2024 NCAA Tournament

Given how the GU fans treated the SMC men in Spokane in their game against GCU, feel free to go ahead and boo GU on Friday.  

Shaylee Gonzales, who tore up the WCC for three years at BYU, is in her 2nd year at Texas, starting all 36 games and playing 32 min/game.

DoubleDipper wrote:Gonzaga made it through to the Sweet 16 by beating Utah in Spokane.  

Utah coach says team was shaken after experiencing racial hate at Idaho hotel during NCAA Tournament...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/utah-coach-says-team-was-shaken-after-experiencing-racial-hate-at-hotel-during-ncaa-tournament/ar-BB1kxiNC

It's not the first time Gonzaga has hosted a regional tournament and had the visiting teams stay about 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene.

DoubleDipper wrote:Utah coach says team was shaken after experiencing racial hate at Idaho hotel during NCAA Tournament...

Specifics:

https://www.ksl.com/article/50961584

#3 Oregon St. beat #2 Notre Dame 70-65 today. The Beavers shot 60% from the field, while Notre Dame only shot 35.6%. ND's 1st Team All-American Hannah Hidalgo was held to 10 pts on 4-17 shooting. She also missed 4 minutes while the ND training staff worked to remove a stud from her nose, as no jewelry is permitted during games. You'd think the ND staff would know that.

The Beavs had at least 26 turnovers as I recall, but if they can cut that number in half to their season average, they could have a chance against the nation’s #1 team, South Carolina, on Sunday.

The Gamecocks (that doesn’t sound right for a women’s team) were ahead of Indiana by as much as 22 points at one time, but the final margin was only 4.

DoubleDipper wrote:The Beavs had at least 26 turnovers as I recall, but if they can cut that number in half to their season average, they could have a chance against the nation’s #1 team, South Carolina, on Sunday.

Yes, OSU had 26 TOs, and ND only had 5. ND also had 73 shot attempts to 48 for OSU, but OSU had three more makes. Crazy stats.

DoubleDipper wrote:
The Gamecocks (that doesn’t sound right for a women’s team) were ahead of Indiana by as much as 22 points at one time, but the final margin was only 4.

Delaware men’s teams are the Fighting blue Hens…

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39838834/oregon-state-acknowledges-roster-uncertainty-move-wcc

Oregon State plays for a chance to make the women's Final Four against No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday. But when the season comes to an end, coach Scott Rueck says he knows he will have to confront questions about the future and the very real possibility that teams might begin poaching his players.

My favorite line from the broadcasters about how the Pilots got into March Madness was how over the last five years our conference record against Gonzaga is 0 and 10, but our tournament record is 3 and 0. When it counts.

bullwinkle wrote:My favorite line from the broadcasters about how the Pilots got into March Madness was how over the last five years our conference record against Gonzaga is 0 and 10, but our tournament record is 3 and 0.  When it counts.

With due deference to the broadcasters, I'd also like to beat them when it doesn't count so much.

One wag who posts here regularly summed up the phenomenon as Meek owning the Zags in the tournament. There may be something to it.

By now, everyone has heard of the controversary over the mismarked/mismatched three-points line at the Moda Center during the Portland Regional there.

I attended the USC/Baylor and Duke/UConn games there and noticed no obvious mistake, but it turns out one of the 3-point arcs was 9-inches shorter than it should have been at its apex but was at the correct distance over the rest of the 270-degree arc.

It has been fixed for tonight's Regional Final game between USC and UConn.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50967509/ncaa-says-a-3-point-line-was-drawn-9-inches-short-at-portland-womens-regional-by-court-supplier

This shift is epitomized by the University of Portland Pilots, who boast three Kiwis—Emme Shearer, Florence Dallow, and Melika Samia—on their team, adding to the international flair and Oceania’s influence on the women’s game.

https://bellyupsports.com/2024/04/march-madness-how-kiwi-hoopers-are-making-their-mark-in-u-s-college-basketball/

If you are anything like me, you found the very exciting UConn 80-73 defeat of USC to be an almost boring game after witnessing Iowa's win over LSU, 94-87.

