It’s conference tournament season, y’all.
Elizabeth Kitley and Virginia Tech won the ACC on Sunday thanks to Georgia Amoore’s wizardry and heroics. Amoore broke the tournament’s 3-point record with 14 connections from behind the arc in three games as the Hokies won their first-ever ACC crown.
South Carolina bulldozed its way to another SEC Tournament title, the Pac-12 was wild and the Big Ten saw one player just completely take things over. The only remaining Power 5 conference tournament is the Big 12, which begins Wednesday. We could see Taylor Robertson’s sharp 3-point shooting carry the Sooners far in the tournament.
We’ll touch on all that and more in this week’s VIBE CHECK, an unscientific and unserious ranking of all things in women’s college basketball.
You Love To See It: Caitlin Clark doing Caitlin Clark things
The whispers of Clark being a candidate for National Player of the Year have now turned into screaming demands. If her ridiculous buzzer beater in a regular season finale win over Indiana wasn’t enough, Clark played some of her best basketball of the season for Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament.
In three days, she powered the Hawkeyes to wins over Purdue, Maryland and Ohio State, averaging 24 points, 7.1 rebounds and 10 assists per game while 47% shooting from the floor and 39% from 3-point land. Against Ohio State in the title game – which wasn’t close as Iowa won by 33 points – Clark dropped the first triple-double in Big Ten Tournament history with 30 points, 17 dimes and 10 boards. And Clark, just a junior, now owns the Big Ten Tournament record for career assists. She also became just the second player in program history to eclipse the 2,500 points-scored mark over the weekend, joining Megan Gustafson in that exclusive club.
Clark is a big reason why Iowa repeated as Big Ten Tournament champions. And now, with two more Quad-1 wins over Maryland and Ohio State, Iowa has a case to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Clark certainly has a case for Player of the Year. She’s second in the nation in scoring (27 points per game), first in assists (8.3), first in assist rate (47.5%), sixth in PER (40.6), third in win shares (13.8) and 11th in usage (35.7%).
Caitlin Clark becomes the only WBB or MBB D-I player since 2009-10 to have 30+ points, 17+ assists & 10+ rebounds in the same game. 🤩#B1GStats x #B1GWBBT pic.twitter.com/vvesafhzYZ
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 6, 2023
Straight Up Not Having A Good Time: Top seeds in the Pac-12
Last week was really great for Washington State, and not so great for the top teams in the Pac-12.
Utah’s loss to the Cougars in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament last Thursday likely knocked the Utes out of the running for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A day later, Cameron Brink’s awesomeness wasn’t enough as Stanford was eliminated in the semifinals by UCLA, denying the Cardinal its third-straight conference tourney crown, and – with Virginia Tech and Iowa surging – jeopardizing Stanford’s potential No. 1 seed.
And then, just when it looked like UCLA was building a case to host opening weekend games in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, the Bruins got beat by Washington State in the Pac-12 title game.
Charlisse-Leger Walker led the way for the Cougars with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists as Washington State punched its third straight ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars celebrated properly, by shouting Shania Twain lyrics.
I’m honored to have been a small part of your journey!! 🥰 @WSUCougarWBB @pac12 #letsgogirls pic.twitter.com/6zCDXH0OGm
— Shania Twain 💎💎💎 (@ShaniaTwain) March 6, 2023
How about them Cougs? Kamie Ethridge’s team is the first Washington State team to win a Pac-12 tournament title in any sport in the last 21 years.
Try watching this interview without getting emotional 🥹#Pac12WBB | @WSUCougarWBB pic.twitter.com/jI4PSchIRs
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 6, 2023
You Love To See It: Automatic bids for mid-majors
Conference tournament season is always great because we get to see mid-majors capture those precious automatic bids. Often, those moments can be historic – even if some of them happen in the middle of a weekday.
Take the Atlantic-10 Tournament, which saw No. 3 seed Saint Louis beat top-seeded UMass in overtime in the final behind 27 points from Kyla McMakin, which puts the Billikens in the Big Dance for the first time ever. If McMakin’s name sounds familiar, you probably remember her from last season’s Longwood team, which made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history after winning the Big South last year. The Lancers won a tourney game with a First Four victory over Mount St. Mary’s.
McMakin transferred to Saint Louis when former Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett was hired there. Tillett is now just the second head coach in the history of Division I women’s basketball to earn auto bids in different leagues in consecutive years. The other is Lisa Bluder, who did it with Iowa and Drake in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
Among the other teams that punched their ticket Sunday is Chattanooga. The Mocs are led by first-year head coach Shawn Poppie, a former Virginia Tech assistant. Here was his reaction when Chattanooga sealed the win in the SoCon Championship:
Our mood watching all of the women’s basketball today 🤩#NCAAWBB x 🎥 ESPN+ / @GoMocsWBKpic.twitter.com/ObhPtf5m2R
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 5, 2023
Straight Up Not Having A Good Time: Arena problems
A quarterfinal game in the SEC Tournament was delayed on Friday because the roof was leaking at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, allowing rainwater to hit the court.
Raining sideways in Greenville with winds that are wobbling street signs a few miles from the arena. https://t.co/ACY6iQSyMg
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) March 3, 2023
Georgia vs. LSU was delayed 44 minutes and then resumed. It’s worth mentioning here that, in just a few weeks, the same arena will host Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games for the women’s NCAA Tournament.
A few hours north of the SEC Tournament, the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina saw one of its semifinals delayed by more than 30 minutes because a piece of the court was sticking up. Arena workers brought out a hammer and sander to make the playing surface level again, and worked as ACC commissioner Jim Phillips and referees watched over their shoulders.
A closer look at the repair efforts… #ACCwbb pic.twitter.com/svqhpLSNeU
— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) March 4, 2023
After the work was completed, Duke coach Kara Lawson and Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks inspected it and okayed it. The Hokies won 58-37 behind 24 points from eventual ACC Tournament MVP Georgia Amoore.
You Love To See It: A healthy UConn team
After suffering a late-season loss to St. John’s that made us question just how far the Huskies could go this season, they looked a whole lot more like their dominant selves in the Big East Tournament. UConn won its three tournament games by an average margin of 23.3 points as it won its 10th consecutive conference tournament title on Monday.
UConn beat Villanova with seven players – which, for this UConn team, is a luxury at this point. Moreover, the Huskies got 32 minutes and 11 points from sophomore Azzi Fudd. She’s only played in 12 of UConn’s 34 games this season, but if the Huskies aim to make a run to what would be their 15th straight Final Four appearance, they’ll need Fudd at her very best.
The Huskies also showed they can win with defense, holding Player of the Year candidate Maddy Siegrist to 9-of-21 shooting – and the Wildcats as a whole to 5-of-29 from 3-point land – in their win over Villanova.
And Aaliyah Edwards is blossoming into one of the best post players in the country. She claimed the Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award after averaging 19.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocks per game in three wins for the Huskies.
While UConn might not be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament – and, stop me if you’ve heard this before – nobody wants to face the Huskies in March.
Geno went dancing after winning the Big East 😂
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) March 7, 2023
