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Surprise, surprise: UConn the No. 1 overall seed
There were moments of breathless anticipation as women's basketball teams across the country had to wait to find out if they were going to be a part of the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament field. There were others hoping they would earn a top 16 seed so could host the subregionals. Then there is UConn.
Pretty much from the time the Huskies followed up a win at Notre Dame with a victory over South Carolina, it was a foregone conclusion that the two-time defending national champions would be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2015 tournament.
When the bracket was unveiled, the Huskies was a No. 1 seed for the 18th time in the last 22 seasons. UConn is the No. 1 overall seed for a record 10th time.
UConn is now six wins away from joining the 2002-04 Huskies and the 1996-98 Tennessee teams as the only Division I women's basketball programs to win three consecutive national titles.
Six of the Huskies' previous nine national titles came when they were the No. 1 overall seed. Northeast Conference champion St. Francis (N.Y.) will be the first opponent for UConn. The game will be played on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion where the Huskies have won their last 32 NCAA tournament games. With a win the Huskies will play the winner of the Rutgers/Seton Hall game in Monday's second-round game.
UConn, which was the unanimous No. 1 team in both the Associated Press and USA Today national polls, is on pace to set NCAA Division I women's basketball records for points and average scoring margin in a season.
Also, senior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis needs 107 points to become the sixth player with 400 points in NCAA tournament play joining record holder Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee, UConn's Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi, Stanford's Nneka Ogwumike and Brittney Griner of Baylor. She is also tied for ninth for career 3-pointers in NCAA tournament history.
Pretty much from the time the Huskies followed up a win at Notre Dame with a victory over South Carolina, it was a foregone conclusion that the two-time defending national champions would be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2015 tournament.
When the bracket was unveiled, the Huskies was a No. 1 seed for the 18th time in the last 22 seasons. UConn is the No. 1 overall seed for a record 10th time.
UConn is now six wins away from joining the 2002-04 Huskies and the 1996-98 Tennessee teams as the only Division I women's basketball programs to win three consecutive national titles.
Six of the Huskies' previous nine national titles came when they were the No. 1 overall seed. Northeast Conference champion St. Francis (N.Y.) will be the first opponent for UConn. The game will be played on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion where the Huskies have won their last 32 NCAA tournament games. With a win the Huskies will play the winner of the Rutgers/Seton Hall game in Monday's second-round game.
UConn, which was the unanimous No. 1 team in both the Associated Press and USA Today national polls, is on pace to set NCAA Division I women's basketball records for points and average scoring margin in a season.
Also, senior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis needs 107 points to become the sixth player with 400 points in NCAA tournament play joining record holder Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee, UConn's Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi, Stanford's Nneka Ogwumike and Brittney Griner of Baylor. She is also tied for ninth for career 3-pointers in NCAA tournament history.
posted by Jim Fuller at
7:05 PM
1 Comments:
The really amazing thing to me is that this year's team is nowhere near UConn's best. We lack a true center, for example.
I don't know if this year is just an off year for women's basketball in general, or whether UConn's team cohesion is enough to win out in situations in which, based strictly on talent, it "should be" much closer.
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