Women’s Sweet 16 features new format and historic field

The Sweet 16 features a new format and a bit of history when itbegins later this week.

The NCAA changed its setup for the women’s tournament thisseason, trimming the traditional four regional sites to two.Seattle and Greenville — a city of 71,000 in South Carolina abouthalfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina — will eachhost eight teams before sending the winners on to Dallas for theFinal Four.

It is also just the second time since the tournament expanded to64 teams in 1994 that two of the No. 1 seeds didn’t reach theregional semifinals after Mississippi and Miami knocked outStanford and Indiana, respectively. It also happened in 1998.

The other top seeds — South Carolina and Virginia Tech —advanced. The Gamecocks, led by star Aliyah Boston, are four winsfrom completing their own historic journey and back-to-backnational championships. They are seeking just the 10th undefeatedseason ever in women’s basketball, and the next steps for coachDawn Staley’s team are just a 90-minute trip from campus.

There are a lot of teams that have ended long Sweet 16 droughts,like the Hokies, Hurricanes, Colorado and Villanova. UConn, on theother hand, will be playing in its 29th consecutive regionalsemifinal.

Despite the parity that took place during the regular season andthe exit of those two No. 1 seeds, it is the second time in thepast six years that no double-digit seed reached the round of 16.It’s also the first time since the Big 12 was formed in 1996 thatno teams from the conference reached the second weekend.

There’s plenty of star power across the field with Angel Reese,Maddy Siegrist, Caitlin Clark and Elizabeth Kitley joining Bostonin the regional semifinals.

GREENVILLE 1

The Gamecocks are the heavy favorite to come out of this regionand, for that matter, to win another title. The regional semifinalopponent is No. 4 seed UCLA. The Bruins gave the Gamecocks acompetitive game back in November, leading at halftime by fourbefore losing by nine.

No. 2 seed Maryland will play No. 3 seed Notre Dame in the othersemifinal. The Terrapins, led by Diamond Miller, used a strongsecond half to get by Arizona in the second round. The FightingIrish overcame season-ending injuries to Olivia Miles and DaraMabrey to get to the Sweet 16. Notre Dame got a strong effort frompost Lauren Ebo, who set a school NCAA tourney record with 18rebounds in a win over Mississippi State.

GREENVILLE 2

With Indiana losing, the bracket is more open, with Villanovaand Siegrist playing the Hurricanes in one of the semifinals.Siegrist, who leads the nation in scoring, has the Wildcats back inthe Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. Miami’s drought waseven longer, not making it this far since 1992.

The other semifinal in the region pits two of the most talentedforwards in the country against each other: LSU’s Angel Reese andUtah’s Alissa Pili. Reese helped the Tigers reach the Sweet 16 forthe first time since 2014. The “Bayou Barbie” had 25 points, aneye-popping 24 rebounds and six blocks in the third-seeded Tigers’rout of Michigan. Second-seeded Utah is back in the Sweet 16 forthe first time since 2006 after edging Princeton in the secondround.

SEATTLE 3

Second-seeded UConn, which has dealt with injuries all season,will face third-seeded Ohio State in one semifinal. The Buckeyesneeded a shot in the final few seconds by Jacy Sheldon to advancethis far for the fourth straight season.

Top seed Virginia Tech is the newcomer here, making its firstappearance in the Sweet 16 since 1999 after two impressive homewins in the first two rounds. Kitley and Co. head across thecountry for a rematch against Tennessee. The two teams played Dec.4 and the Hokies came away with a three-point win. The Lady Volswere missing Rickea Jackson for that game and it was the final onethat Tamari Key played in before being sidelined for the seasonwith blood clots.

Tennessee has run through the first two rounds, becoming justthe fourth team to win each of its first two games by 45 points ormore. UConn did it the other three times, according to ESPN.

SEATTLE 4

Ole Miss crashed the party with its upset of Stanford and isback in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. Coach YolettMcPhee-McCuin’s defensive-minded squad will face a Louisville teamthat routed Texas on the Longhorns’ home court. Cardinals starHailey Van Lith grew up in Central Washington, a few hours fromSeattle.

The other matchup will feature Clark and her logo-range shootingfor Iowa against Colorado. Iowa edged Georgia in the second round,erasing the memory of last season’s round of 32 defeat toCreighton. The Hawkeyes will face a Colorado team in the Sweet 16for the first time since 2003.