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The Sweet 16 is set! The top four seeds in each region advanced to the second weekend with three exceptions: No. 5 Colorado took down No. 4 Kansas State, No. 5 Baylor defeated Elizabeth Kitley-less No. 4 Virginia Tech and No. 7 Duke upset No. 2 Ohio State. A regional round that is close to chalk doesn’t indicate any shortage of excitement in the first weekend.

The round of 32 delivered some particularly fun games. No. 1 South Carolina’s dismantling of No. 8 North Carolina and No. 3 LSU’s second-half surge over No. 11 Middle Tennessee (more on the Blue Raiders later) didn’t yield much drama. The other 14 second -round games were decided by an average margin in the single digits.

Audi Crooks goes for 40 in her NCAA Tournament debut

It’s the season of the freshmen, and that hasn’t changed in March Madness. Perhaps none shined brighter in their tournament debut than Iowa State’s Audi Crooks. Crooks’ 40 points is the most by a freshman in the history of the NCAA Tournament. She also shot a staggering 90 percent from the floor in the performance. The future is bright in Ames.

Savannah Wheeler outscores Louisville in the third to lift Middle Tennessee to the second round

No. 11 Middle Tennessee’s upset of No. 6 Louisville wasn’t shocking. The Blue Raiders are a top-30 team in Her Hoop Stats rating and had all the makings of a potential Cinderella. Still, the Cardinals had never lost a first-round game in the Jeff Walz era. Insert Savannah Wheeler. The fifth-year guard scored 22 points in the upset, including single-handedly outscoring Louisville 14-12 in the third quarter to give Middle Tennessee the lead.

Dyaisha Fair signs off, but not without one last clutch performance

This season has featured not one, but two of the best scorers women’s college basketball has ever seen. Dyaisha Fair’s collegiate career came to an end after Syracuse’s loss to UConn in the round of 32, but her name will be etched in the record books as she finishes her career third in all-time points scored (3,403). Fair didn’t go out without one last clutch performance. She scored the Orange’s last 13 points in their first-round game, including an 11-0 run by herself to take her team from trailing by five points to up six points with 32 seconds remaining.

Kiki Iriafen | Stanford 

Iriafen averaged 29.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game over the first weekend. With Cameron Brink in foul trouble in the second round, Iriafen dropped a career-high 41 points in Stanford’s overtime win over Iowa State to lead the Cardinal to the Sweet 16.

Reigan Richardson | Duke 

Richardson shined in Duke’s upset of Ohio State on Sunday afternoon, dropping 28 points and knocking down all three of her attempts from deep. Richardson also led the Blue Devils with 25 points in their win over Richmond in the first round.

Paige Bueckers | UConn 

Bueckers put on a show for the Huskies in her return to March Madness after missing last season with an ACL injury. Bueckers averaged 30 points per game in UConn’s two wins. She stuffed the rest of the stat sheet too, averaging 10.5 boards, 6.5 assists and 3.5 steals.

Kiki Rice | UCLA 

Rice averaged 22.0 points per game to carry the Bruins to the regional round and shot a remarkable 75 percent on twos during the first weekend. Rice scored 17 in the second half of UCLA’s second-round matchup with Creighton to help the Bruins recover from a double-digit halftime deficit.

Jada Walker | Baylor 

Walker exploded with a career-high 28 points against Virginia Tech in the second round for Baylor to pull off a three-point victory over the Hokies and return to the Sweet 16. The Kentucky transfer, who hadn’t scored in double figures since February 4, shot 56.3 percent from the floor and 90 percent from the line in the win.

Full circle moment for Hannah Hidalgo?

In November, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo arrived in the college basketball world in style. Despite a loss to South Carolina for the Irish in their season opener in Paris, the freshman dazzled. Hidalgo scored 31 points in her debut against the Gamecocks. Fast forward to March, and Notre Dame is on a collision course with South Carolina if both teams win their respective Sweet 16 matchups on Friday. That could make Hidalgo’s season come full circle on Sunday, as she’ll try to pull off what would be the biggest upset of the tournament so far - sending South Carolina home before Cleveland.

Pac-12 dominance continues in the league’s final season

Five of the 16 teams advancing to the regional rounds hail from the Pac-12. Undoubtedly, the competitiveness of the league this season played a hand in helping its teams advance thus far and could contribute to continued success this weekend. 

Gonzaga representing mid-majors in a Cinderella-less year

While there aren’t any Cinderella stories to tell for this year’s tournament, Gonzaga is proving how mid-major talent has grown in the women’s game. The Bulldogs have advanced to the regional round for the first time since 2015 (Notably, Gonzaga has advanced to an Elite Eight before, in 2011). Katrina McClain Award finalist Yvonne Ejim leads the way for the Zags, but a balanced attack gives them all the pieces to compete and keep advancing in March. Four of five starters scored in double figures in the Bulldogs’ second-round win over Utah

Freshman phenoms on the biggest stage

JuJu Watkins has Southern California back in the Sweet 16 after three decades. While largely already a household name, Watkins will look to cement that status by carrying the Trojans to their first Elite Eight in 30 years and their first Final Four since 1986. After a quiet debut, Texas’ Madison Booker scored 21 points as the Longhorns advanced past Alabama comfortably. NC State’s Zoe Brooks contributed 16 points off the bench, including five points in the final quarter, to help the Wolfpack fend off Tennessee’s comeback. The list is never-ending, and this year’s freshman class is sure to have a hand in the biggest moments of regional weekend as well.

49.5: South Carolina’s average margin of victory in the first two rounds. After showing some vulnerability in the SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks dominated the first weekend of March Madness and are now two wins from their fourth straight Final Four.

4: The number of times a team seeded seventh or lower has made it past the regional final. No. 7 Duke would become just the third No. 7 seed to make it to the Final Four if it were to beat UConn and then the winner of USC and Baylor this weekend.

31: The number of points Caitlin Clark scored against Colorado in the Sweet 16 last year. She also added eight assists in the matchup. The Hawkeyes are set for a rematch with the Buffaloes in the regional semifinals on Saturday in Albany.

No. 4 Gonzaga vs. No. 1 Texas | Portland 4 | Friday at 10:00 p.m. ET

This might be the Sweet 16’s most intriguing stylistic matchup with Texas’ juggernaut defense taking on Gonzaga’s high power offense. Three of the Longhorns’ four losses this season have come when their opponents made nine or more threes. Gonzaga averages 9.5 makes from deep per game and just knocked down 13 triples against Utah in the round of 32.

No. 3 LSU vs. No. 2 UCLA | Albany 2 | Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET

The potential Sweet 16 game everyone was circling on their brackets on Selection Sunday has been granted. UCLA and LSU will face off in the regional semifinals on Saturday. The meeting between the two title contenders will be highlighted by the matchup between Angel Reese and Lauren Betts in the frontcourt. The impact of Aneesah Morrow for the Tigers, and Kiki Rice and Charisma Osborne for the Bruins shouldn’t be overlooked. 

Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also buy Her Hoop Stats gear, such as laptop stickers, mugs, and shirts!

Haven’t subscribed to the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter yet?

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