Guru’s WBB March Madness: Top Two SEC Teams Survive

 By Mike Siroky

All along, trends showed the two best teams in the best conference in women’s basketball in America, the Southeastern, were the likely suspects to make the Sweet 16.

That’s how it played out, with the regular-season champs joining the conference tournament champs.

Al the others are gone, five after the first two games, well-meaning but stunted runs in this season like no other. Three were upset  losses, losing to much-lower seeds.

If you watched them all, there are obvious reasons why they lost, even the three to better seeds. 

The energy was there if not the matchup skills. 

Sometimes the game plan was flawed which is to say they were outcoached.

 Sometimes the shots did not fall in the glare of the big stage.

 One team had an injured point guard and lost not only leadership but 3 balls.

There was a little distraction in screeching complaints about workout facilities with everyone on edge.

But think about it. 

The NCAA admittedly planned badly, but it could never happen again. 

Every playoff is supposed to start on home campuses in the women’s game which guarantees workout room, then you worry about facilities at Sweet 16 sites.

The NCAA stayed with that plan in error. 

The men always are in neutral sites and so always plan everything for 64 visitors.

These are separately run tournaments, not men favored over women. 

Next season, there will be no need for the women to import workout rooms and perhaps never again until the women’s game rises to the draw of the men’s game for a real challenge of performance -based assignments and moves off home campuses if they can conjure up early round ticket sales.

Don’t forget, they once drew 300 for a Regional final of Georgia vs. Tennessee. 

They once didn’t open the upper deck for a Regional final of UConn vs. Tennessee. 

The coaches were all headed to the Hall of Fame. There were All-America players on every team.

Not being a saleable product was and is the inequity of the first rounds. 

One of the SEC teams here drew an average of 300 for home every season. It would have been interesting if they had been allowed home games.

The pontificating stuffed shirts of ESPN don’t know this, they lack background in the women’s game and have bought into a false narrative.

 Why do you think network TV dropped coverage? Not enough eyes on the play.

Don’t blame the NCAA for anything but  a planning oversight.

All the coaches pledged deep runs by the others  in conference but that’s just PR  talk. Not being able to win two games are not deep runs.

Still, the survivors have won a third of the games needed for a national championship. All top seeds made it. All No. 2s made it.

As ever in the women’s game, there are two marquee teams and everyone else. 

You could have predicted the Elite Eight, maybe the Final Four before the season started. 

It has been that way for years with only Mississippi State crashing the party. 

They lost their coach and are way back in even the conference with a lesser leader.

That is playing out, with UConn and Stanford favored, East vs. West with legendary coaches still with speed bumps ahead before a glitzy finish.

Another weekend awaits in the San Antonio bubble. It’s been good theater so far.

Texas A&M 84, Iowa State 82 (OT)

As a two seed against a seven, the Aggies were favored, but only minimally, as it proved out.

They never led for the whole game and had several spans of simply bad shots. 

It started that way when the Aggies missed their first seven.

But the real decider looked to be 16 3s by Iowa State. 

Until Jordan Nixon took the game by the throat.

The defense was the ley, as A&M allowed 16 less than the Cyclones average (76).

The Aggies were in their 14^th second-round appearance.

 Five other SEC teams were home  without two wins. Two  losses kept this a superlative season and they headed home.

A&M is 28-15 in the elimination tournament.

They are ranked No. 4 in the nation, the best of the best league.

Coach Gary Blair, likely the best coach in the league this year without a true star player, though a new one seems ready to step up any night.

A&M’ s one of six teams to be led by a national championship winning coach, one of two in conference, one of five in the Sweet 16. 

 

“I always do the plusses and minuses after a game,” Blair said in advance.

“We didn’t put them away and we gave up too many right-handed drives,” he said of the victory over Troy.

“I didn’t hear anything about the travels or the over and back or the charge calls because all those calls. - 

“The word is contain not control .(Ashley Joens)  I think she’s a heckuva ballplayer with all the hustle points she has. The game comes through her. We’ve got to control what we can do  better, scoring in contact.

“It’s all mental.  A sense of urgency to complete the deal. I think we’re pretty good. We gave up too many points on transition. That’s all on us. Everyone looks for an excuse when you lose; it should be why you didn’t win.”

The Aggies are led by 6-2 senior forward N'dea Jones and Aaliyah Wilson, the 19^th and 20^th AP All-Americans in program history. 

Jones is the A&M’s all-time leader in doubles (41). She is already the best rebounder in program history, so each rebound sets the new school record, entering this one at 1,026. 

