Three Biggest Takeaways From Big 12 Women’s Second Round NCAA Tournament Games
![Naomie Alnatas and JJ Quinerly.](https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GAME-3-west-virginia-vs-oklahoma-state-009-Scott-Weaver-scaled.jpg)
Here are three takeaways from Big 12 Conference women’s NCAA Tournament basketball games on Monday, as three of the league’s teams were in second-round action.
So what happened? Big drama in Iowa City, drama in Bloomington and a battle of super freshmen in Los Angeles.
Here are three takeaways from the day.
THE SCARE OF THEIR LIVES
Iowa may win a national championship this year. If the Hawkeyes pull it off, they’ll look at their game against West Virginia on Monday as their great escape.
The final score was 64-54. It doesn’t do the game justice. With 2:30 left the game was tied, 52-52, and West Virginia had a chance to take the lead. The game pivoted on what happened next.
WVU set up JJ Quinerly for a 3-pointer, but Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall blocked the shot. Iowa went to the other end and Sydney Affolter drove to the basket, drew a foul from WVU’s Kyah Watson and made the basket to break the tie.
It was Iowa’s ONLY field goal of the fourth quarter.
Affolter made the free throw. WVU went to the other end and Jayla Hemingway missed a 3-pointer. At the other end, Hannah Stuelke made a free throw at the other end with 1:07 left to put the Hawkeyes up for good.
This game was incredible. West Virginia dictated the game’s pace with its defense. Iowa normally fires 70 shots per game. On Monday the Hawkeyes shot 47 times.
Caitlin Clark had a game — 32 points, eight rebounds and three assists. But WVU made everything hard on her. She didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter. Notice the three assists, too. Her fellow seniors — Kate Martin and Marshall — managed only a combined seven points. It was Affolter (13 points) and Stuelke (12 points) who stepped up.
The Mountaineers had the dish cooking exactly the way they wanted. They actually made more two-point field goals (21-to-17) and more 3-point field goals (9-to-5) than Iowa. Clark was the ONLY Hawkeye to make a 3-pointer.
But the free throws got the Mountaineers in the end. Iowa went 25-for-30. WVU went 3-for-5. Yes, that’s a huge disparity. But this was quite possibly the most physical game I saw, men’s or women’s, all weekend. WVU had 27 fouls to Iowa’s 11. Make of that as you will.
Quinerly had 15 and fouled out. Kyah Watson had 13 points and made a trio of 3-pointers. Hemingway added 10 points off the bench. Tirzah Moore had eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Iowa’s triangle-and-two defense was effective at keeping WVU out of the paint, making them settle for 3-pointers and the Mountaineers had a better-than-average night from the arc.
It wasn’t quite enough. But, for a moment, West Virginia was tantalizingly close to turning the entire tournament on its head.
Why? Only one No. 8 seed had beaten a No. 1 seed in the second round in NCAA Women’s Tournament history. WVU was a break or two away from becoming No. 2.
SOONERS FALL SHORT AGAIN
For the third time in three seasons under coach Jennie Baranczyk, the Oklahoma Sooners were unable to get past the first weekend of the tournament, falling to Indiana, 75-68, at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
The Sooners had a chance to win this one, certainly a better chance than a year ago against UCLA and definitely a better chance than two years ago against Notre Dame. This was a tight, break-neck game played at OU’s pace. In fact, OU had the lead, 64-60, after Aubrey Joens drained a 3-pointer with 2:41 left.
Indiana outscored Oklahoma 15-4 the rest of the way. Key was a pair of possessions where Oklahoma attempted to get an entry pass to Big 12 Co-Player of the Year Skylar Vann and both became turnovers. Each led to Hoosiers points on the other end.
Once Indiana got a two-possession lead, it never allowed Oklahoma to creep back in. Indiana went 9-for-10 at the free-throw line.
Vann had 20 points and eight rebounds. Joens had 16 off the bench and Sahara Williams added 12. Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes was unstoppable at times and finished with 29 points.
While Oklahoma is no longer the Big 12’s problem, the future of Baranczyk with the Sooners will rest on her ability to get the Sooners past the first weekend. The road to doing that will be just as hard in the SEC as it was in the Big 12.
THE FRESHMAN FACE-OFF
Kansas pitted its great freshman against USC’s great freshman and it was a fair fight.
USC went on to win, 73-55, after Kansas fell behind by as much as 15 points and cut the lead to one point with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
Then JuJu Watkins, that talented freshman for USC, hit a 3-pointer. And slowly, but surely, the Trojans pulled away.
Kansas made Watkins and the Trojans work for it. The Jayhawks flipped quickly to a zone after Watkins got off to a hot start and it flustered her and USC. S’Mya Nichols, Kansas’ All-Big 12 First Team freshman, finished with 22 points and she frustrated USC.
But it wasn’t enough as Kansas didn’t have much of an answer for guard McKenzie Forbes, who drained six 3-pointers and had 20 points to supplement Watkins’ huge night of 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Kansas has never beaten a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It was the last game for Kansas’ trio of super-seniors — Taiyanna Jackson (10 points, 18 rebounds), Holly Kersgieter (nine points, seven rebounds) and Zakiyah Franklin (six points, two assists). They helped coach Brandon Schneider build what he’s sought to build at Kansas since he arrived — a consistent winner. The trio enjoyed three straight seasons of at least 20 wins. That included two NCAA Tournament appearances — with a win in each tournament — and a WNIT title last season.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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