2013 WNBA Draft prospects from the Norfolk region of the NCAA Tournament

A look back at the seasons of a few 2013 WNBA Draft prospects in the Norfolk region of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Diggins leads Notre Dame back to Final Four, named Norfolk Most Outstanding Player

Fighting Irish are headed to the Final Four for the 3rd consecutive year! #ncaaWFF

— NCAA Women's BKB (@NCAAWomensBKB) April 3, 2013

Kayla McBride & Natalie Achonwa join the Most Outstanding Player Skylar Diggins on Norfolk All Regional Team.

— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlowndu) April 3, 2013

Following what most people probably predicted, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Duke Blue Devils 87-76 to advance to a third consecutive Final Four.

Fittingly, point guard Skylar Diggins dominated the narrative of this game: after Diggins left the game early in the first half due to foul trouble, Notre Dame went cold and fell behind by as many as 9 points. Diggins re-entered the game, found their rhythm, and ended up running away with it in the first half.

For more on Notre Dame's path to the Final Four, check out our storystream.

NCAA women's Sweet 16: Wild cards Kansas and Nebraska look to keep the momentum alive

Both the Kansas Jayhawks and Nebraska Cornhuskers enter today's Sweet 16 games as heavy underdogs and yet both might have a chance to pull an upset because they've been playing better lately than they have all season.

Iowa's second round exit 'fits comfortably into the pattern Bluder has established at Iowa'

As most probably expected, the Iowa Hawkeyes fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 74-57 in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Ross over at SB Nation's Iowa site Black Heart Gold Pants notes that the loss also fits a pattern of understandable disappointment in Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder's tenure.

The loss ends Iowa's season, dropping them to 21-13 overall. While the loss was disappointing (although not unexpected), the season as a whole fits comfortably into the pattern Bluder has established at Iowa: win around 20 games, make the NCAA Tournament, lose in R1 or R2. Iowa has made the NCAA Tournament in 10 of Bluder's 13 seasons at Iowa and in fact only once (2006-07) has a Bluder-coached Iowa team failed to make the postseason at all. She's been remarkably consistent at Iowa and considering all the injuries she's had to overcome (Angry Iowa Women's Basketball Hating God is real and she is vengeful), that's a very impressive and commendable accomplishment.

He goes on to note that two seeding issues have also haunted Iowa: they usually earn an 8 or 9 seed and their two higher seeded teams were victimized by being sent to play on a lower seed's home court.

For more on the game, check out the rest of BHGP's recap. For more on the tournament, visit our NCAA section.

Nebraska defies predictions to upset Texas A&M, make the Sweet 16

Jim Hu at SB Nation's Texas A&M site Good Bull Hunting summarized how the Nebraska Cornhuskers made the Sweet 16 by defying both of our predictions prior to the game: playing man-to-man defense and knocking down threes.

In the two rounds at Reed, Nebraska shot 53.8% and 42.1% from beyond the arc, on 13 and 19 attempts. The long-range bombing attack repeatedly opened the lane for layups and putbacks as the Aggie defenders ran out too late at their assigned shooters. The Huskers reprised their 18/23 vs 1/1 advantage vs Chattanooga at the charity stripe by going 14/15 on free throws. The Ags were 1/2, with an astonishing zero free throw attempts for any of our front court players. It may be tempting to ascribe this to a combination of President Obama picking the Huskers and the refs being as unsatisfied as Rand Paul about the administration's policy on domestic drone strikes. But in fact much of the disparity came from the D described above denying the entry passes to the posts, combined with the Ags getting anxious and taking shots early in the shot clock. But then again, 3 fta in two days?!

As Hu described, the hot shooting was due to a number of defensive lapses from the Aggies. Defensively, Nebraska contained Kelsey Bone by defending her differently than she has seen previously.

For more analysis and previews of the game, visit our Norfolk bracket storystream. For more on the tournament as a whole, visit our NCAA section.

Nebraska upsets Texas A&M behind 20 points, 10 assists from Lindsey Moore

Believe it or not, in comparison to some of the other upsets that have occurred, I'd consider this one among the more predictable ones primarily because the Nebraska Cornhuskers can be so unpredictable as described in our preview before the tournament.

And yet the players who stepped up for Nebraska in their 74-63 upset of Texas A&M tonight were hardly unpredictable, as described in a recap at SB Nation's Nebraska site Corn Nation by Jon Johnston.

The Huskers were down 14-6 early and battled back to tie the game at 16. Nebraska scored the next nine points and would lead the rest of the way as the closest Texas A&M came was a 32-30 score with 3:26 left in the first half... The Huskers were lead by Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore. Hooper had 21 points and while Moore added 20 points and 10 assists.

Nebraska will now move to the Sweet 16 where they will face either the Duke Blue Devils or Oklahoma State Cowgirls.

For more on the game, check out SBN's Corn Nation. For more on the tournament, check out our 2013 NCAA Tournament section.