But there’s more.  Kayla Wells, a 6-0 senior guard (11.7) and 6-4 senior center Johnson (10) have started every game in their careers, with Jones.

  Their consistency has paid off. It started as a five-player plan when they were freshmen.  Wilson,  5-11 senior guard (12.5) and Nixon 5-8 junior guard (9.5) have started every game this season.

Destiny Pitts, 5-10 senior guard and Alexis Morris, 5-6 junior guard are first off the bench. Blair calls the substitutions. Others on the coaching staff devise the specific offense and the defensive schemes.

Iowa State is no less experienced.

 Bill Fennelly had the Cyclones in 11 of the past 14 NCAAs. 

He arrived there in 1995. 

Blair calls him the best he has had to coach against. He has an 18-season assistant and a  son as another assistant.

Their 17-10 season included an 18-point home loss to South Carolina and a loss to Texas in overtime at the Big 12 league final.

Ashley Joens, a 6-foot junior,­­­­­ is the best player (24 points, 9.2 rebounds per game with 137 3s).

 The other double-figure scorers are 6-0 freshman Lexi Donarski (12.8) and 6-3 senior Kristin Scott (11.8).  The leading assister is freshman Emily Ryan.

 The Aggies had experience and height on the Cyclones, but could not discount enthusiasm of a young team who have not yet learned to fear.

A&M started the same lineup all season,

Ryan was unguarded on the first 3 so State took the 3-0 lead. Another one made it 6-0. 

The pressure defense led A&M to throw it into the backcourt turnover. 

The Aggies missed their first seven shots, near and far, the pattern of SEC losses seemed in play.

Wilson finally scored at 6:27, followed immediately by Johnson. 

Ashley Jones hit a 3, all State baskets on 3s with two free throws. State scored five straight.

Wells scored, assist by Nixon. It was 11-8 with four minutes left in the quarter.  

After the 0-7 start, A&M hit four straight while State went 1-for-6. A&M put a man-to-man in play after  time out. Nixon missed a 3 on a good look.

Scott hit another 3. Pitts lobbed one into N’Dea Jones for a layup. Ryan got the points right back in a jumper, 16-10. 

Yet another 3, by Kyle Feuerback, made it a seven-point lead, 19-12.  That made five for the quarter.

 Another 3, at the buzzer, by Aubrey Jones, put the lead at 10.

Those 3s were making A&M crumble.  The Aggies did not score for more than two minutes.

Slowly, a bad feeling was wrapping around the Aggies. Could only a third loss eliminate them?

State fumbled the opening possession out of bounds. But they scored on their next one before Nixon hit a 3. 

Donarski used a clear out to drive for a score. Nixon answered. N’dea Jiones slapped a possession away.

Nixon scored her seventh straight for A&M then missed one. It was 24-21. 

The Aggies won a held ball thanks to Johnson. Zaay Green missed another chance. 

Ashley Joens hit a 3. Morris charged. 

Nixon drove for a score with a foul, hit the free throw. Morris fouled. 

Ryan hit a 3, 8-of-10 for the team. Ryan froze the defenders for a layup.

One and done, trailing by eight, A&M missed a 3. The Aggies needed a run to even things up and take the pressure off.

The second quarter went their way, 18-13 as they cut the lead in half, to five. Nixon had 14 so the frontline needed to get involved. 

But a demoralizing 22-18 third did little to change momentum. 

Ashley Joens scored 9 in the quarter, up to 20. with two 3s.

 Nixon had 20 and Johnson 15, but still there was the one 3 against 13 for State literally making the difference. 

The Cyclones had 13 in several games this season, so wasn’t that scoutable by the legendary A&M defensive coach? 

Johnson got fouled again. She had 16 points and 16 rebounds but she clanked one.

There just seemed no cutting into it.

Except there was.

Ashley Joens worked for a foul and missed her first when there was 8:07 left. 

She finished with 32, 18 rebounds and 10-of-11 at the line. 

 Emily Ryan hit their 14^th 3. Ashley Jones got a basket and a foul for a seven-point lead. 

But the the Aggies had 17 points off 17 turnovers. It was still a seven-point difference inside of five minutes on their way to a 27-18 fourth. 

Wells hit a 3 in that 7-2 spurt near the end. Johnson hit a free throw.

They cut it to three but then Ashley Joens hit two throws. They were 9-of-10 at the line. 

Nixon hit a two. Iowa State dribbled the clock into  a  clock violation.

What a finish.

The Aggies had to score four unanswered with 24 seconds left.

Nixon hit a jumper to cut the lead to two.

 Donarski turned it over with 11.2 left as Morris stole the ball. 

