2023 NCAA Womens basketball tournament

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
I haven’t seen a thread dedicated to the womens side of things. After watching UConn demolish Vermont, I figure I’ll get it going.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
UConn hasn’t won it in a long time. And probably won’t this year unless South Carolina gets upset.
 

HurstSoGood

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 14, 2006
2,181
Hoping Indiana Senior C Mackenzie Holmes (All-American from Gorham, ME) can get back on the court soon. She sat out todays game with a knee. Really good kid. Great player. Loves the game. Both her mom and dad were stand-outs back in the day.
 

amh03

Tippi Hedren
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 27, 2003
6,637
Rooting for LSU, with my niece attending. But seems like it’s still going to be S. Carolina.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,428
Here in Fort Myers, proud of our FGCU Lady Eagles. (#12 took down #5 Wash St). Tough draw with Villanova on their home court on Monday, tho.
Is the Monday watch party going to be at Pelican Larry’s again, or somewhere else?
 

joe dokes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
30,233
I think Iowa-Georgia is the best game on right now. Caitlin Clark scored or assisted on Iowa's last 23 points.
 

Sad Sam Jones

Member
SoSH Member
May 5, 2017
2,494
Great game except for the complete lack of class from Georgia after the game was effectively over. The slap to the face may have been accidental (although wreckless), but it's unfortunate there's no real way to penalize a player for shoving an opponent to the floor with 1.5 seconds left in your season.
 

Sad Sam Jones

Member
SoSH Member
May 5, 2017
2,494
Zona comes back to take a 1-point lead on Maryland at the half. I watched Diamond Miller and Abbey Meyers torch Ohio State twice this year, but they've only combined for 9 so far today. The women's tournament has certainly been more interesting than the men's so far today.
 

Sad Sam Jones

Member
SoSH Member
May 5, 2017
2,494
That didn't age well. Miller and the Terps now destroying Arizona while we have two good games on the men's side.
 

amh03

Tippi Hedren
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 27, 2003
6,637
LSU moves onto the Sweet 16. Angel Reece reaches her 30th double-double before the half…wrapped up the game with 25 points and 24 rebounds…
 

Pablo's TB Lover

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 10, 2017
5,959
Stanford is down 35-25 to Ole Miss in the middle of the 3rd quarter, this could get interesting...
My only issue with the women's tournament are the home pods the top seeds get, and that may help here. I understand the revenue equation is such that doing round of 64 games at all neutral sites wouldn't work. Even if they could schedule the 1st rounds at an off campus arena nearby, it still gives the better seed a homecourt advantage but there is some separation where this feels like the postseason and not just another regular season game.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
39,428
Harrisburg, Pa.
I don't follow the women's game tooooo closely but went to a school that is one of the winningest ever (and who now is mostly irrelevant due to the rise of the funding of major schools and so forth) so do pay attention generally.

While the top three or so programs still are light years ahead of most programs, the rest of the field has made major strides in competitive balance over the last 10 or so years. It's very good to see.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
I don't follow the women's game tooooo closely but went to a school that is one of the winningest ever (and who now is mostly irrelevant due to the rise of the funding of major schools and so forth) so do pay attention generally.

While the top three or so programs still are light years ahead of most programs, the rest of the field has made major strides in competitive balance over the last 10 or so years. It's very good to see.
100% true. The days of UConn or Tennessee just steamrolling through the tournament year after year are long gone. South Carolina has something special going on right now, but they won't stay this dominant.

The season, UConn, by the way, at times has literally had an all-American lineup on the bench due to injuries. I wish we could see them at full strength going up against SC. Last year, UConn wasn't healthy either when they played SC in the title game.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 10, 2017
5,959
9 seed Miami knocks out 1 seed Indiana. Miami player being interviewed by the announcer after the game: "coach told us to win the fucking game, excuse my language." The announcers didn't give her the same don't worry about it this is cable TV line like Jamie Erdahl did, haha.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
I think you mean all the players are excellent, can't focus on one or two players. But they only play 7 people.
UConn's roster (if everyone was healthy) - not counting walk-ons:

