March Madness: Women’s tourney tips off Friday, our games to watch

Ladies’s Tourney Suggestions Off New 68-Crew Format

In the end, the primary full slate of video games within the first girls’s 68-team NCAA tournament gets underway Friday, when three No. 1 seeds (South Carolina, Louisville and Stanford) will start their quests for a nationwide championship. Whereas prime seeds normally reign supreme within the girls’s draw—87 of the 156 No. 1 seeds within the first 39 years of the occasion have made it to the Last 4—there may be nonetheless loads of intrigue.

Quite a few convention Gamers of the Yr winners will take the ground, as will some of the sleepers we outlined earlier in the week. Early on within the girls’s draw, don’t count on a ton of main upsets. As an alternative, favorites are inclined to deal with their enterprise—No. 13–16 seeds have received solely 11 complete video games within the event since 1994. Nonetheless, there’s a lot to control. Listed below are 4 video games we shall be intently watching.

No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. No. 12 FGCU (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
This matchup is without doubt one of the most attention-grabbing stylistic clashes of the primary spherical. Few groups within the nation exhibit the kind of offensive firepower the Eagles have. FGCU leads the nation in three-pointers tried and ranks second in threes made. Star guard Kierstan Bell is the motive force of their offense, averaging 24 factors per sport. The Eagles will attempt to defend ACC Participant of the Yr Elizabeth Kitley, who recorded a conference-high 15 double-doubles, whereas averaging 17.3 factors, 9.9 rebounds and a pair of.4 blocks per sport. She additionally enters March Insanity seeking to erase the reminiscence of her efficiency final March, when she scored solely six factors on 2-of-12 capturing in a 42-point event loss towards Baylor.