Nixon drove for the layup. It was tied. State had one more chance but missed three shots in the final seconds. The State coach demanded replays, howled at the officials.

Overtime. 

Nixon had missed five 3s. But she hit one to open overtime. The first lead of the game. N’dea Jones committed her fourth foul. Ashley Jones hit two free throws. 

A&M missed a shot, four in a row, two minutes of no scoring, 

Then Wilson hit a jumper. 

Iowa State took three shots, the last another Donarski 3.  Nixon had the game of her life, tying it at 82.

Then she missed a shot. Ashley Joens missed her shot of the extra period.

Chaos. Iowa State travel with 1:38 left.

Nixon grabbed a rebound with four seconds left. 

Blair did not call time out. 

Nixon was brushed across the chest halfway there. 

No call and she was playing to the whistle.

She was right underneath the basket. 

She threw it up as the red outline lights lit the backboard.

 It dropped through, Buzzer on the endline-to-endline drive.

She stood statue still. Then the mob hit and the celebration was on.

Assistant coach Kelly Bond-White said, “Thank God, Thank God. We told them to stay faithful.  Positive vibes only. Our bench was ridiculously crazy. They gave them their energy. Let me tell you something about that kid. 

“She is all heart, an extension of coach Blair. New York tough. If something went wrong, she was the first to yell our NBA, Next Best Action.

“She made the reads. She made the plays.

“Destiny Pitts came in and they started screening her. It’s an example of something not in the box score.

‘ I’m so grateful. We got a team. We beat a team that put 16 3s on us. 

“The emphasis had to be on rebounding because our bigs were chasing them on the perimeter.

“We knew they couldn’t guard Cierra inside. Big Baby delivered.”

“How about Them Ags!”

Johnson had 19 points and six defensive rebounds. Wilson had 11 and eight. N’dea Jones had 14 rebounds. 

Nixon had recovered to lean against the sideline desk, crying.

“I was thinking make a basket,” she said. “I say it all the time and it really goes back to trust. 

“They trust me. They trust me to make plays. They trust me to lead this team.

“ Win, lose or draw, every single person on that bench is behind me. It just makes moments like this more special.

“It’s the Spirit of the 12tth Man if you’re familiar. I’ve said it all season, we never say die, never say die. You saw that tonight.”

Johnson scored 19. ““They shot the ball Lights Out,” she said. 

“We were down and we kept our energy up. We got the game within four and knew we had fought too hard and we were going to win.

“Nixon works hard.  She was unconscious. And I cannot get the ball unless they get me the ball. 

“You gotta keep fighting, keep digging. We know we were here now, did all the dirty work to get back in it.”

Nixon on the last drive: “All I heard was ‘Go.’ My team was sprinting down the floor. Live with the decision live with the shot. I saw daylight.

“They trust me to make plays. At no time did we get down on ourselves. We know who we are we know what we can do.

”Staying together was the biggest thing. Is Iowa State a good team? 100 percent. Are we a good team. 100 percent.

“I was ready to kick it out. But no one came out,” as she stood frozen for a moment. “Everyone wants to move ahead as fast as possible.

“These are the moments. I was just taking it all in. I knew they were going to swarm me. So I just waited.

“No one knows what we go through. A year ago, my (high school) coach  died. So I wanted to do something for him. I could hear him in my head. This game is for him.

“I had the redshirt year where I couldn’t play with my girls. I earned their trust. You earned it on the floor. We faced a lot if adversity.

Our coaching staff laid out a plan for us and we did it. It has not been an easy ride. At those times when we needed a break, a stop, we never got a break.

“It’s always Next Best Action. That’s who we are.”

Blair said. “That was a championship performance by any young lady but we are a team that never gives up. Jordan has that moment in her, she always wants it.

A couple of times early, when she missed she passed up the next one. I said, ‘Oh No, you got the green light.’

“I can’t give our kids enough credit. I’m so impressed with Iowa State. I don’t want to see them again.

“The difference was our press, seven turnovers for us and 24 for them.

“We took them deep into the shot clock and they hit some but then we didn’t. We had to keep playing. We needed everybody. 

“That’s how much trust I have in them, the four off the  bench.

“We don’t know how good we are. But we know you’re going to get an effort every night, entertainment.

“When a transfer comes in, the first thing you know is we share.

“No time out was going to be called.

“The girl fouled her and they let the play go through. We practice those runners every day in a shooting drill. 

‘You gotta trust those players in those moments. That was the shot heard all over the state of Texas.

Tomorrow we visit the Alamo. I want my kids to know Texas.

“The SEC was so good and then I knew we hadn’t fared so well.