DoubleDipper wrote:If you are anything like me, you found the very exciting UConn 80-73 defeat of USC to be an almost boring game after witnessing Iowa's win over LSU, 94-87.

The play of Caitlin Clark was nothing short of inspired and inspiring to the less gifted folk watching. The play-by-play announcer said at one point that Clark was "possessed." Between the three pointers and the pinpoint passes, his description seemed fitting. Superlatives may be too commonly used in sports but are appropriate when describing Caitlin Clark's play. And, she handles the acclaim with aplomb.

Could not agree more that the game was great. For those of you who may have missed the 41 point, 12 assist performance and game, too bad.

https://theathletic.com/5386550/2024/04/02/womens-basketball-elite-eight-ratings/

Some commentary on the  game and its record setting viewership. The most watched women's basketball game to date at over 12 million viewers.

wrv wrote:The most watched women's basketball game to date at over 12 million viewers.

Even if it was in jest, I was surprised that former WBB great turned analyst, Rebecca Lobo, said "good luck finding anything to do in Albany" during the waning seconds of the game.

But apparently the reporters covering the game had a real beef with the way they were treated and did not appreciate the staff/security at MVP Arena:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/reporters-slam-ncaa-tournament-host-city/ar-BB1kX2eV?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=LCTS&cvid=6b5b62b7f7fd4eb1ab779ac2b6ccddd5&ei=15

DoubleDipper wrote:If you are anything like me, you found the very exciting UConn 80-73 defeat of USC to be an almost boring game after witnessing Iowa's win over LSU, 94-87.

Amazingly, there were several times Clark threw a bullseye pass and her teammates could not finish at the rim. It was a great performance to watch.

LSU's Hailey Van Lith (from Cashmere, WA, near Wenatchee) starred at Louisville for three years.  She transferred to LSU for the 2023-24 season, following the Tiger's national championship season.  In the game against Iowa, she could not stop Caitlin Clark, and her coach did nothing to help her.  

@YahooSports wrote:
BREAKING: LSU G Hailey Van Lith has entered the transfer portal, via
@RivalsPortal.

wrv wrote:https://theathletic.com/5386550/2024/04/02/womens-basketball-elite-eight-ratings/

Some commentary on the  game and its record setting viewership. The most watched women's basketball game to date at over 12 million viewers.

For comparison, the 2023 World Series averaged 9.11 million viewers.
The final was 11.68 million

With more and more fans jumping on the women's basketball bandwagon in recent years, there is more call for transparency and a vast improvement in officiating...

This is something that many of us on PilotNation have known for 30-years or more as we see the game getting faster and more physical and the referees continually making mysterious and downright awful calls at an alarming rate.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/where-s-accountability-transparency-in-women-s-officiating-coaches-want-to-know/ar-BB1l8QKl?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=aea80c695cef46c58823731f2b243c8b&ei=14

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/womens-iowa-uconn-matchup-is-espns-most-watched-basketball-game-ever_n_6611be19e4b0d81853f96b48

Caitlin Clark is rewriting the record books in multiple ways. Iowa's game with UConn reset viewership records again at a 14.2 million average. Again, the most watched women's basketball game ever. As the story indicates, the game had greater viewership than the vast majority of men's games, NBA included. Hard to argue this young lady doesn't deserve NIL money.

The record for viewership continues to climb for women's basketball, now ar 18.7 million for the championship. It may outdraw the men's game.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ncaa-womens-basketball-ratings_n_66147c6ee4b0b83411a10522

wrv wrote:The record for viewership continues to climb for women's basketball, now ar 18.7 million for the championship. It may outdraw the men's game.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ncaa-womens-basketball-ratings_n_66147c6ee4b0b83411a10522

According to ESPN, the men’s final between Purdue and UConn peaked at 17 million.

The women’s final outdrew any basketball game in the last 5 years, including NBA finals

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ncaa-womens-championship-game-ratings_n_6615c30de4b035c82d2737be

A discussion with details on the rise in viewership for women's basketball, outdrawing the men for the first time ever, together with optimistic comments on future viewership.