Sweet 16 field features two 10 seeds, one WNBA lottery prospect and a UConn team that barely survived
The 2022 NCAA women's basketball tournament will go down in history as tied for the most wins by double-digit seeds through two rounds. For everyone who watched these last four days, there will be a footnote of how close it was to the record.
There were eight wins by double-digit seeds coming into Monday with three in action poised to bump the record up. Two of them took their opponents to the final seconds. No. 12 Belmont came a few made free throws and defensive stand away from knocking off powerhouse program Tennessee. A half-hour later, No. 11 seed Princeton couldn't find a way to put any more points on the board in the final minute and fell to No. 3 Indiana, 56-55.
These games won't be a part of tournament lore and as the years go by, they won't be mentioned in TV graphics as upsets mount over future opening weekends. Neither will No. 13 UNLV's five-point loss to No. 3 Arizona nor will Missouri State coming 41 seconds from being the first First Four team to win a first-round game.
They do put into clear terms the trend that has been happening in women's college basketball for years now. There is more parity than ever, more talent than ever and more excitement than ever. The best high school players, such as Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark, no longer chose from two or three powerhouses. Coaches like Princeton's Carla Berube take the experience at those programs (UConn in her case) and build ones elsewhere. Colleges make noise this first weekend and build around it in coming seasons. The Belmont core is sophomores — what will they show us next year?
The double-digit seeds in the 2022 Sweet 16 will stand as two No. 10 seeds: Creighton will face No. 3 Iowa State in the Greensboro regional semifinal and South Dakota will face No. 3 Michigan in the Wichita regional semifinal. It is the first time two No. 10s have made it through together and only five total have done it in history.
WNBA lottery prospects ousted in first weekend
It was a rough-and-tumble opening stanza for the stars who will almost surely hear their names called first in the 2022 WNBA draft on April 11. All were on teams upset by double-digit seeds.
NaLyssa Smith, Baylor's 6-foot-4 senior forward, is projected No. 1 in ESPN's most recent mock draft. She and the Bears were knocked out of the tournament in the second round by No. 10 South Dakota in the Wichita region. South Dakota also ousted senior Shakira Austin and Ole Miss, the seven seed, in the first round. Austin, a 6-foot-5 center, is projected by most to head to Atlanta at the No. 3 pick.
Kentucky senior Rhyne Howard is always listed in the top-2 with Smith. The 6-foot-2 guard and the Wildcats also had trouble offensively and fell to No. 11 Princeton in the first round of the Bridgeport region. Howard hit 28.6% from the field, nearing a season-low, for 17 points with eight rebounds.
The sole projected lottery pick remaining is Michigan senior Naz Hillmon, who was met with "MVP" chants at Crisler Center after a 64-49 win against No. 11 Villanova. It's the Wolverines second Sweet 16 berth in program history and is largely because of Hillmon's 27 points and 11 rebounds. She was an efficient 12-of-16 and added five steals.
Baylor's 6-foot-3 center Queen Egbo and Oregon's 6-foot-5 junior forward Nyara Sabally, who is eligible but has not yet declared, are also out early as is No. 12 seeded Florida Gulf Coast junior guard Kierstan Bell.
A lot can and will change over the next three weeks and those still playing can work their way up into the top-four of a draft. Yet, a full group of top draft picks losing on opening weekend is rare. In seven of the last 10 tournaments dating back to 2011, at least one of the year's four lottery picks has played in the national championship game. In the three years that didn't happen (2018, '13, '11), at least one played in the Final Four.
Who is left to raise their draft stock? N.C. State center Elissa Cunane and UConn seniors Evina Westbrook and Christyn Williams are on track to meet in the Bridgeport final. South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson and Iowa State wing Ashley Joens are potential late first-rounders. And Louisville's Emily Engstler and Stanford's Lexie Hull, who scored a career-high 36 in the second-round win, could break into draft boards.
Kim Mulkey, former Baylor team out in same round
Baylor, in its first season under head coach Nicki Collen, was on the wrong side of that 10-seed magic on Sunday. The Sweet 16 will go on without the Bears for the first time in the last 12 tournaments.
Collen left the same position with the WNBA's Atlanta Dream for Baylor after legendary head coach Kim Mulkey abruptly left in April 2021. Mulkey went home to take over the LSU Tigers and is a finalist for national coach of the year after leading them to a 13-3 SEC record and into a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
But in the end, both Collen and Mulkey's tournament roads ended at the same spot. LSU somehow survived an upset bid by No. 14 Jackson State in the first round and couldn't do the same against No. 6 Ohio State. The Tigers trailed for almost all of the contest and lost, 79-64.
UConn survives and advances in rare form
UConn found itself in an unusual position: a one-possession game with 18.1 seconds left in a second-round matchup. The Huskies survived, 52-47, against No. 7 seed UCF to reach the Bridgeport region semifinal in what will essentially be more home games for the powerhouse. It is the 28th straight year they will be in the Sweet 16.
Christyn Williams and Azzi Fudd each made their sets of free throws in the final 20 seconds to put the incredibly chippy game out of reach. Fudd led all Huskies with 16 points and Williams had 12. Paige Bueckers, still on the road back from leg surgery, had nine points, two assists, one steal and one block. She also had a crowd pump-up moment in the first quarter when teammates pulled her away from fighting for a jump ball. The XL Center was so loud the whistle was buried in noise.
It was an utterly atrocious offensive night for UConn shooting 14-of-48 (29.2%) overall and missing open layups. Six of those field goals were 3-pointers. But it was a worse night for UCF at the free throw line where they went 10-of-20. A lane violation all but ended the winning effort for the Knights.
UConn pulls No. 3 Indiana in the Sweet 16 as the Huskies continue their quest for their first national title since 2016.