G - Bueckers (NPOY a couple of years ago and has been hurt the last two seasons)
G - Fudd (All American caliber player)
G - Muhl (all conference player, set a UConn record for assists this year, conference DPOY as well)
G - Bettencourt (bench player forced to play real minutes this year in a ton of games)
F - Ducharme (all conference caliber player, has dealt with concussion issues all season)
F - Griffin (all conference caliber player, missed a bunch of time with a back injury)
F - Edwards (all conference player, might make one of the All-America teams)
C - Juhasz (all conference player)
F - Brady (McDonald's All American freshman, out all year due to injury)
F - Lopez-Senechal (all conference player)
F - Patterson (bench player getting real minutes this year due to injury)
F - DeBerry (bench player getting real minutes this year due to injury)

If they were healthy, this group of players would all get real minutes:

Bueckers, Fudd, Muhl, Ducharme, Griffin, Edwards, Juhasz, Brady, and Lopez-Senechal. That's 9 deep, all of whom are at minimum all-conference caliber players. At one point this year they had this list of players on the bench due to injury:

Bueckers
Fudd
Ducharme
Juhasz
Brady

That's an unbelievable amount of talent forced to sit due to injury. That team right there, if healthy, is a final four caliber team all by itself (with a few decent subs to give them a few minutes' break).

No, UConn doesn't only play 7 players, not when they have a fully healthy roster. They'd go 9 deep easy, and have players like Bettencourt, DeBerry, and Patterson not playing at all - and all three of them would be legit quality starters on a mid-major team.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
Getting Fudd and Ducharme back makes them dangerous again.
100%. That's two very high level shooters they can now put on the floor, which opens all kinds of things up for Juhasz and Edwards, as well as for back door cuts. Teams HAVE to respect their shooting. Makes a huge, huge difference. Fudd didn't even shoot very well last night (she scored a lot because she took a lot of shots) and they blew out Baylor (though the game was closer than the score indicated).

I still think it will take an A+ performance, and probably some breaks going their way, for UConn to beat South Carolina, but without Fudd they only lost by 4 last time they played. So they've definitely got a puncher's chance if they get that far. Indiana losing, by the way, might not be the blessing it appears to be for UConn. I think LSU is better than Indiana anyway.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,163
UConn's roster (if everyone was healthy) - not counting walk-ons:

G - Bueckers (NPOY a couple of years ago and has been hurt the last two seasons)
G - Fudd (All American caliber player)
G - Muhl (all conference player, set a UConn record for assists this year, conference DPOY as well)
G - Bettencourt (bench player forced to play real minutes this year in a ton of games)
F - Ducharme (all conference caliber player, has dealt with concussion issues all season)
F - Griffin (all conference caliber player, missed a bunch of time with a back injury)
F - Edwards (all conference player, might make one of the All-America teams)
C - Juhasz (all conference player)
F - Brady (McDonald's All American freshman, out all year due to injury)
F - Lopez-Senechal (all conference player)
F - Patterson (bench player getting real minutes this year due to injury)
F - DeBerry (bench player getting real minutes this year due to injury)

If they were healthy, this group of players would all get real minutes:

Bueckers, Fudd, Muhl, Ducharme, Griffin, Edwards, Juhasz, Brady, and Lopez-Senechal. That's 9 deep, all of whom are at minimum all-conference caliber players. At one point this year they had this list of players on the bench due to injury:

Bueckers
Fudd
Ducharme
Juhasz
Brady

That's an unbelievable amount of talent forced to sit due to injury. That team right there, if healthy, is a final four caliber team all by itself (with a few decent subs to give them a few minutes' break).

No, UConn doesn't only play 7 players, not when they have a fully healthy roster. They'd go 9 deep easy, and have players like Bettencourt, DeBerry, and Patterson not playing at all - and all three of them would be legit quality starters on a mid-major team.
I was referring to who they are playing now. Only 7 played significantly, 2 or 3 others played a minute. They are beyond loaded if everyone is available.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
I was referring to who they are playing now. Only 7 played significantly, 2 or 3 others played a minute. They are beyond loaded if everyone is available.
Ohhhhh.... I misunderstood your previous post. My bad. Yeah, by "depth" I mean that everyone they mainly used last night is a terrific player. I gotcha.

