Ladies’s March Insanity: What to Watch on Day 2

Welcome to Half 2 of the primary spherical of the N.C.A.A. ladies’s match, with a densely packed slate of video games and various probabilities to make historical past. As soon as once more, the video games will likely be aired throughout ESPN’s networks in addition to, within the instances of Connecticut and Tennessee’s first spherical video games, on ABC (at 1 and three p.m., all occasions Japanese, respectively).

Beneath you’ll find a information to a number of the names you may be seeing, the upsets it is best to look ahead to, and a few recommendation to assist handle squeezing in as a lot match motion as attainable, even in case you have only one tv.

Hunt down the lower-seeded stars.

The match could be a wonderful showcase for the sorts of gamers that ladies’s basketball powerhouses can remorse not recruiting extra aggressively.

Dyaisha Honest grew up in Rochester earlier than committing to the College at Buffalo, a staff that has turn into perennially fun-to-watch within the postseason underneath coach Felisha Legette-Jack. Honest has seized the chance, and was awarded an honorable point out when the A.P. introduced its All-People earlier this week. The prolific scorer will lead the push to upset No. 4 Tennessee, certainly one of ladies’s basketball’s most commemorated packages.

Ameshya Williams-Holliday was recruited by a powerhouse, Mississippi State, however enjoying with the Bulldogs didn’t stick. It was solely this season, her first at Jackson State, that Williams-Holliday realized the potential she was recruited for — not simply main her staff to its second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Convention match championship, however incomes a S.W.A.C. Participant of the Yr award within the course of. The Girl Tigers will try and topple the No. 3 Louisiana State Tigers, and spoil Kim Mulkey’s first match sport as L.S.U. head coach.

Kansas State got here onto sports activities followers’ radars earlier this season because of Ayoka Lee, a junior middle who broke the Division I single-game scoring file in a victory over Oklahoma by scoring 61 factors in simply 35 minutes on the courtroom. It was not an uncharacteristic efficiency from the 6-foot-6 Lee, who has turned Kansas State right into a contender together with her environment friendly scoring and dominant protection — however the truth that her record-setting sport got here in an upset of an A.P. ranked opponent ought to make No. 8 Washington State slightly nervous. When the stakes are excessive, Lee has proven that she will be able to meet the second.

It’s all concerning the underdogs.

Should you’re in search of underdogs to root for, 9 groups enjoying on Saturday have by no means received an NCAA Division I match sport. Central Florida, American, Jackson State, the College of Massachusetts, Charlotte, Mercer and Washington State will all be in search of their first match wins — within the case of No. 8 Washington State and No. 7 Central Florida, they’re truly in good place to make program historical past.

Two faculties are enjoying within the match for the primary time: Indiana College-Purdue College Indianapolis, and Longwood. I.U.P.U.I had received a bid to the 2020 match earlier than it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so 2022 will likely be their first time truly enjoying within the match.

Be careful for these upset-ready faculties.

The final time Villanova made the ladies’s match was in 2018, and that 12 months they pulled off a first-round upset in time beyond regulation as a No. 9 seed. This 12 months, although the Eleventh-seeded squad has a a lot harder spot on the bracket, they’ve additionally proven how excessive their ceiling is. Led by Division I’s second-best scorer Maddy Siegrist, the Wildcats toppled a depleted Connecticut throughout convention play. Villanova might want to muster the whole lot they utilized in that victory in the event that they’re going to beat Brigham Younger and their star Shaylee Gonzales.

Stephen F. Austin was two factors away from its first match win in 20 years final 12 months, when it in the end fell to Georgia Tech in time beyond regulation. This 12 months finds them in the very same place: seeded No. 12, and attempting to beat an Atlantic Coast Convention staff. The Ladyjacks will likely be fielding certainly one of Division I’s higher defenses as they try to drag off the upset and discover redemption for sophomore Avery Brittingham, who missed a last-second, game-tying tip shot in 2021.

The Missouri State Girl Bears possible have a keenness for the No. 11 seed they’ve earned. In 2019, the one different time they had been seeded No. 11, the Girl Bears made it to the Candy Sixteen. This 12 months, they barely made it into the bracket in any respect after having to beat Florida State within the First 4 video games — however now that they’re formally a part of the 64-team discipline, they’ve a shot to upset Ohio State and make it to the Candy Sixteen for the third straight 12 months.

A street map to the second day of the match.

As soon as once more, the primary spherical slate begins with an interesting 8-9 matchup (all occasions Japanese): the aforementioned Ayoka Lee and No. 9 Kansas State attempting to get previous Washington State (11:30 a.m., ESPN2). Tune in for the second half earlier than flipping to B.Y.U. versus Villanova (1 p.m., ESPNEWS). If it’s not shut, verify in on Connecticut (1 p.m., ABC) and see how Paige Bueckers is responding to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

Two video games with upset potential will overlap within the subsequent window. Head to ESPNU to catch Missouri State versus Ohio State round 3 p.m., and when that sport is at halftime, change to Buffalo versus Tennessee on ABC. These video games ought to present the most effective competitors till Kentucky versus Princeton (sure, one other 6-11 matchup — in case you’re sensing a theme) begins at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

The schedule rounds out with three strong 5-12 video games: first Oregon vs. Belmont (which received its first match sport final 12 months) at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2, after which Stephen F. Austin versus North Carolina and Massachusetts versus Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS and ESPN2, respectively.