NCAA WBB Tournament Opening Weekend.

Washington Upsets Maryland Thanks to Kelsey Plum (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The first round showed us that in NCAA Women’s basketball, anyone can beat anyone else. We saw all four 9 seeds beat their 8 seeds counterparts. We also saw two 10 seed teams win in St. Bonaventure and Missouri. The NCAA Men always say that the 12 verse 5 matchup is the most dangerous, the first round proved to everyone that it is also true on the Women’s side. Albany from the America East Conference knocked off Florida from the SEC and South Dakota State who won the Summit League tournament beat Miami, an at large from the ACC.

The Second round saw the SEC and the Pac 12 show their dominance with 4 teams left in the Sweet 16. Through two rounds we have seen two teams specifically, who sometimes were inconsistent during the regular season, could be dangerous when they get on a roll. Tennessee and DePaul both spent time out of the top 25 due to losses they suffered during the regular season, but both teams have fought their way to the Sweet 16.

There are no Cinderella teams still dancing this year as all teams remaining were 7th seeds or higher. Although the #2 Arizona State Sun Devils got knocked off by Tennessee, #7 Washington stunned Maryland to keep the Pac 12 tied with the SEC for teams left.

Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State was the high scorer of the weekend, scoring 27 against Buffalo and 45 against West Virginia. Anriel Howard of Texas A&M pulled down 27 rebounds in the Aggies win over Missouri State, even though Courtney Williams and Shlonte Allen were suspended from the team just prior to the First Round for violation of team policy. Williams was the Aggies second leading scorer with 12.5 points per game. Unfortunately, without Williams, the Florida State offense was too quick for the Aggies in the Second Round falling 74-56.

Looking ahead to next weekend, can Kelsey Plum and Washington keep rolling against Kentucky? Can Stanford knock off the Fighting Irish? Who will win between DePaul’s offense and Oregon State’s defense? And the match up of the weekend will be #2 Texas versus #3 UCLA?

Sioux Falls Region - First Round

#1 South Carolina 77, #16 Jacksonville 41 – Alaina Coates 22 pts, 10 reb

#2 Arizona State 74, #15 New Mexico State 52 – Katie Hempen 20 pts

#3 Ohio State 88, #14 Buffalo 69 – Kelsey Mitchell 27 pts

#4 Syracuse 73, #13 Army 56 – Brittney Sykes 13 pts

#12 Albany 61, #5 Florida 59 – Imani Tate 28 pts, 8 reb

#6 West Virginia 74, #11 Princeton 65 – Bria Holmes 26 pts, 8 ast

#7 Tennessee 59, #10 Green Bay 53 – Diamond DeShields 14 pts

#9 Kansas State 56, #8 George Washington 51 – Breanna Lewis 13 pts, 8 reb

Dallas Region - First Round

#1 Baylor 89, #16 Idaho 59 – Alexis Jones 23 pts, 8 reb

#2 Oregon State 73, #15 Troy 31 – Ruth Hamblin 18 pts, 18 reb

#3 Louisville 87, #14 Central Arkansas 60 – Myisha Hines-Allen 25 pts, 7 reb

#4 Texas A&M 74, #13 Missouri State 65 – Anriel Howard 9 pts, 27 reb

#5 Florida State 72, #12 Middle Tennessee 55 – Adut Bulgak 15 pts, 9 reb

#6 DePaul 97, #11 James Madison 67 – Jessica January 18 pts

#10 St Bonaventure 65, #7 Oklahoma State 54 – Katie Healy 23 pts

#9 Auburn 68, #8 St John’s 57 – Janiah McKay 24 pts

Bridgeport Region - First Round

#1 UConn 101, #16 Robert Morris 49 – Breanna Stewart 18 pts

#2 Texas 86, #15 Alabama State 42 – Ariel Atkins 15 pts

#3 UCLA 66, #14 Hawaii 50 – Nirra Fields 16 pts, 8 reb

#4 Michigan State 74, #13 Belmont 60 – Aerial Powers 27 pts, 9 reb

#5 Mississippi State 60, #12 Chattanooga 50 – Victoria Vivians 19 pts, 7 reb

#6 South Florida 48, #11 Colorado State 45 – Courtney Williams 31 pts

#10 Missouri 78, #7 BYU 69 – Sophie Cunningham 20 pts

#9 Duquesne 97, #8 Seton Hall 76 – Deva’Nyar Workman 25 pts, 12 reb

Lexington Region - First Round

#1 Notre Dame 95, #16 North Carolina A&T 61 – Brianna Turner 16 pts

#2 Maryland 74, #15 Iona 58 – Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 19 pts

#3 Kentucky 85, #14 UNC Asheville 31 – Makayla Epps 24 pts

#4 Stanford 85, #13 San Francisco 58 – Erica McCall 14 pts, 10 reb

#12 South Dakota State 74, #5 Miami 71 – Macy Miller 18 pts, 7 reb

#6 Oklahoma 61, #11 Purdue 45 – Peyton Little 20 pts

#7 Washington 65, #10 Penn 53 – Kelsey Plum 24 pts, 7 ast

#9 Indiana 62, #8 Georgia 58 – Tyra Buss 23 pts, 7 reb

Sioux Falls Region - Second Round

#1 South Carolina 73, #9 Kansas State 47 – Tiffany Mitchell 20 pts

#7 Tennessee 75, #2 Arizona State 64 – Diamond DeShields 24 pts

#3 Ohio State 88, #6 West Virginia 81 – Kelsey Mitchell 45 pts

#4 Syracuse 76, #12 Albany 59 – Brittney Sykes 24 pts

Dallas Region - Second Round

#1 Baylor 84, #9 Auburn 52 – Nina Davis 30 pts, 7 reb

#2 Oregon State 69, #10 St Bonaventure 40– Jamie Weisner 23 pts

#5 Florida State 74, #4 Texas A&M 56 – Adut Bulgak 18 pts, 13 reb

#6 DePaul 97, #3 Louisville 87 – Jessica January 25 pts, 8 reb

Bridgeport Region - Second Round

#1 UConn 97, #9 Duquesne 51 – Breanna Stewart 21 pts, 16 reb

#2 Texas 73, #10 Missouri 55 - Ariel Atkins 22 pts, 7 reb

#3 UCLA 72, #6 South Florida 67 – Jordin Canada 19 pts, 7 reb

#5 Mississippi State 74, #4 Michigan State 72 – Morgan William 14 pts, 9 ast

Lexington Region - Second Round

#1 Notre Dame 87, #9 Indiana 70 – Lindsay Allen 22 pts, 7 ast

#7 Washington 74, #2 Maryland 65 – Kelsey Plum 32 pts, 7 ast

#3 Kentucky 79, #6 Oklahoma 58 – Alexis Jennings 13 pts, 8 reb

#4 Stanford 66, #12 South Dakota State 65 – Erica McCall 20 pts, 12 reb

Follow Kyle Wescott on Twitter @MHSWescott