Daily Briefing — March 27, 2022: SHAM-ROCKED — Notre Dame collapses against N.C. State

Elsewhere, Indiana squandered an early lead on UConn and then some. We can argue about the Huskies’ home-field advantage in a day or two. Oh, and two high-level programs have new head coaches! As does Syracuse.

Watch List, Sunday, March 27

(All times in Eastern, all rankings reflect tournament seeding)

Greensboro regional final

#1 South Carolina v. #10 Creighton, 7 p.m., ESPN

Spokane regional final

#1 Stanford v. #2 Texas, 9 p.m., ESPN

NCAA Roundup

Coaching carousel

• Dayton: Hired Dayton native and former Power-Five assistant Tamika Williams-Jeter away from… DIII Wittenberg. You may know Wittenberg because their athletic director is formerly WNBA-head coach Brian Agler; I know Wittenberg because one of my best friends attended there. I am open to other fun facts about Wittenberg if they exist — please leave a comment here or tweet at me.
• Georgia: Hired Katie Abrahamson-Henderson away from UCF to be its next head coach.
• Syracuse: Hired Felisha Legette-Jack away from Buffalo to be its next head coach, as we’d all anticipated for the past nine months.

Saturday, March 26 recap

(All rankings below reflect tournament seeding)

Bridgeport

#1 N.C. State beat #5 Notre Dame, 66-63. The game was neck-and-neck until the Irish went on a 12-3 in the mid-second quarter; Notre Dame led by 10 in the late second quarter, by eight in the mid-fourth quarter, and still led by multiple possessions with under two minutes to go, before uhhh…

RAINA PEREZ (@PerezRaina) GETS THE STEAL AND THE GO-AHEAD LAYUP WITH 14.8 SECONDS LEFT FOR 1 NC STATE TO TAKE THE LEAD 64-63 OVER NOTRE DAME IN THE SWEET 16 pic.twitter.com/ZiHxu9VPHd

— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) March 26, 2022

Off-ball guard Kai Crutchfield led N.C. State with 13 second-half points on 5-for-9 shooting (2-4 3pt.) and three steals and played all 40; center Elissa Cunane had a double-double with 16 points (5-10 FG, 6-7 FT) and 10 rebounds (three offensive). Notre Dame freshman(!) point guard Olivia Miles scored a game-high 21 points on 9-for-19 from the field and 3-for-10 from three, six rebounds, and six assists against four turnovers; big wing Maddy Westbeld had 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting (1-4 3pt.), eight rebounds, and three steals against five turnovers.

#2 UConn beat #3 Indiana, 75-58. The Hoosiers led 18-13 in the late first quarter and lost the third quarter 22-13, including a 16-0 Husky run. Indiana had only two offensive rebounds. Combo guard Christyn Williams led the Huskies with 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting (0-3 3pt.), six rebounds (three rebounds), and three assists without a turnover; center Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a double-double with 10 points on 5-for-9 FG and 14 rebounds (five offensive), plus three assists and two steals. Combo guard Ali Patberg led the Hoosiers with 16 points on 7-for-9 from the field (2-3 3pt.) against three turnovers.

Wichita

#3 Michigan beat #10 South Dakota, 52-49. The Wolverines took their first lead in the mid-second quarter before the Coyotes retook the lead two minutes later and held it through the mid-third quarter — they never led after that. The teams combined to shoot 37.5% from the field. Big Naz Hillmon led Michigan with 17 points on 6-for-12 FG and 10 rebounds (six offensive) for a double-double, plus three assists against four turnovers; freshman(!) wing Laila Phelia scored 14 points in 23 minutes on 5-for-7 shooting (2-3 3pt.) with three turnovers.

South Dakota was led by center Hannah Sjerven’s 17 points on 7-for-11 from the field (0-1 3pt.) and eight rebounds despite fouling out in 27 minutes.

#1 Louisville beat #4 Tennessee, 76-64. The Cardinals led from 6:26 in the first quarter and built a 15-point lead after 13 minutes. The Vols won the rebounding battle by 18, including grabbing 23 offensive boards; Louisville notched 11 steals and only committed seven turnovers.

Louisville point guard Hailey Van Lith led with 23 points on 7-for-21 from the field (0-5 3pt.) and 9-for-10 from the line, three rebounds, and six assists against two turnovers; big wing Emily Engstler had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double on 7-for-12 shooting (3-3 3pt., 3-7 FT) with six offensive boards and three blocks. Wing Rae Burrell led Tennessee with 22 points on 9-for-19 from the field and 2-for-8 from three and six rebounds against two turnovers.