Behind The Scoreboard
The NCAA Basketball Tournament is perhaps one of the most watched and enjoyable events of the year – and not just the men’s basketball teams, but the women’s teams, too.
We all know March 12 is Selection Sunday for the men’s team. But, did you know March 13 is Selection Show for the women’s teams?
There were quite a few NCAA women’s conference title games televised Sunday, March 5. And those championship teams and others are awaiting an NCAA tournament seed.
In the Atlantic Coast Conference, the third-ranked Notre Dame Lady Fighting Irish became the second team in ACC history to win four regular season and tournament championships in the same year. The Lady Fighting Irish beat 13th ranked Duke 84-61 in the title game Sunday, earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA.
The South Carolina Lady Gamecocks won their third straight SEC tournament title, defeating sixth-ranked Miss. State 59-49. South Carolina (27-4) will likely head to the NCAA as a number one seed. Miss State (29-4) will await its seeding.
The fourth-ranked Maryland Terrapins won their third consecutive championship with a 74-64 victory over Purdue in the Big Ten tournament.
The Lady Terrapins (30-2) are 9-0 in tourney play since moving to the Big Ten (Maryland left the ACC in 2014). The Lady Terrapins must wait to see if the resume is good enough for a number –one seed.
Tenth-ranked Stanford had to climb out of a 13-point hole to beat sixth-ranked Oregon State 48-43. The Cardinal (28-5) won their 12th tournament title, the most in conference history and took the PAC-12’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. Stanford should be a top-four seed in the NCAA.
On another note, congratulations to our area schools who advanced to the semi-finals of state tournament play at Jackson. The Byhalia Lady Indians and the Holly Springs Hawks were big winners last week – the Byhalia girls in Class 3A and the Holly High Boys in 4A.
Unfortunately, Byhalia was eliminated on Monday in the semi-finals.
The Hawks will play in the semis on Wednesday of this week.
Ashland’s boys played in the Class 1A semi-finals on Monday and advanced to the championship game.