“It was a sense of journeys for me to stand up for the SEC.”

     

Oregon 57, Georgia 50

The season ended when Oregon outcoached the Bulldogs, when Georgia could not buy a 3, when perhaps an injury to the point guard cost not only decision-making skills but also the lack of those long shots.

With four senior starters done so far, the next question is will any or all  come back. None are good enough for the WNBA.

 If they want to play in America and get more of their graduate student studies covered, they will. That answer is months away, individually made with the team in mind.

It is over at 21-7 in the second SEC upset loss of a three seed losing to a seven, to a team with 14 season wins. 

If Joni Taylor really is the conference coach of the season as voted by her cohorts, what about the two teams they play on? Like the other five SEC losers, she could not win more than one here.

Despite not starting, center workhorse Senior Jenna Staiti led the opening game  in scoring with 19 points, 7-of-9 from the field 2-of-2 3s. 

She scored 18 in her farewell so far, with eight rebounds.

 Staiti has hit double figures in 32 of her final past 37 games dating back to last season. She averaged 14.7 and 8.1 rebounds.

Senior Que Morrison was Georgia's next-leading scorer with 11, eight in the last game. 

 She had hit 28 3s in-season. Gabby Connally in her hometown of San Antonio, did not start for the first games because of a twisted ankle.

 She scored a total of three points in two games, hardly living up to the brag of getting her team here. It is just all talk if you mention it and fail to back it up. Maybe she feels bad. She alone had 58 3s on the season.

Georgia had one 3.

Oregon had a trio of low-double figure scorers: 

Nyara Sabally, 6-5 sophomore  from Berlin Germany (12.8 points per game with 7.2 rebounds); 6-2 senior Erin Boley (10.8), she started her career as  a starter at Notre Dame; 5-9 freshman guard   Te-Hina Paopao (10.4 with 85 assists).   

Another transfer-in is Taylor Mikesell, a 5-11 junior who started at Maryland. Sabally scored 15, Mikesell 11, Boley 9. 

Sophomore Sedona Prince finished with 22, had 4-of-5 free throws.

It started 10-10, despite Georgia missing two-thirds of its shots with Staiti taking a rest on the bench. Georgia got Connally into the lineup.

Georgia was having problems with the Oregon tall defense. 

Georgia played for the last shot and Staiti made it, her only basket of the quarter. Prince, a transfer from Texas, had seven.

Connally hit the only Georgia three to make the lead 19-13 with seven minutes to go in the half. 

Mikesell answered with a 3 a minute later, the Ducks’ third.  Boley hit another to tie it. Coombs outraced everyone to a loose ball layin.

Oregon cashed in a steal for a 21-all tie with four minutes to go. But Georgia stayed in and led 25-24.

 Makyala Coombs is not up to directing the game and threw a terrible inside pass, allowing an Oregon score. 

Then she recovered herself for the final shot of the 27-all half.

The No. 3 seed certainly did not look superior to the No. 7, but were in the game. Coombs’ six led them.

 The staggering difference was 1-of-8 3s compared to Oregon’s 5-of-9. four in the second. Georgia had caused 10 turnovers.

So it was up to adjustments if a second SEC team could make the Sweet 16.

Apparently, adjustments were not coming. 

Georgia could not find its 3 zone and it was killing them. death by a thousand cuts. 

Oregon shoved its way to a six-point lead. The ’Dawgs had not seen such a physical team all season.

It looked bad as the six-point third left them in a seven-point hole. 

That is how it ended. Despite a 12-4 rush to start the fourth, they were outscored 13-5 the rest of the way.

 Staiti scored 10 of the 17 fourth-quarter points. The Ducks played clock.

The Ducks’ eight 3s won it.

“Nya (Sabally) and I talked before the fourth quarter and we were like, we’re going to the Sweet 16.’ ” Prince said.

“Everybody knows what we had and the opportunity and capability of doing in this tournament last year and it was taken away from us .  . . and the expectations weighed heavily on them,” coach Kelly Graves said. “And then when you start losing a few games and people start to question your program and then your own players sometimes maybe question themselves, (this) is great redemption.”

The men’s team, had already qualified for the Sweet 16.

“This is a great couple of days for Oregon.” Graves said.

Staiti had to be satisfied with the season as a whole. “This is the standard,” she said. “This group of seniors and this team put Georgia back where it needs to be.”

The weird play: After Sabally put the Ducks ahead to stay on a layup with 2:20 left, Georgia appeared to have tied the game with a jumper, but the officials said a foul was called before the shot. 

The foul call didn’t stop play because the referee lost her whistle in her mask.