Kansas upsets South Carolina, advances to Sweet 16

Shout to the KUWBB for the win tonight. Congrats ladies ain't it sweet to be in the sweet16. We dancing baby. Both squads. #KUCMB #KUWBB

— Ben McLemore (@Humb1e_Hungry23) March 26, 2013

The Kansas Jayhawks will be making a second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 after their 75-69 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks tonight, joining the men's team which did so by beating the North Carolina Tar Heels.

I can't even begin to enumerate the reasons that I didn't expect #12 Kansas to upset #5 South Carolina, but we can start by returning - once again - to the fact that most people considered them the 64th team to get a bid in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

For more on the game, visit KUSports.com. For more on the tournament, check out our 2013 NCAA Tournament section.

NCAA Tournament 2013: Will Nebraska's zone be more effective against Texas A&M?

After talk of a potential upset, the Nebraska Cornhuskers came out in their first round game against the Chattanooga Lady Mocs and found themselves down 9 points with 15:49 left to play.

Then two things happened to turn the game around, according to Jim Hu writing at Good Bull Hunting: Huskers forward Jordan Hooper got hot and coach Coni Yori switched to man defense. However, it might be the zone that helps most against the Texas A&M Aggies in their second round game.

It seems likely that the Huskers will go back to the zone against the Ags on Monday night. Nebraska starts 4 players over 6 ft tall, and two or three of these will sandwich Bone. For the season A&M shoots a higher percentage from 3 pt land than the Mocs, but Chattanooga's guards had 208 treys on 662 attempts, while the Ags have only tried 309 3FGA for the season. A&M has also been in a 3 pt shooting slump. This means the Husker zone that looked to me like it presented opportunities for the mid-range jumpers Bellock and Walker thrive on, may not be as spread out vs the Ags.

Hu also notes the importance of the guard matchup and the Aggies' ability to contain Lindsey Moore will be as important as the defensive strategy that Nebraska takes on.

For more on the matchup, visit Good Bull Hunting.

Kansas upsets Colorado in Boulder sub-regional

Kansas 67 Colorado 52 | KU 19-13 (8-10) COLO 25-7 (13-5) | bskt.in/1khh#ncaaw

— W Basketball State (@wbbstate) March 24, 2013

Gotta give credit to thewiz06 for calling this one in our staff predictions:

...Kansas vs. Colorado in part because this is a former Big 12 conference matchup in a 5 vs 12 seed matchup.

Still, this might be the most unexpected outcome on a day with a few upsets.

Even if there was a statistical projection that had Colorado falling to Kansas - and to my knowledge, there wasn't - the fact that the Buffaloes couldn't defend home court is definitely surprising. That said, Ed Bemiss' odds didn't exactly see Colorado as an overwhelming favorite to advance.

Kansas: 49.49%

Colorado: 50.11%

But even then... a 15-point loss? Guess folks were too hard on Kansas getting into the tournament.

For more on the Norfolk region, check out our storystream. For more on the tournament, visit our NCAA section.

Joanne P. McCallie's journal: Spring Break, Chelsea Gray's status & "Lean In"

Duke women's basketball coach shares what she did during Spring Break, Chelsea Gray's status, and applying insights from Sheryl Sandberg's book "Lean In" to basketball. And, of course, how they prepared for first round opponent Hampton.

NCAA women's Norfolk bracket preview: Nebraska & the makings of an upset

While Notre Dame is the clear favorite in the Norfolk region, Nebraska is a team that might be the biggest favorite in the tournament to be on the wrong end of an upset.

Dance Card: Kansas, Big XII

Birdwatching- hark, a rarity!

Dance Card: DePaul, Big East at-large

I've already asked if there's any connection to the devil in a blue dress.

Dance Card: Iowa, Big Ten at-large

Can the Hawkeyes hold down home court?

Dance Card: Miami, ACC at-large

Rock you like a Hurricane?

Dance Card: Oklahoma State, Big XII at-large

What can you expect out of the Cowgirls?

Dance Card: Colorado, Pac-12 at-large

Buffed to a proper shine.

Dance Card: Nebraska, Big Ten at-large

What to expect from the Huskers?

Dance Card: South Carolina, SEC at-large

They can do the big things, but can they do the little things?

Dance Card: Wichita State, Missouri Valley champions

Shockers- but not a shocker.

Dance Card: Hampton, MEAC champions

These Pirates will leave you with nothing.

Dance Card: Notre Dame, Big East champions

Luck of the Irish? Not luck.

Dance Card: South Dakota State, Summit champs

Those wascally wabbits are at it again.

Dance Card: Chattanooga, SoCon champions

Which is more fun to say, Chattanooga or Aleksandravicius?

Texas A&M, SEC champions

Gig 'em.

Duke, ACC champions

No star point guard? No problem.

Dance Card: Tennessee-Martin, Ohio Valley champions

Only in Martin, Tennessee can the NCAA's ninth-leading scorer not even lead her team in scoring.