NCAA WBB Conference Tournament Weekend Recap.

SEC Champs South Carolina Pose with Awards and Trophy (TheState)

The Conference tournaments did little to help separate the elite of the NCAA and the middle of the pack. All “major” Conference tournaments were won by the Regular Season Champion, with the exception of the Big East with St. John’s knocking off DePaul. The Big Ten saw one upset with Ohio State, who had been consistently scoring over 90 points, held to 63 points in their Semifinal loss to Michigan State.

The Pac 12 had the biggest upsets with both #9 Arizona falling to Kristine Anigwe (Pac 12 Freshman of the year) and California and #11 Stanford losing to Washington as Kelsey Plum (UW) became Washington’s all-time leading scorer with 2,282 points scored in her career.

In the SEC, #3 South Carolina finished off the perfect SEC season beating #16 Mississippi State in the finals. Tennessee knocked off #15 Texas A&M, but lost to Mississippi State in the semifinals.

Many mid-majors still have their tournaments this week, but I believe it’s clear who the elite class is and who the top 4 seeds will be for the NCAA tournament; UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina, and Baylor. The next 4 in that elite class of talent are Texas, Oregon State, Maryland and UCLA. Beyond these teams, I don’t see another team who can compete with the top 4.

However, in the NCAA tournament, it is one game and we’ve seen great upsets before.

Will UConn finish the 4 peat? Will Coach McGraw and Notre Dame get the ultimate revenge by keeping UConn from history? Can a Pac 12 team break through to the Final Four and show why they have the deepest league? The storylines are endless and the 2016 NCAA tournament is going to be great!

ACC

Quarterfinals

#2 Notre Dame 83, Duke 54 – Marina Mabrey 14 pts

#7 Louisville 60, Georgia Tech 50 – Myisha Hines-Allen 22 pts, 13 reb

#21 Miami 74, #14 Florida State 56 – Jessica Thomas 21 pts

#17 Syracuse 80, NC State 61 – Alexis Peterson 18 pts

Semifinals

#2 Notre Dame 78, #21 Miami 67 – Lindsay Allen 14 pts, 8 ast

#17 Syracuse 80, #7 Louisville 75 – Cornelia Fondren 18 pts, 13 reb

Finals

#2 Notre Dame 68, #17 Syracuse 57 – Brianna Turner 18 pts, 11 reb

American

Quarterfinals

#1 UConn 92, ECU 51 – Breanna Stewart 15 pts, 8 reb

#20 South Florida 73, SMU 60 – Courtney Williams 29 pts, 8 reb

Tulane 70, Memphis 64 – Kolby Morgan 23 pts, 7 reb

Temple 78, Tulsa 52 – Tanaya Atkinson 20 pts, 9 reb

Semifinals

#1 UConn 82, Tulane 35 – Katie Lou Samuelson 17 pts

#20 South Florida 64, Temple 46 – Alisia Jenkins 12 pts, 15 reb

Finals

#1 UConn 77, South Florida 51 – Breanna Stewart 22 pts

Big Ten

Quarterfinals

#5 Maryland 75, Iowa 55 – Brionna Jones 23 pts, 15 reb

#9 Ohio State 73, Rutgers 58 – Kelsey Mitchell 43 pts

#19 Michigan State 65, Purdue 64 – Aerial Powers 26 pts, 12 reb

Northwestern 79, Indiana 73 – Nia Coffey 26 pts, 11 reb

Semifinals

#5 Maryland 83, Northwestern 62 – Brionna Jones 17 pts, 11 reb

#19 Michigan State 82, #9 Ohio State 63 – Aerial Powers 31 pts, 12 reb

Finals

#5 Maryland 60, #19 Michigan State 44 – Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 19 pts, 10 reb

Big 12

Quarterfinals

#4 Baylor 82, Texas Tech 51 – Kristy Wallace 15 pts

#6 Texas 66, Kansas 50 – Celina Rodrigo 13 pts

#22 West Virginia 74, Kansas State 65 – Tynice Martin 20 pts

#24 Oklahoma 61, Oklahoma State 43 – Vionise Pierre-Louis 16 pts, 15 reb

Semifinals

#4 Baylor 84, #24 Oklahoma 57 – Alexis Jones 19 pts, 11 ast

#6 Texas 67, #22 West Virginia 51 – Celina Rodrigo 12 pts

Finals

#4 Baylor 79, #6 Texas 63 – Alexis Jones 16 pts

Pac 12

Quarterfinals

#8 Oregon State 63, USC 53 – Jamie Weisner 20 pts, 10 reb

California 75, #10 Arizona State 64 – Kristine Anigwe 24 pts, 11 reb

Washington 73, #11 Stanford 65 – Kelsey Plum 29 pts

#12 UCLA 72, Arizona 51 – Monique Billings 18 pts, 8 reb

Semifinals

#8 Oregon State 57, Washington 55 – Jamie Weisner 20 pts

#12 UCLA 73, California 67 (OT) – Monique Billings 22 pts, 9 reb

Finals

#8 Oregon State 69, #12 UCLA 57 – Ruth Hamblin 23 pts, 20 reb

SEC

Quarterfinals

#3 South Carolina 57, Auburn 48 – Alaina Coates 14 pts, 12 reb

#13 Kentucky 92, #25 Florida 69 – Makayla Epps 22 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast

Tennessee 70, #15 Texas A&M 60 – Diamond DeShields 21 pts

#16 Mississippi State 63, Vanderbilt 46 – Dominique Dillingham 12 pts

Semifinals

#3 South Carolina 93, #13 Kentucky 63 – A’ja Wilson 18 pts

#16 Mississippi State 58, Tennessee 48 – Victoria Vivians 30 pts, 9 reb

Finals

#3 South Carolina 66, #16 Mississippi State 52 – A’ja Wilson 19 pts, 13 reb