ESPN.com presents Women's Basketball http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball 60 en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 15:52:28 webmaster@espn.go.com http://assets.espn.go.com/i/espn/teamlogos/lrg/trans/espn_dotcom_black.gif 110 110 First-round NCAA tournament games can be a few things for the Connecticut Huskies. Mysterious is not one of them. As a No. 1 seed from 2007 to 2012, UConn's average margin of victory against No. 16 seeds was 43 points. So Saturday’s 105-37 drubbing of Idaho was expected. When Geno Auriemma woke up on his 59th birthday Saturday, the Vandals couldn't have been a major concern. But if the Huskies coach was looking for a few gifts from his team, he got them.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/649/hartley-huskies-make-statement-in-rout Sat, 23 Mar 2013 16:03:04 EDT 649 Some updates after Saturday’s conference tournament games: NOTABLE • A reassessment of Duquesne and Charlotte has put the Dukes in the field and the 49ers out. With Duquesne's No. 36 RPI ranking, history says the Dukes have a great probability of a bid. RPI is not the end-all, be-all, but that is the way it has almost always worked out. • The same rationale holds for Creighton, which is why the Bluejays, despite a loss in the MVC semifinals, stay in the field.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/644/saturdays-bracketology-update-3 Sun, 17 Mar 2013 03:47:52 EDT 644 Some updates after Monday’s conference tournament games: NOTABLE • Top seeds around a host of mid-major leagues kept Sunday night's bracket projection intact. Marist, Middle Tennessee, Chattanooga and Gonzaga all completed regular-season title/tournament sweeps and officially secured spots in the NCAA field. • Navy, a No. 2 seed in the Patriot League, remained on target for a berth by reaching the conference final against No.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/641/mondays-bracketology-update Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:13:18 EDT 641 Some updates after most of Sunday's conference tournament games (through games as of 7:30 p.m. ET): NOTABLE • Saint Joseph’s upset of top-seeded Dayton in the Atlantic 10 semifinals solidified the Hawks' place in the NCAA field, moving three spots above the Last 4 In on the S-curve. • Dayton’s chances at a No. 3 seed disappeared with that loss. The Flyers remain a No. 4 seed for now. • South Florida pushed itself up the board with an impressive showing in a loss to Notre Dame in the Big East quarterfinals.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/639/sundays-bracketology-update Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:53:37 EDT 639 Some updates after Saturday’s conference tournament games: NOTABLE • With the announcement that Wichita State won the tiebreaker in the Missouri Valley Conference and will be the top seed in the tournament, we will follow suit and move the Shockers back into the field as the automatic qualifier. Creighton stays in the field as the last team in. • Wichita State's return to the field takes up another spot, and that, plus its quarterfinal loss to fellow bubble team Saint Joseph’s, cost Duquesne a spot in the field.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/634/saturdays-bracketology-update-2 Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:30:55 EDT 634 SEATTLE -- Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is in the Emerald City this week, observing the new setting for his postseason women’s basketball tournament. He likes what he sees. “This is certainly a big step forward,” Scott said. After a dismal few years in Los Angeles, where tournament attendance lagged from its previous home in San Jose, Calif., things are picking up. Friday night’s quarterfinal games, which featured both Washington and Washington State, drew 5,452 fans to KeyArena, home court of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/632/pac-12-tourney-finds-home-at-keyarena Sat, 9 Mar 2013 23:52:36 EDT 632 Some updates after Saturday's conference tournament games (as of contests through 8 p.m. ET Saturday): LAST FOUR IN West VirginiaSaint Joseph’sSouth FloridaCreighton FIRST FOUR OUT DuquesneOhio StateKansasFlorida NEXT FOUR OUT MinnesotaIllinoisArkansasJames Madison CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN Big East: 8 SEC: 7 Big Ten: 6 Big 12: 6 ACC: 5 Pac-12: 4 A-10: 3 MVC: 2 AUTO BIDS Tennessee MartinStetson]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/623/saturdays-bracketology-update Sat, 9 Mar 2013 20:15:25 EDT 623 Some updates after Friday's conference tournament games: NOTABLE • Texas A&M moved up two spots on the S-curve from 14 to 12 after its win over South Carolina in the SEC quarterfinals. That also elevated the Aggies from a No. 4 seed to a No. 3. • South Carolina’s seed was unaffected by the loss to A&M, but the Gamecocks dropped from 13 to 16 on the S-curve, meaning they went from the top No. 4 seed to the final No. 4 seed.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/615/fridays-bracketology-updates Sat, 9 Mar 2013 01:51:15 EDT 615 LAWRENCE, Kan. -- TCU coach Jeff Mittie was familiar with Big 12 play, because for years he scheduled nonconference games against that league’s schools. But after TCU’s first season as a member of the Big 12, Mittie acknowledges it’s a very different thing to go through the league season. “We’ve played a tough nonconference schedule before,” Mittie said, “but now we’re doing this in the Big 12 nine weeks in a row, playing every few days.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/607/keep-an-eye-on-big-12s-other-storylines Thu, 7 Mar 2013 18:41:11 EDT 607 Last year, Georgia Tech came achingly close to being the first team since Clemson in 1999 to break up the Duke/North Carolina/Maryland monopoly on winning the ACC women’s basketball tournament. This year, is there anyone outside those three that can actually take home the trophy from Greensboro, N.C.? Probably not. It looks like there will be five ACC teams in the NCAA tournament: Duke, UNC, Maryland, Florida State and Miami. The only road into the Big Dance for the other seven teams -- which all have losing records in the league -- is by winning the tournament and automatic bid, which seems extremely unlikely.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/womens-basketball/post/_/id/595/traditional-powers-the-favorite-at-acc-tourney Thu, 7 Mar 2013 00:45:14 EDT 595