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It is event time! With the NCAA Women’s Tournament tipping off on Friday, listed here are 5 storylines to look out for. The street to the Closing 4 in Cleveland begins now.
Can South Carolina develop into a dynasty?
I do know what you are saying — “the Gamecocks already are one!” And whereas that is a take that I would definitely take heed to, on condition that within the 9 years, South Carolina has made 5 Closing 4 appearances and gained two nationwide titles, a 3rd title would simply add to the clear undeniable fact that Daybreak Staley’s program guidelines the game proper now.
Because the No. 1 total seed, the Gamecocks are favored to get it achieved this 12 months, a season after going undefeated till their Closing 4 loss to Iowa in Dallas. With a win, Staley would develop into the fifth ladies’s basketball coach to win at the very least three NCAA titles. The others? Geno Auriemma (11), Pat Summitt (eight), Kim Mulkey (4) and Tara VanDerveer (three), a who’s who of the game’s greats.
Will Caitlin Clark get sufficient assist in Iowa’s run?
Everyone knows that Clark will ship each time she steps on the courtroom. The senior is averaging a gaudy 31.9 factors, 8.9 assists and seven.3 rebounds per recreation this season, in any case.
But when Iowa is to win a championship in her closing NCAA Match, then Clark will want some assist from her supporting forged — notably Hannah Stuelke inside and Kate Martin on the wing. Given the Hawkeyes simply gained their third straight Large Ten Match title, partly because of the regular play of Stuelke, Martin and guard Sydney Affolter, depend on this staff being half than the Clark present over the following couple of weeks.
How far will the defending champs go?
It has been a … bizarre 12 months for LSU. The Tigers misplaced their first recreation of the season to Colorado, Angel Reese missed 4 nonconference video games on account of inner points and misplaced two straight in January (marking simply the second time a Mulkey-led staff had misplaced consecutive video games since 2016).
However over the past six weeks, LSU has been very LSU-like. The Tigers enter the Large Dance having gained 10 of their final 11 video games, with the lone loss coming by seven to South Carolina within the SEC Match closing. As a No. 3 seed within the Albany Regional 2, now it is time for LSU to develop into the primary repeat champion since UConn capped off a four-peat in 2016.
Can Virginia Tech overcome the lack of Elizabeth Kitley?
The reply: unlikely. Kitley has merely been a pressure all through her school profession; this 12 months was no completely different, because the stellar heart averaged 22.8 factors, 11.4 rebounds and a pair of.1 blocks per recreation en path to her third straight ACC Participant of the Yr award (a feat solely two earlier ladies, Duke’s Alana Beard from 2004-06 and Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas from 2012-14, had pulled off in convention historical past).
However Kitley’s storied profession has come to a devastatingly untimely finish, as she introduced on her Instagram Thursday that she wouldn’t be capable of play within the NCAA Match on account of a knee damage suffered within the Hokies’ regular-season finale towards Virginia.
The fourth-seeded Hokies nonetheless have standout guard Georgia Amoore (averaging 19.2 factors and 6.9 assists per recreation) on their aspect, however a first-round matchup towards No. 13 seed Marshall on Friday simply bought a complete lot extra attention-grabbing.
Which Pac-12 staff will go the furthest?
Take your choose. Will or not it’s No. 1 seed USC (with stud freshman JuJu Watkins), No. 2 seed Stanford, No. 2 seed UCLA or another person? The Pac-12, in its closing season as a cohesive league, delivered from begin to end, with the Trojans, Cardinal and Bruins proving themselves as contenders from November till now.
Will it translate right into a run to Cleveland for any (or a number of) of them? What about No. 5 seeds Utah and Colorado? That is the great thing about March: we simply do not know.
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