My daughter is on the coaching staff of another D1 women's hoops team, and we were chatting watching the UConn game. When Edwards got in foul trouble (she commits some DUMB fouls, though her 4th foul...man, she literally didn't do anything, and they called it on the wrong person... whatever), I texted her and said, they'll be fine. Against Baylor, they can live with just one big (Juhasz) because Baylor isn't very big, and Griffin can totally play the 4 for them against this team, as athletic as she is.

Well...spot on, if I may say so myself. Griffin was a beast on the glass and on defense, and totally did a great job, and Juhasz was solid, and it was more than plenty. Now if Edwards gets in foul trouble against South Carolina....TOTALLY different story. But last night, it was fine.
 

GB5

New Member
Aug 26, 2013
675
Did I hear that one of the Sweet 16 games is at 2:30 this afternoon? Is it so they don’t have to compete against the men’s games? Either way, not a great way to market your sport.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
SoSH Member
Mar 14, 2006
9,419
Kernersville, NC
Did I hear that one of the Sweet 16 games is at 2:30 this afternoon? Is it so they don’t have to compete against the men’s games? Either way, not a great way to market your sport.
How is that any different than the men’s first round starting around noon on Thursday and Friday?
 

Sad Sam Jones

Member
SoSH Member
May 5, 2017
2,494
Utah blew it when a 75% free throw shooter missed two free throws that would have given them the lead with 4.7 seconds left. The first attempt was an air ball.
 

Sad Sam Jones

Member
SoSH Member
May 5, 2017
2,494
I volunteered to help out a friend tomorrow and play a character in a live game of Clue at a local Victorian mansion... which means I'll be looking dapper in my bowler hat and crazy facial hair, but I'll be missing the Ohio State & UConn game.

I don't expect the Buckeyes to win, but they have the talent to beat anyone. After starting out 19-0, they've gone a very Jekyll & Hyde 8-7, failing to string together four good quarters in the past two months. They completed an incredible 24-point comeback against Indiana in the B1G Tournament and then got eviscerated by Iowa the next day. When things start going wrong, they immediately go into panic mode. Cotie McMahon was B1G Freshman of the Year and took over as the alpha on the court in that Indiana game, but she still disappears too often when they need her.
 

GB5

New Member
Aug 26, 2013
675
Why is it different? It’s the Sweet 16 vs the 1St round. Huge difference.
 

loshjott

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 30, 2004
14,943
Silver Spring, MD
Terps putting the hammer down against Notre Dame in the second half. Up by 20 with 4 and change to go after trailing by one at halftime.

Brenda Frese a legit coach of the year candidate after losing several players to the transfer portal including Angel Reese who is dominating for LSU this year.

Next up more than likely is South Carolina in Greenville so….who knows. Too bad they ended up in the Gamecocks region.
 
Last edited:

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
UConn is getting wrecked by Ohio State’s pressure. 18 turnovers so far in the first half already.

Also… the refs are letting Ohio State get away with ungodly amounts of contact as they press.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
Pretty much everything went wrong in that half.
Edwards picked up three fouls and all of them were weak. The first one was on a bad pass by Muhl as Edwards just went for the ball. The second one the OSU player spun and fell. The third was the worst. An OSU player drove to the rim and just fell and Edwards was just in the vicinity so they called a foul on her.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
I said this to tims4wins when Duke lost to Tennessee (and I hate Duke) so this is me being consistent and not just whining. But I have no problem when a team plays physical pressure defense. They should enjoy the rewards of that (lots of turnovers). But there’s no way to play that style against a good team without committing a lot of fouls. But they’re not getting called for them, and meanwhile Edwards got three totally ticky-tack calls on her.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
Worst UConn performance in at least 20 years. Refs were terrible but UConn was way worse. Missed layups, a gajillion turnovers, awful from the line. Other than Lopez-Senechal, they all played just terribly today. Ohio State had something to do with that of course but in the past this is a game UConn still manages to win by 10.
 

Bleedred

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 21, 2001
9,963
Boston, MA
I'm a ducharme fanboy and she was absolutely atrocious. Threw the ball away 3 times by my count (she wasn't alone of course), made zero 3s, got abused on defense. She looked absolutely terrible.