2023 NCAA Womens basketball tournament

strek1

Run, Forrest, run!
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Jun 13, 2006
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Worst UConn performance in at least 20 years. Refs were terrible but UConn was way worse. Missed layups, a gajillion turnovers, awful from the line. Other than Lopez-Senechal, they all played just terribly today. Ohio State had something to do with that of course but in the past this is a game UConn still manages to win by 10.
Yeah it was but frankly they could have melted down after that rough stretch near the end of the regular season and stayed down. At least they re-grouped enough to clinch the Reg. and BE Tourney title. Then a the first 2 games in the NCAA's. The whole season was going to be a challenge once Paige went down. Nika was never meant to be more than a backup PG at this level. I think she did pretty good considering. As for Ducharme as soon as she got smacked with that ball she grabbed her head and couldn't do anything after that. There's no way she has fully recovered from those haed and neck problems. I hope a long rest will see her return to health but it's very difficult once players start having concussion issues. It was a pleasure to see Lou if only for one season. She is a warrior. And Dorka gave it her all. I hope Geno keeps bringing in foreign players. Looking forward to next year and think it's time we get a reprieve from the injury bug.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Yeah it was but frankly they could have melted down after that rough stretch near the end of the regular season and stayed down. At least they re-grouped enough to clinch the Reg. and BE Tourney title. Then a the first 2 games in the NCAA's. The whole season was going to be a challenge once Paige went down. Nika was never meant to be more than a backup PG at this level. I think she did pretty good considering. As for Ducharme as soon as she got smacked with that ball she grabbed her head and couldn't do anything after that. There's no way she has fully recovered from those haed and neck problems. I hope a long rest will see her return to health but it's very difficult once players start having concussion issues. It was a pleasure to see Lou if only for one season. She is a warrior. And Dorka gave it her all. I hope Geno keeps bringing in foreign players. Looking forward to next year and think it's time we get a reprieve from the injury bug.
I agree. It was a difficult season before it even started. I know some of the players and it was just a brutal grind. I've never seen a college team go through as many injuries as this team has. They were still really good even with all that, but at times they literally only had six players available, for like weeks at a time.

I worry about Ducharme's future with those injuries. Paige....I wonder if she will ever be the same. I agree that Nika is a backup being forced to start and play enormous minutes..

Next year's roster:

Paige
Azzi
Ducharme
Nika
Griffin
Edwards
Brady
El Alfy
Patterson
DeBerry

And for incoming freshmen:

KK Arnold (#6 in the country)
Ashlynn Shade (#15 in the country)
El Alfy (who I mentioned above who is already on campus but didn't play)

So if they're healthy, that group is absolutely loaded. You get Paige and Azzi starting together. You get Nika coming off the bench as a solid point guard with lots of experience who can play mad defense. You get Ducharme as a spot up shooter. You get Griffin as the super athlete. You get Arnold, who's going to be a super star (see her highlights here: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9ypYLA-sl0
). And Shade is awesome too.

I actually think Patterson and DeBerry might transfer because I don't know how much playing time they'll get, but for UConn's sake, I think one of them needs to stay, because they're not super deep with bigs if they go. Edwards and El Alfy are terrific and Ice Brady is going to be fantastic, but they really need one more just in case.

But that's 12 deep as I list. Even if you shave off Patterson and DeBerry, that's 10 deep, with terrific talent.

UConn, if healthy, is going to be a wrecking machine next year. BUT....we've been saying that the last five years, and something always seems to happen to this team. Hopefully that changes next year.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Sep 10, 2017
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Oh my, poor Miami player basically planted the front of her foot after jumping up and sideways with momentum going forward and almost sit on that planted foot before kicking her leg out just in time to avoid a compound fracture. But that ankle looks to be messed up in any case, down for a few minutes and had to be helped off the floor.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Sep 10, 2017
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But what a brutal game, combed 1-26 shooting from 3-point range. Miami has absolutely sucked shooting the ball (see first sentence) but the refs have done no favors. Five free throw attempts for the Hurricanes vs 22 for LSU. Certainly the refs are favoring the 3 seed vs the 9 seed in this one.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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There's a good chance both Iowa and Louisville score more in the first half than Miami's final score in the earlier game.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Worst UConn performance in at least 20 years. Refs were terrible but UConn was way worse. Missed layups, a gajillion turnovers, awful from the line. Other than Lopez-Senechal, they all played just terribly today. Ohio State had something to do with that of course but in the past this is a game UConn still manages to win by 10.
I think you're right - I can't remember a worse offhand, anyway - but it's unfair to a 2023 team to compare to womens' hoops 20 years ago. It is so much more competitive now. There are more schools with a legit chance to win it all, more schools that can come into your building and beat you, and every team is deeper with talent. My old-man view is that it's a hell of a lot more physical too, the strength and athleticism is off the charts compared to when Geno's sides were steamrolling all comers.

