Spokane Region 2: USC feeling slighted, yet confident

“This was not on my bingo card to be a little bit frustrated,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said reporters gathered after the brackets were revealed. “I thought there would be very little chance that we would be the fourth No. 1 seed…You’ve got to play the first game in front of you and earn your way from there and that’s what we’ll do.”

According to Derita Dawkins, the women’s committee chair, USC’s 13-point loss to Notre Dame in November and a February loss at Iowa were the determining factors in USC’s seeding.

For Connecticut’s part, Geno Auriemma told reporters after the bracket reveal, “I thought it was great.”
Oklahoma and Kentucky, the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in this region, may have something to say about this showdown storyline.

Order ‘Rare Gems’ and save 30%

Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, released his latest book on May 7, 2024. This deeply reported story follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.

If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.

But the Trojans will quickly have to put it all aside if they want to win their first title since 1984. There is no doubt that Watkins, the best player in the country, is motivated to take her shot. Kiki Iriafen left Stanford after last season to come to USC for this opportunity. Rayah Marshall has spent four years at USC for this opportunity.

Best first-round matchup: 7 Oklahoma State vs. 10 South Dakota State

The Cowgirls (25-6), back in the NCAA field after missing out last season, join a long list of teams that have to cringe when they see South Dakota State on the other side of their bracket. Add the Jackrabbits to the list of teams that feel as if they were slighted by this bracket. The 13-time NCAA qualifiers come into the NCAA Tournament with a No. 23 national ranking, a 23-9 record and a 19-game winning streak. SD State has won five tournament games in program history, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2018-19.

Best (potential) second round matchup

No. 1 USC vs. No. 8 Cal. The plotlines would be so thick here. Former Pac-12 foes. USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s history in Berkeley. Charmin Smith’s long tenure coaching next to Gottlieb. USC won its only matchup against Cal last season, 79-69 with a 29-point effort by JuJu Watkins. But the Bears would have an interesting opportunity to blow up a bracket here.

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.

Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

Team to watch

3 Oklahoma. The Sooners (25-7) won nine straight before falling in the SEC Tournament semifinals. This is a team that has a key ingredient that often propels teams far in NCAA Tournament play, a dominant post in Raegan Beers, the junior center who went to the Elite Eight with Oregon State a season ago. This is a team with wins over UNLV, Louisville, Michigan and Tennessee, Mississippi, Vanderbilt and Alabama and a 7-point loss to top-seeded Texas in January.

5 players to watch in this bracket

Kennedy Smith, USC. The freshman from Chino has turned into a regular in the Trojans’ starting lineup, playing the third most minutes on the team behind Watkins and Iriafen, averaging 9.5 points and 4.4 rebounds. Her scoring has tailed off of late – she scored just two points in the Big Ten title game against UCLA, but she has X-factor capabilities on any given day.

Lulu Twidale, Cal. The sophomore from Australia has been among the national leaders in 3-point shooting this season, connecting on 93 at a 39 percent clip. Twidale’s sharp-shooting in tandem with fifth-year senior Ioanna Krimili makes the Bears a dangerous tournament team.

Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine

Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

Sarah Strong, UConn. The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024 and the frontrunner for national freshman of the year, the versatile Strong is the future of UConn women’s basketball. Presently, her numbers speak for themselves, 16.1 poits a game, 8.3 rebounds and 57.9 percent shooting from the floor.

Georgia Amoore, Kentucky. Amoore, the senior point guard, followed Kenny Brooks to Lexington to take another shot at a title after reaching the Final Four two years ago. In an unfamiliar setting, she has led her team to a familiar place, back into a strong position in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed. Amoore is averaging a career-best 19.1 points and 6.9 assists per game.

Lucy Olsen, Iowa. In this post-Caitlyn Clark era for the Hawkeyes, Olsen, a senior guard who transferred from Villanova, has taken the lead, averaging 18.0 points a game. Olsen has scored in double figures in all but three games this season, including a season-high 32 points against Nebraska last month.

Disruptor

No. 5 Kansas State. After a 19-1 start to the season, the Wildcats endured an injury to star center Ayoka Lee (foot) and finished 26-7 and 5-5 in their final 10 games, barely missing out on a chance to host the first two rounds. That is the bad news. The good news is that Lee is expected to play in the NCAA Tournament. And with Lee in the lineup, K-State could cause some trouble for the top seeds.

Who survives to move on

Last year in Portland, Connecticut prevented an upstart Trojans team from getting to the Final Four. If USC wants to fulfill its destiny with Watkins and Iriafen this year, the path may well run through the Huskies again, and Connecticut has its own fairy-tale ending to pursue, one that delivers a championship to Paige Bueckers and ends a 9-year title drought. It’s almost inexcusable that this game could happen before Tampa.

It’s an either-or at this point. A jump ball. The losers are the fans across the country who are guaranteed to see a Final Four without one of the game’s marquee names.