A little bit of pre-March madness took hold just about everywhere this past Sunday, when seven women’s basketball teams ranked in the AP Top 25 dropped games to unranked opponents. The Pac-12 was hit the hardest with three of its six top-25 teams taking an L — but the SEC, ACC and Big East also saw improbable losses to some of their most dominant teams, meaning that for the zillionth time this year, the poll will likely be in mild chaos. Either way, these match-ups (and how teams pick up the pieces) are certainly something to keep in mind as bracket-crafting season draws closer.
March Madness hit women’s basketball early with 7 huge upsets
When SEVEN top-25 teams fall to unranked foes in 12 hours, you know it’s a good slate of basketball.
Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images
7) No. 12 DePaul at Villanova, 58-76
Two days after they took down Marquette, the No. 2 team in the Big East, the Villanova Wildcats handed DePaul their second conference loss of the season in a game where the Blue Demons never really seemed to have a shot. Though the Wildcats shot 50 percent from the floor and held a normally sharp-shooting DePaul team to 8 percent from three, the real poetry of the game was on the sideline: the unlikely victory came in Villanova head coach Harry Perretta’s last regular-season home game after 42 seasons with the squad. To up the emotional ante, Villanova junior Cameron Onken earned the second triple-double in program history with 12 points, 10 assists and 18 rebounds in what will be one of her final games with the team (she was accepted to dental school) — hopefully, tissues were on hand.
6) No. 11 Arizona at Colorado, 38-50
Without leading scorer Aari McDonald, who is currently day-to-day with a leg injury, Arizona looked lost — particularly in the last six minutes of the game, when Colorado went on a 15-0 run to reclaim the lead and ultimately the upset. The Wildcats’ first loss of the season to an unranked team came via the 16-11 Buffaloes, who more than anything else just dramatically out-rebounded Arizona, 48-27.
5) No. 21 Arizona State at Utah, 71-75
Arizona State had a reasonable lead going into the half, but then Utah pulled out a vintage Golden State Warriors-esque third quarter with six threes (from five different Utes!) and essentially sealed the game.
4) No. 22 Arkansas at Florida, 80-83
The Gators led for the entire game, despite Arkansas cutting the lead to one point with one minute left. Florida kept fighting and walked away with an anything-but-fluky win, their second victory of the season versus a ranked opponent.
3) No. 8 UCLA at Washington, 68-74
The Huskies didn’t let their losing record keep them from successfully challenging the skidding Bruins for the entire game — 41 points from the bench, led by Rita Pleskevich going 6-for-6 with 15 points, cemented the Washington W.
2) No. 17 Florida State at Georgia Tech, 62-65
In her first year as the head coach, Nell Fortner has led the Yellow Jackets to more top-25 victories than they had earned in their previous five seasons combined thanks to this W over Florida State. The game was tight all the way through, but FSU’s struggles from the free throw line (they shot 58.3 percent) helped ultimately seal it for Georgia Tech.
1) Alabama at No. 9 Mississippi State, 64-66
The wildest of the day’s upsets came down to a heartbreaking and extraordinary (depending on who you were talking to) buzzer beater on the Bulldogs’ home turf. Not content to ride a 64-64 game into overtime, the Crimson Tide tipped the ball in with 0.8 seconds left on the game clock — capping off a game in which they shot 64 percent (!) from the three point line.
Games to watch this week
No. 3 Oregon at No. 4 Stanford (February 24, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
Oregon has been steamrolling people the way we expected they would — can Stanford, the reigning conference champs, force the issue in this Pac-12 tournament preview?
No. 22 Arkansas at No. 9 Mississippi State (February 27, 9 p.m. ET, SECN)
Both teams need to bounce back with a big win before the SEC Tournament, so this one could get pretty scrappy.
No. 16 Texas A&M at No. 1 South Carolina (March 1, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
It should be a garbage-time game for Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks since they’ve already secured the SEC regular-season title, but Dawn Staley doesn’t really do garbage-time games — especially when the national spotlight is on as it will be for this one. Look out for some of the craftiest guards in the league — Chennedy Carter and Ty Harris — going head to head.
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