-America point player Aari McDonald installed 31 points in among the very best video games of her profession versus Texas A&M. She’s an issue on the protective end too and locked down the Sugary food 16 berth with late takes versus BYU. McDonald moved from Washington where she was the 2017 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
” There is no other gamer that has actually affected their group more than Aari has actually affected Arizona,” head coach Adia Barnes, who took Arizona to its last Sweet 16 in 2005, stated after the win.
McDonald is balancing 22.7 points in the competition on 59.2 percent from the flooring. She struck 6 of 12 3-pointers in the Sugary food 16 and will likely be a first-round WNBA draft choose next month. She’s enhanced by Sam Thomas and Cate Reese.
Indiana is led by point player Ali Patberg, an Indiana local who chose to bet Notre Dame out of high school. She moved to Indiana after 2 seasons there, the very first of which she remained with an ACL injury.
Patberg is balancing 15.7 points on 51 percent shooting. She’s corresponded beside Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger.
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