Greensboro Region (Friday, 3/25 & Sunday, 3/27)
Sweet 16: #1 South Carolina (69) vs #5 North Carolina (61)
Battle. Of. The. Carolinas. North Carolina (UNC) outscored South Carolina (SC) to start and finish the game (39-33), while SC took the two middle quarters (34-22). UNC had a 13% higher field goal percentage, which only translates to 1 more made basket, fouled more (19-17), had more steals (6-5), and assisted more (12-8). SC had one more turnover (14-13), had more blocks (5-2), made more three-point shots and free throws, and, most importantly, dominated on the boards by grabbing 15 more total rebounds than USC (48-33) with 25 of them being offensive rebounds.
UNC Top Performer: D. Kelly (G) – 23 points, 5 rebounds, & 3 assists
SC Top Performer: A. Boston (F) – 28 points, 22 rebounds, & 2 assists
Sweet 16: #10 Creighton (76) vs #3 Iowa State (68)
Not. This. Year. Iowa. Creighton singled-handedly eliminated two higher-seeded Iowa teams: #2 Iowa and now #3 Iowa State. After outscoring Creighton in the first quarter 16-13, ISU wouldn’t outscore them again. Creighton made more field goals, more three-pointers, and more free throws than ISU. They also had more assists (15-8) and more steals (4-3). ISU did have more fouls (18-17) and blocked shots (4-2). Both teams had 10 turnovers and 36 rebounds, although ISU led on the offensive boards and Creighton on the defensive ones.
ISU Top Performer: E. Ryan (G) – 22 points, 8 rebounds, & 6 assists
Creighton Top Performer: M. Maly (G) – 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
WHAT LJ SAID #GoJays x #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/dgOAVk20gI
— Creighton Women’s Basketball (@CreightonWBB) March 26, 2022
Elite Eight: #1 South Carolina (80) vs #10 Creighton (50)
No. Fairytale. Ending. Creighton’s historic March Madness run came to an end when they faced the #1 overall team in the country on Sunday evening. Creighton hit more three-pointers (7-3), assisted more (17-10), fouled more (20-10), and turned the ball over more (11-7). Despite giving it their all, Creighton was outscored every quarter by South Carolina (SC) who made more field goals (28-21), made more free throws (21-1), grabbed more rebounds (43-23), stole the ball more (5-3) and blocked more shots (5-0). SC was the first team to punch their ticket to the Final Four.
Creighton Top Performer: R. Saunders (G) – 8 points, 4 rebounds, & 2 assists
SC Top Performer: A. Boston (F) – 19 points, 7 rebounds, & 1 assist
Spokane Region (Friday, 3/25 & Sunday, 3/27)
Sweet 16: #2 Texas (66) vs #6 Ohio State (63)
What. An. Even. Match. These two teams were evenly matched no matter how you look at the stats, which explains the close finish. The teams each took two quarters where they outscored the other: Ohio State (OSU) outscored Texas in the first and fourth quarter, 38-32, and Texas outscored OSU in the second and third quarters, 34-25. Texas fouled more than OSU (17-12), blocked more shots (5-4), had more assists (10-9), and made more free throws, although they did take more (12/15 vs. 7/7). Each team had 17 turnovers, had 32 total rebounds, and made 26 field goals, although Texas took fewer attempts. OSU took and made more three-point shots (4/12) than Texas (2/4).
OSU Top Performer: J. Sheldon (G) – 17 points, 6 rebounds, & 4 assists
Texas Top Performer: J. Allen-Taylor (G) – 17 points, 1 rebound, & 3 assists
Sweet 16: #1 Stanford (72) vs #4 Maryland (66)
What. A. Fourth. Quarter. Stanford dominated the first three quarters of the game, outscoring Maryland 59-36; however, Maryland made a valiant effort to get back into the game, outscoring Stanford in the fourth quarter 30-13. Stanford had more than double the number of turnovers Maryland had (18-7), blocked three times as many shots (10-3), assisted more often (15-8), and made more shots from field goal range and three-point range. Meanwhile, Maryland had one more foul than Stanford (23-22), four times as many steals (12-3), and made more free throws (17/23) than Stanford (14/21).
Maryland Top Performer: A. Reese (F) – 25 points, 9 rebounds, & 1 assist
Stanford Top Performer: H. Jones (G) – 17 points, 10 rebounds, & 6 assists
Elite Eight: #1 Stanford (59) vs #2 Texas (50)
Defending. Champions. Return. Stanford, the defending National Champions, return to the Final Four after defeating Texas. Texas kept pace with Stanford during the first quarter (14 points each) but was outscored in each of the following quarters. Despite turning the ball over twice as often as Texas (20-10), Stanford won by making more field goals (19-17) making more free throws (18-11), grabbing more rebounds (45-28), assisting more often (14-8), and blocking more shots (11-1). Texas fouled more (24-22), made more three-pointers (5-3), and stole the ball as often as Stanford (four each).