“Any time you take points off the board, does it change momentum? Sure it does,” Georgia coach Taylor said. “It’s a tie ballgame at that time and then it turns into a four-point swing for them.”

Oregon is  likely to lose the next one to Louisville.

Maryland 100, Alabama 64#

Once again, No. 7 seed Alabama faced a lower seed. They were doomed from the get-go.

Coach Kristy Curry had Alabama is in its first NCAA appearance in 22 seasons.

Jasmine Walker (16.9 points per game), a 6-3 senior forward and Jordan Lewis, a 5-7 junior guard (16.8) propel this team. 

Lewis had 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to light up the national stage in her debut.

 Only one two players has topped that this tournament. 

This time the huge challenge was No. 2 seed Maryland (25-2), the Big Ten’s best. 

The conference champ was the second to eliminate an SEC team. 

They have lost once in 14 Sweet 16 qualifying.

The Terrapins won their opener by 54. 

They are a relatively young team only because coach Brenda Freese keeps recruiting better players every years and veterans flee to start at other top programs. 

Then again, a senior is Chloe Bibby who started at Mississippi State under the previous coach.

Freese won her first trip to the Final Four in 2006, then 35 the fifth-youngest national champion coach. 

She has passed 500 coaching wins. ESPN says she is the  national coach of the year this season.

Al five starters plus a reserve are in double figures. 

Ashley Owusu, a 6-foot sophomore guard averages 18.4 points per game, six rebounds and has 158 assists.

 Diamond Miller , 6-3 sophomore forward (17 with 25 blocks); then comes 6-1 forward Bibby (13, 6 rebounds); 5-6 senior guard Katie Benzan; (11, six rebounds); 6-3 sophomore forward Mimi Collins 11, six rebounds);  and 6-3 freshman guard Angel Reese (10, 6.2 rebounds). Collins played her first season at Tennessee. Benzan started at Harvard.

As you might expect, they win rebounds every game and spread the 3s about.

This is a loaded team, fun to watch with plenty of height and speed, the equal of anyone in the SEC. They wiped out Arkansas by 19. They came in at 14-0. 

It was contentious at first, but Maryland opened up a 12-4 lead, off a 6-0 run.

 The Terrapins hit five of their first six. 

They opened the lead to nine with 67 percent from the field. 

Alabama was getting shots but they were not falling. Maryland had four 3s.

It rose to 20-6 after another 8-0 run in 69 seconds. Curry called time out and tried some new players.

It didn’t help much. The quarter ended 30-9. It was to be but a practice workout for the tough turtles.

Collins had nine. Benzan had two 3s for six.

 Reserve Faith Masonius had eight. Hitting 29 percent from the field, no one had more than  one basket.  

It was 54-25 at half, 79-46 after three. 

Jordan Walker had 23 points –  above her average in the last game of her collegiate career so far  --  and four 3s and that was it for Alabama.

 Maryland gave bench players plenty of time. Reese had 16 in 19 minutes.  They stopped piling on by not shooting 3s. 

The only question was did they want 100 points. The Tide was cooperating, scoring five in the first five minutes of the last quarter.

The 100 was achieved with two minutes to go. 

They didn’t bother to score again while Alabama ran off an 8-0 finish with underclassmen. 

They shot 42 percent from the floor but allowed 62 percent.

Alabama could do nothing about the end of the season. 

One and done, like five other SEC teams. 

Step outside and enjoy the Texas weather, accept your lovely parting gifts and head back to class.

Maryland had another 40-plus win except for stopping the runaway themselves and meaningless Tide free throws.

 Collins only got 18 minutes but made it work for 13 points. They won rebounds by 13.

“They’re just really hard to guard,” said Curry.

 “They're so good offensively, and we just didn’t have an answer.”

Then she got philosophical. 

“ I do want to say how proud I am of our team. What this group has done is unbelievable. 

“I don’t want this one day to take away from the entire journey that they've been on all season to get our program back to where it deserves to be, and that’s consistently in the NCAA Tournament. 

“I told them I loved them, and that I’m really proud of them. We will continue to just roll up our sleeves and go back to work.”

South Carolina is the top seed in the bracket, but Maryland gets upstart Texas in the Sweet 16.

SEC NOTES: The usual flurry of United States Women’s Basketball CoachesvAssociation overload announcements – Regional nominees – includes Rennia Davis (Tennessee); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky); Chelsea Dungee  and Destiny Slocum (Arkansas); Unique Thompson (Auburn) Jasmine Walker (Alabama); Rickea Jackson (Mississippi State); N’dea Jones (Texas A&M) and Zia Cooke and Aliyah Boston (South Carolina).