Saturday’s NCAA Preview: Women’s March Madness 2022

Storylines for March 19 slate of games for the Women’s March Madness NCAA Tournament.

March Madness is officially in Storrs! pic.twitter.com/OOZbie42dJ

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 18, 2022

UCONN:

The 11-time NCAA National Champions start their tournament journey tomorrow against the 15th ranked Mercer Bears. They come in as the second seed but their season has not been as smooth sailing as their ranking states.

The Huskies have faced a multitude of injuries and that resulted in their seed dropping from their usual No. 1 rank. But the Huskies are still one of the main teams in the tournament and are looking forward to make a run at their 12th national championship.

The team is hot. They have won their past 10 games heading into the tournament as well desolating the Big East tournament. In the Big East title game they won 70-40 to their rivals Villanova. UCONN won ever game by over 20 points during that tournament.

Their opponents have a great season themselves. The Bears have finished their regular season with a 23-6 record and back to back Southern Conference tournament championships. But UCONN views their opponents as the stepping stone to their tournament run. Their game beginning at 2 p.m.

https://twitter.com/UConnWBB/status/1504141870221651968?s=20&t=nTD1J9jGfyDuDDqyG22Hjw

NC State:

https://twitter.com/PackWomensBball/status/1504879908715212804?s=20&t=nTD1J9jGfyDuDDqyG22Hjw

NC State joins South Carolina, Stanford and Louisville as No. 1 seeds coming into the tournament. The wolfpack has had a successful season, of course getting the No. 1 seed for the Bridgeport region. The team went 29-3 and were nationally ranked third heading into the tournament and have been rewarded the first seed.

NC State leads arguably the most competitive division with teams like UCONN, Indiana, and Oklahoma being the second, third and fourth teams in this division. NC State has the ranking lead but each one of these teams have aspirations to make deep runs into the tournament and eventually these teams will play each other.

The wolfpack went a dominate 17-1 in their respective ACC division and was able to capture the top of their division. NC State was able to dominate with a spread of scoring and a dominate smothering defense to win 29 games.

Their next game will be against the Longwood Lancers. The Lancers were able to topple Mount Saint Mary 74-70 to get their chance in the tournament. The Lancers have the advantage of playing in a high stakes game but they come in as heavy underdogs.

https://twitter.com/PackWomensBball/status/1504916269832671233?s=20&t=xa4M_louFDocofcnjheWMQ