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The higher-ranked teams cruised through the first day of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament’s second round, with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Oregon Ducks, Louisville and Mississippi State commanding dominant, blowout victories over their opponents. But a few teams had their hearts broken with two-point losses to opponents that should feel relieved to see another day in the tournament.
The Marquette Golden Eagles had a chanced to upset the Texas A&M Aggies, but fell short, 78-76. And Arizona State was close to getting by Miami but succumbed to a 57-55 loss instead.
The team entering the second round with the biggest question mark surrounding its chances of success was Missouri — a team led by all-time program scoring leader Sophie Cunningham, but one that is also prone to inconsistency. In the second round, the Tigers fought but could not overcome an Iowa Hawkeyes team that saw Megan Gustafson record a solid double-double with 24 points and 19 rebounds and two of her teammates also scoring in double figures. Makenzie Meyer and Kathleen Doyle scored 18 and 15 points, respectively. Scoring aside, Iowa clamped down defensively, leaving Missouri with only one player in double figures (Amber Smith, 21 points) and limiting Cunningham to just eight points.
In Mississippi State’s unsurprising blowout of Clemson, SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Teaira McCowan added another double-double to her illustrious collegiate resume, with a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Anriel Howard had a double-double of her own, with 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Jordan Danberry also contributed double-figure scoring, with 18 points.
Like the Bulldogs, the Oregon Ducks obliterated their opponent, the Indiana Hoosiers, 91-68. Naturally, Sabrina Ionescu was a big part of the Ducks’ win, and further cemented herself as the triple-double queen of college basketball, with 29 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
To lock up the triple-double, the 18th of her career, Ionescu got creative — intentionally missing a shot late in the game and rebounding the miss to secure her 10th rebound of the night.
Sabrina Ionescu said she missed the last shot so she could get the triple double pic.twitter.com/JTreByLB2o
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) March 25, 2019
But Ionescu’s comments about her latest triple-double feat were not all lighthearted. With an obvious dig at ESPN for its refusal to cover women’s sports, Ionescu said:
I mean, it’s awesome to get one in the tournament, but it probably still won’t be recognized because ESPN never recognizes women’s sports, or women getting triple-doubles.
.@OregonWBB guard @sabrina_i20 putting @espn on notice that there is only one @NCAA player who wears the crown when it comes to triple-doubles, and HER name is Sabrina Ionescu #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/kus2djjFSe
— Ronald Clark (@JournalistClark) March 25, 2019
Ionescu is right, of course.
A look at ESPN’s “Top Headlines” from yesterday reveals the network championing a triple-double by LeBron James, whose Los Angeles Lakers have been eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, but not including Ionescu’s triple-double, which catapulted the Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen. James’ triple-double had no implications for his losing team, while Ionescu’s definitely did.
Anything involving LeBron will make headlines. But should his triple-double for a team that already has been eliminated from the NBA playoffs be a TOP headline when Sabrina Ionescu’s triple-double advanced the Oregon Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen?
— Tamryn Spruill (@tamrynspruill) March 25, 2019
Answer: No. pic.twitter.com/iGBppBxCM9
This, of course, is nothing new for ESPN, but it does remain unacceptable.
Here are the games results for Sunday, followed by information on future games and viewing:
NCAAW Tournament — Round 2, Day 1
Game results
No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes vs. No. 7 Missouri Tigers, 68-52
No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies vs. No. 5 Marquette Golden Eagles, 78-76
No. 2 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers, 91-68
No. 1 Louisville Cardinals vs. No. 8 Michigan Wolverines, 71-50
No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks vs. No. 5 Florida State Seminoles, 72-64
No. 2 UConn Huskies vs. No. 10 Buffalo Bulls, 84-72
No. 4 Miami Hurricanes vs. No. 5 Arizona State Sun Devils, 57-55
No. 1 Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. No. 9 Clemson Tigers, 85-61
NCAAW Tournament game information
Second round
When: Sunday, March 24; Monday, March 25
Where: Campus sites (teams seeded 1-4 host)
How to watch: ESPN, ESPN2, WatchESPN
Sweet Sixteen
When: Friday, March 29; Saturday, March 30 (click for times)
Where: Albany, NY; Chicago, IL; Greensboro, NC; Portland, OR
How to watch: ESPN, ESPN2, WatchESPN
Elite Eight
When: Sunday, March 31; Monday, April 1 (click for times)
Where: Albany, NY; Chicago, IL; Greensboro, NC; Portland, OR
How to watch: ESPN, ESPN2, WatchESPN
Final Four
When: Friday, April 5, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
How to watch: ESPN2, WatchESPN
National Championship
When: Sunday, April 7, at 6 p.m. ET
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
How to watch: ESPN, WatchESPN
More ways to watch the games
Want to watch in person? Tickets for the first two rounds can be purchased on the websites of the 16 hosting teams, listed below as the first through fourth seeds. Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four tickets can be found on the websites of the hosting arenas, or here.