Texas Top Performer: R. Harmon (G) – 14 points, 7 rebounds, & 6 assists
Stanford Top Performer: H. Jones (G) – 18 points, 12 rebounds, & 4 assists
Bridgeport Region (Saturday, 3/26 & Monday, 3/28)
Sweet 16: #1 NC State (66) vs #5 Notre Dame (63)
The. Last. Six. Minutes. Notre Dame (ND) led at halftime, 38-30, after a 26-point second quarter; however, the last six minutes of game time is when NC State stepped up and showed why they were the #1 seed. NC State had more steals (12-5), including the game winning one, had more total rebounds (32-31), and made more free throws (11/14) than ND (4/5). ND made more field goals (27: 51% vs. 25: 40%), blocked more shots (6-1), turned the ball over more (16-10), and fouled more (14-5). Both teams made five three-pointers and had nine assists.
ND Top Performer: O. Miles (G) – 21 points, 6 rebounds, & 6 assists
NC ST Top Performer: E. Cunane (C) – 16 points, 11 rebounds, & 1 steal
Sweet 16: #2 UConn (75) vs #3 Indiana (58)
UConn. Women. Are. Back. No current player on UConn has won a National Championship. UConn outscored Indiana (IU) in every quarter, with the third quarter being the biggest differential at nine points. UConn made more field goals, although their percentage was slightly less than IU’s (48.9% vs. 46.3%), made more three-pointers (5-3), grabbed more rebounds (39-27), assisted more (13-4), stole the ball more (7-4), blocked more shots (4-3), and fouled more (18-17). IU did make more free throws than UConn (9-8), but also had more total turnovers (15-9).
IU Top Performer: M. Holmes (F) – 12 points, 6 rebounds, & 2 assists
UConn Top Performer: O. Nelson- Ododa (F) – 10 points, 14 rebounds, & 3 assists
Elite Eight: #2 UConn (91) vs #1 NC State (87)
It. Took. Two. Overtimes. UConn, with the return of Paige Bueckers, upset #1 seed NC State in double overtime. UConn started the game strong, outscoring NC State 34-28 in the first half, only for NC State to outscore them 33-27 in the second half, forcing the first overtime. Between the two overtimes, UConn outscored NC State 30-26. Both teams ended the game with 39 total rebounds and 16 fouls. UConn made more field goals (37-32) although both teams were shooting around 48%, and they stole the ball more (5-4). NC State made more three-pointers (7-5) including the one that sent them into the second overtime; made more free throws (16-12); had twice as many assists as UConn (20-10); blocked more shots (7-2); but also, turned the ball over more often (14-8).
NC State Top Performer: J. Brown-Turner (F) – 20 points, 8 rebounds, & 5 assists
UConn Top Performer: P. Bueckers (G) – 27 points, 6 rebounds, & 1 assist
This group. This moment.
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 29, 2022
Wichita Region (Saturday, 3/26 & Monday, 3/28)
Sweet 16: #3 Michigan (52) vs #10 South Dakota (49)
Down. To. The. Wire. One Cinderella team played their last game. South Dakota (SD) was just one of two double digit seeds making the Sweet 16. SD outscored Michigan in the first half 26-24, made more three-point shots during the game (5-3), assisted more often (12-10), and stole the ball as often as Michigan (five each). Despite fouling more (17-16) and having more turnovers (13-11), Michigan won by outscoring SD in the second half 28-13 by making more field goals (20-19), making more free throws (9-6), grabbing more rebounds (38-32), and blocking more shots (2-0).
SD Top Performer: H. Sjerven (C) – 17 points, 8 rebounds, & 1 assist
Michigan Top Performer: N. Hillmon (F) – 17 points, 10 rebounds, & 3 assists
Sweet 16: #1 Louisville (76) vs #4 Tennessee (64)
Rebounding. Versus. Shooting. Louisville’s shooting outmatched Tennessee’s rebounding. Tennessee outscored Louisville in the third quarter (22-16) and out rebounded them on both the offensive (23-14) and defensive (29-22) boards, but with more turnovers (18-7) Tennessee could not complete the upset. Despite fouling more (20-18), Louisville won by making more field goals (28-24), making more three-pointers (7-5), making more free throws (13-11), assisting more (15-9), stealing the ball more (11-4), and blocking more shots (8-2).
Tennessee Top Performer: R. Burrell (G) – 22 points, 8 rebounds, & 1 assist
Louisville Top Performer: E. Engstler (F) – 20 points, 10 rebounds, & 1 assist
Elite Eight: #1 Louisville (62) vs #3 Michigan (50)
No. Naz-tional. Championship. Louisville started and ended the game strong, outscoring Michigan in the first and fourth quarters 34-20, while Michigan took the second and third quarters, by outscoring Louisville 30-28. Despite fouling more (17-12), Louisville won by making more field goals (25-16), making more three-pointers (5-3), assisting more (12-9), stealing the ball more (15-6), and blocking more shots (4-2). Ultimately, the turnovers hurt Michigan (22-12), even though they rebounded better (36-30) and took advantage of Louisville’s fouling by making more free throws (15-7).
Final Four feelin’
We ain’t done yet!!!#GoCards x #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/0RqkXCNuhg
— Louisville WBB (@UofLWBB) March 29, 2022
Michigan Top Performer: N. Hillmon (F) – 18 points, 11 rebounds, & 1 assist
Louisville Top Performer: H. Van Lith (G) – 22 points, 3 rebounds, & 1 assist
