Mid-Majors Pull Off NCAA Women's Upsets
Arkansas-Little Rock and Wisconsin-Green Bay were two of the last at-large teams in the women's NCAA field. So far they've made the biggest impact, pulling off upsets in the first round of the tournament.
"We wanted to represent the mid majors and bring honor to the committee for doing the right thing and allowing us to play in the tournament," Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Matt Bollant said after his team held off Virginia, 69-67, on Sunday. "And obviously we showed today that we were deserving of that at large big and we played like a team that belonged in this tournament."
In all there were only four upsets in the first round - all done by mid-major programs. The other two double-digit seeds which won - San Diego State and Vermont - didn't have to sweat out selection Monday with both receiving automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments.
Arkansas-Little Rock didn't show any stage fright in its first NCAA appearance. Trojans coach Joe Foley wasn't even surprised that his 11th-seeded team knocked off Georgia Tech 63-53 on Sunday. To him it wasn't an upset.
"I told our kids before the game ... that I'd watched film and we were the best team," Foley said. "I said that from my heart, that if they played that way, they pressed us, and we took care of business, I told them we'd win the game."
A day after the top seeds went 16-0, the underdogs had a measure of success. Vermont became the first lower-seeded team to win in this year's women's tournament as the No. 10 Catamounts beat seventh-seeded Wisconsin 64-55 in the early afternoon.
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It was the lower seeded team's only victory in the first 25 games. Then Foley's team took care of Georgia Tech.
"I think any time you're a first-time team in the NCAA tournament, you have no fears because you don't know what to expect. I think it's a great position to be in," Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said of the Trojans.
San Diego State quickly followed with a stunning 74-63 win over No. 6-seed Texas on the Longhorns' homecourt.
"I've been telling my team for eight days the pressure's on them. Pressure's on them, get a good start," Aztecs coach Beth Burns said. "When you're playing at home, there's just a whole different dynamic about survive and advance. I thought it we could get a good start and get a tempo, that would really help. And then you're just thankful when shots drop."
It was the second year in a row San Diego State has pulled off a first-round upset. The Aztecs were a No. 10 seed when they beat No. 7 DePaul last season.
"We talked about what's our purpose? First thing I said was 'why did we come here? And their answer was to get the Sweet 16," Burns said.
The 12th-seeded Phoenix capped off the upsets, holding on to beat the fifth-seeded Cavaliers. It was just the third victory in 11 NCAA tournament appearances for Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the Phoenix had to sweat out the final few tenths of a second to get it.
Despite going without a basket for the final 12-plus minutes of the game, Wisconsin-Green Bay was able to hold off Virginia. It helped that the Phoenix shot
Celeste Hoewisch scored 23 points and 12th-seeded Wisconsin-Green Bay let most of a 16-point lead slip away before holding on to beat Virginia. After it appeared the Phoenix (28-4) would win in a rout, the Cavaliers forced a slew of turnovers by turning up its defensive pressure and cut the lead to 64-63 on Ariana Moorer's two free throws with 32.7 seconds left.
But Wisconsin-Green Bay steadied just enough to make five free throws in the closing seconds to move into the second round.
"We did lose our cool a little bit," Wisconsin-Green Bay's Adrian Ritchie said. "But I felt confident. I looked into my teammates' eyes and just knew this game was ours. And we felt it. I was proud that we pulled it out."
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By AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg