Saturday's NCAA women's tournament takeaways: Stars shine bright on Day 2 of first round
Saturday's first round of the NCAA women's tournament featured stars galore. From Iowa's Caitlin Clark to Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair, to stellar freshmen JuJu Watkins (USC) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), some of the very best talent in the sport took to the court.
Here are our takeaways from an exciting day of action.
Caitlin Clark overcomes slow start to nearly net triple-double in win
Clark began Iowa's NCAA Tournament run with as many points (five) as turnovers (five) in the first quarter. Forward Hannah Stuelke failed to play in the second half, and yet, the Hawkeyes still won their opening-round game against Holy Cross 91-65.
Clark finished 8 of 19 from the field, including 3 of 9 from deep, scoring 27 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds. The sport's all-time leading scorer made up for her slow start that led to the Hawkeyes being only up two, 23-21, after one quarter.
It speaks to how good Clark is that even with a quiet night by her standards, she still managed to produce a remarkable stat line and show off her excellent handles and range.
Paige Bueckers has UConn looking dangerous
A fully healthy Paige Bueckers makes the Huskies extremely tough to beat. On Saturday, UConn defeated Jacksonville State, 86-64, behind Bueckers' 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting. The star guard, who missed the entire 2022-23 season with a torn ACL, added 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block with no turnovers.
Senior forward Aaliyah Edwards chimed in with 20 points and 10 rebounds, her 17th double-double this season, and freshman guard Ashlynn Shade scored 26 points with five makes from three-point range.
JuJu Watkins' freshman season keeps getting better
Entering USC's 87-55 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Watkins' freshman year was already one for the ages. Pac-12 Rookie of the Year? Check. First team all-conference? Yup. Associated Press All-American? Got that, too.
Just to drill the point home, Watkins passed women's basketball icon Cheryl Miller for the most points in a single season in USC women's basketball history with her 23-point effort against the Islanders.
Michigan loses heartbreaker
For 30 minutes, it looked like Michigan was headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. But that's when things unraveled.
The Wolverines fell to Kansas 81-72 in overtime after letting a 10-point fourth-quarter lead slip away. Michigan went up 60-50 after a Chyra Evans layup with 6:07 remaining, but was outscored 31-12 over the final 11 minutes, including overtime. With the loss, the Wolverines are one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament for the first time under head coach Kim Barnes Arico, who took over in 2012-13.
Notre Dame isn't just Hannah Hidalgo
Junior guard Sonia Citron reminded everyone the Fighting Irish are much more than just outstanding freshman Hannah Hidalgo in an 81-67 win over Kent State. Citron scored 29 points while shooting 13 of 20, including 3 of 7 from deep. With Hidalgo having an off-shooting night (she finished 5 of 14 from the field), UND needed the scoring outburst from Citron, who played the full 40 minutes.
Of course, Hidalgo was still a factor with 11 assists and six of Notre Dame's 10 steals, but it's a positive sign for the Irish that she doesn't need to carry the full offensive weight.
Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair's monster game sets up huge Round of 32 showdown
The Round of 32 has its marquee matchup. With all due respect to Arizona, UConn-Syracuse is the matchup we wanted to see, and we'll get it thanks to a sublime performance from fifth-year senior guard Dyaisha Fair.
She led the Orange with 32 points in a 74-69 win over the Wildcats, moving closer to passing former Missouri State guard Jackie Stiles for fourth on the all-time scoring list. If she scores at least 20 points against the Huskies, she'll also move past former Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell for third all-time.
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