NCAA Women’s Tournament First Weekend Recap: No mid-major women’s teams in second weekend

For the second time in three years, no teams from mid-major conferences made the Women’s NCAA Sweet 16. Even with the perceived relative lack of parity in the women’s college basketball as compared to the men’s side, and with sustained power having long shifted away from mid-major stalwarts of yesteryear like Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion and Missouri State, this is just the fourth time this has happened in the history of the women’s tournament (the others occurred in 2009, 2016 and 2023).

There were still some inspiring moments in the first weekend for mid-major programs, highlighted by Richmond and South Dakota State’s first round wins and a handful of other near-upsets.

First Four

#3bidIvy made its tournament debut in the First Four. It was the second year in a row for a multi-bid Ivy and just the third year overall, but the first time with three Ivy League teams making it. Princeton and Columbia, the Ivy’s at-large representatives, both ended up as part of the last four teams in.

In South Bend, Ind., Princeton used a dominant second quarter to turn a nine-point deficit into a 15-point halftime lead over Iowa State. But Audi Crooks keyed an equally dominant third quarter for ISU to overturn the deficit, eventually giving the Cyclones the five-point win. The following night, Columbia did the opposite thing against Washington in Chapel Hill, N.C., outsourcing UW by eight points in each of the final two quarters to give the Lions a three-point win and avenge a heartbreaking First Four loss last year.

In the 16-seed matchups, Southern downed tournament newbies UC San Diego on UCLA’s home floor to collect its first NCAA tournament win in seven tries. Meanwhile, William & Mary continued its already remarkable run with a win over High Point in Austin, Texas. The Tribe – representing the oldest university in the United States – achieved the basketball program’s first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, men’s or women’s, with a run to the CAA Tournament Title as the 9-seed with a losing record, and now have a tournament win under their belt.

Round of 64

In the history of the NCAA tournament, no 14- or 15-seed has ever won a tournament game, but four such teams made valiant attempts at doing so.

15-seed Fairleigh Dickinson showed the tenacity that earned it a perfect record in the Northeast Conference and went toe-to-toe with TCU for 15 minutes in Fort Worth on Friday. But they couldn’t keep up with the playmaking of Madison Conner and Co., being held to under 40% from the field and a dismal 1-for-11 from outside – very uncharacteristic of the normally sharpshooting team – and watched TCU slowly build its lead en route to 73-51 win. 15-seed Vermont hung with 2-seed NC State on Saturday for even longer, trailing by just four points in the dying seconds of the third quarter behind America East 6th Player of the Year Keira Hanson’s 21 bench points. But NC State outscored UVM 25-9 to close out the game and win by 20 in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

14-seed and 30-win FGCU was also within eight points of three-seed Oklahoma with under five minutes to play in their matchup, despite shooting under 30% for the game. They couldn’t turn it on at the end though, and Raegan Beers and OU pulled away to an 81-58 final. 14-seed Oregon State, now in the West Coast Conference after a strong run in the Pac-12, entered seeded lower than 11th for the first time ever, and trailed UNC by just two points at halftime. The Tar Heels’ 30-9 advantage in third quarter allowed them to cruise to a 70-49 victory.

13-seed Grand Canyon won a staggering 32 games and got 27 points from WAC Player of the Year Trinity San Antonio as it kept things close with Baylor for three quarters, before Baylor slowly pulled away to a 13-point victory. 13-seed Norfolk State vied to become the first MEAC women’s team in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament since South Carolina State in 1983, and hung tough with Maryland all day on Saturday, leading at halftime and still finding themselves within just seven points with under three minutes to play. Four players finished in double figures for the Spartans but they hit just 7 of their 25 threes, and came up short against the bigger and more experienced Terrapins, 82-69.

The biggest near-upset from a team seeded below 10th came from 13-seed Liberty, who clawed back from a 15-point deficit to Kentucky with seven minutes to play, pulling within one point on Emma Hess’ banked-in three with 2.8 seconds to play. But the Flames inexplicably were unable to foul Kentucky on the ensuing inbounds, allowing the Wildcats to dribble out the 79-78 victory.

In the end, the only first round victories came from Richmond and South Dakota State. Richmond, the Atlantic 10 regular season champions, lost in the conference tournament but received an at-large bid – only the A-10’s second at-large bid since 2018 – and received an 8-seed, facing off with the ACC’s Georgia Tech on Friday in Los Angeles. The Spiders dominated the Yellow Jackets, using a 26-5 run to turn a 5-2 first-quarter deficit into a 28-10 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back. Junior forward and A-10 Player of the Year Maggie Doogan did it all for the Spiders, scoring 30 points (including five 3-pointers), grabbing 15 boards and dishing out six assists, a game-high for both teams in all three categories. Richmond became the first A-10 team to reach the second round in nine years.

South Dakota State, the Summit League Tournament Champions, received the 10-seed and took on 7-seed Oklahoma State in Storrs, Conn. in a much closer battle. The Cowgirls took an 11-point lead early in the third quarter, but a 32-13 run gave SDSU a 58-50 lead in the fourth quarter. When Kallie Thiesen’s layup stretched a three-point lead to five points with under four minutes to play in the game, OSU was never within a single possession again, as the Jacks made enough free throws and defensive stops down the stretch to seal a 74-68 win. Four of five starters scored in double figures, including Brooklyn Meyer (19), Madison Mathiowetz (17) and Paige Meyer (16). The Jackrabbits won their 30th game of the year. SDSU secured its fifth appearance in the Round of 32 all-time in less than 20 seasons of Division I Tournament eligibility.

Round of 32

Both Richmond and South Dakota State gave impressive showings against their opponents — two of the best teams in the country — and proved they absolutely deserved to share the grand stage with them. In the end, the sheer star power of UCLA and UConn allowed them to pull away in the second halves of their games and send the last two mid-majors out gracefully.

On Sunday night, Richmond, playing more than 2,000 miles away from home, gave the number one overall seed in the tournament a real scare on its home floor. The Spiders hit their first six shots of the game and finished the half at over 65%, and led the Bruins by two after the first quarter. Even when UCLA took an eight-point lead in the second period, Richmond went on a run to tie the score at 36-36 to close the half. Doogan led all scorers with 16 at halftime.

In the second half, UCLA showed why it was the best team in the country. Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts keyed a 23-2 run to end the third quarter and put the game away. The Spiders, shooting so hot in the first half, shot just 20% in the third quarter and did not pull within 15 points in the final period of an 84-67 defeat. Doogan finished with 27 points, second in the game to only First Team All-American Betts’ 30, and Rachel Ullstrom pitched in with 18 for Richmond.

South Dakota State also got off to a strong start on the home court of its opponent – only the greatest women’s basketball program of all-time, the 11-time champion UConn Huskies. A 2-seed that has been just as if not more dominant than any of the 1-seeds in the field, UConn dispatched of 15-seed Arkansas State by 69 points but found itself trailing by six points early to the Jackrabbits. A three from Mathiowetz opened the scoring, and another Mathiowetz three a bit later gave SDSU a 10-4 lead. The Jackrabbits held a lead for most of the first quarter before six straight Paige Bueckers points, including a last-second three, gave UConn a five point lead after the break.

In the second quarter, UConn used a 24-8 run to take a 21-point lead, but SDSU pulled it back to 10 points on a run of their own spanning the halftime break. In the end, Bueckers, a First-Team All-American, was too much, pouring in 34 points for UConn as it outraced the Jackrabbits to a 91-57 final score. Ten Jackrabbits made a field goal but only Paige Meyer finished in double figures with 16 points.