The dominance of Summit and Geno is the kind of thing you get in the early eras of a sport. Once Geno gets his rocking chair, the next UConn coach will not have his level of success. Women's college hoops is too big a game now, there are enough players from around the country (and the world) to put elite athletes and playmakers in dozens of squads. No John Wooden is coming along now to rip off seven titles in a row in 21st century men's hoops either.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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The B1G continues to dominate. It's really the only women's basketball I watch, but it's an immensely talented league right now. I wasn't able to watch the Ohio State game yesterday, but despite the way a few of you make it sound, UConn lost to a really damn good team with four excellent players in McMahon, Sheldon, Mikesell and Thierry. Still, Ohio State went 0-4 against Iowa and Maryland. I'm looking forward to seeing the B1G now get their chances against South Carolina. I probably won't get to see more than the last few minutes of the game tomorrow night, but I'm gonna say that South Carolina's string of holding their tournament opponents under 50 points will be ending... Maryland brings a lot of offense.
 

bosox188

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Jan 11, 2008
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I had a really hot take earlier in the season that Maddy Siegrist was better than Caitlin Clark, which I'm pretty sure I never said out loud thank god. I am an idiot.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,469
40 point triple double wow, first ever in tourney i believe
kicking myself for catching up on sleep and now feels even worse with that performance and some idiot cranking their motorcycle before 5am.

but thank you, Buckeyes
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Too bad the Championship game is on Sunday afternoon and not primetime, as it has been for the last several years.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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With the women's games being played in primetime last night and the men's games in the afternoon, I got all confused yesterday over who is avoiding whom now.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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With the women's games being played in primetime last night and the men's games in the afternoon, I got all confused yesterday over who is avoiding whom now.
I dont think there's any programming competition next Sunday night. (Men play Saturday and Monday, as in years past).
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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It's not looking good for Ohio State, they've just settled for way too many low percentage shots in the 2nd half instead of putting it in McMahon's hands and having her drive to the basket.

Maryland got off to a great start against South Carolina in the earlier game, but even as they were doing it, they were screwing up all the small stuff – unforced errors, fouls, losing every 50/50 ball – so they never put South Carolina in a hole. The second half was just a massacre. South Carolina vs. Iowa this weekend is going to be fun.
 

mikeot

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Dec 22, 2006
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Being from the DMV area, sad about the lady Terps but happily surprised by Va Tech.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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If Jacy Sheldon comes back for her last year of eligibility, Ohio State could very well be better next year. They'll need to add another 3-point threat to replace Mikesell, but the only other player they're losing is Mikulasikova and that's addition by subtraction... I've never seen a more useless player on defense. If they need to replace their whole backcourt it will be tough, but McMahon and Thierry will still keep them at tournament level.
 

AlNipper49

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Dope
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Apr 3, 2001
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Shes putting up better numbers than Taurasi, but this is what Taurasi would have been doing if she didn’t also play with several other all Americans.
Her against Aliyah Boston on Friday is about as much watch as a women’s basketball as women’s basketball has ever had.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Her against Aliyah Boston on Friday is about as much watch as a women’s basketball as women’s basketball has ever had.
Agreed. South Carolina is going to bury Iowa because their TEAM is so much better, but getting to see those two superduperstars will be amazing theater.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
24,376
Watching the pregame. Two things….

(1) I cannot stand when they say “score the ball”. It’s just SCORE. Period. Score the ball is the stupidest thing ever.

(2) I saw on the ESPN crawl that in Wimbledon they’re going to allow Russian and Belarusian players play, but “as neutrals”. I don’t get it at all. This isn’t a team sport. This isn’t the Olympics. Players are representing themselves. Countries aren’t winning any championships at Wimbledon. What sense does this make? Russian players are there playing for themselves. So dumb.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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If I can't conjure up any hate for the team that knocks mine out of the tournament, I'm gonna root for them... so go Va Tech and go Iowa!
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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KInda weird that the same state got both of the Final Fours. (Does make sense when you consider they're 2 of the most hotel-abundant cities in the country though)
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Jul 13, 2002
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right here
well poop
refs let it be a physical game and that was right up LSU's alley. they stopped going inside and got cold at a real bad time. hell of a year though. needed 1 more player.
 

amh03

Tippi Hedren
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Dec 27, 2003
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Guess I’m the lone poster psyched for LSU…having fun texting my niece right now.
 

semsox

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Mar 14, 2004
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Encouraging first quarter for Iowa. It was definitely going to be an uphill climb coming into this game, but that 1Q is alot like what an Iowa W would look like.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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The battle in the paint is pretty good. SC has length advantage but Iowas center, Czinano, is very strong.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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I think that SC ultimately has more bigger better players. I think Iowa will run out of gas. (But Clark is so transcendant I'd really like to see her in the finals.)
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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I think that SC ultimately has more bigger better players. I think Iowa will run out of gas. (But Clark is so transcendant I'd really like to see her in the finals.)
This, all of it.

SC had to sit Boston early with two fouls. Having her rotate in with these other bigs is almost unfair. The next player off the bench for SC is better than the last but there’s a drop off with Iowa’s subs.

I think Clark gets away with carrying the ball sometimes, but I think that about men’s and NBA games too..
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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Clark has 19 pts and 6 assists in a 38-37 game. That’s nuts. Without her Iowa is not even in the building at the half.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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The 718
Why is SC shooting threes? Playing right into iowas hands. They should be pounding it inside, exploiting their size.
 

swiftaw

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Jan 31, 2009
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Why is SC shooting threes? Playing right into iowas hands. They should be pounding it inside, exploiting their size.
Probably because there’s like an 80% chance they’ll get the rebound.