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For those who simply want to size up the field, here’s the official bracket.
You probably watched the Selection Show and know Virginia Tech is a No. 5 seed meeting No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast in College Park, Maryland on Friday. Winner likely gets No. 4 Maryland, which faces CAA champion Delaware in a first-round game.
Longwood will meet Mount St. Mary’s at N.C. State on Thursday at 7 p.m. — both are 16 seeds in the Bridgeport Region. The winner gets the Wolfpack, ACC champs for the third straight year.
Our initial thoughts — FGCU is 29-2 with losses to Princeton and Stetson and a 14-point win over LSU is on the Eagles’ resume. Bluntly speaking, the Eagles got no respect from the committee with a 12 seed. (LSU, btw, is a 3 seed and hosting.) FGCU has a high ceiling. They’re the nation’s top team in 3s attempted, made and per game. Kendall Spray is their best shooter, but every Eagle can bury a 3. FGCU is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament (this is their sixth straight ASUN title), but this year’s team got a huge boost when Kierstan Bell transferred in from Ohio State. Bell’s a 6-2 guard who’s already announced her intention to enter the WNBA draft, and she averages 23.1 ppg. She was the conference player of the year despite a partially torn meniscus sidelining her for nine games.
In the most recent USA Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll, FGCU is ranked 20, Virginia Tech is 23 (that was before the Eagles won their last two games). So typical 12 seed — NOT!
We’re anticipating both Elizabeth Kitley and Cayla King to return for Virginia Tech. Both sat out the Hokies’ ACC Tournament semifinal loss to the Wolfpack, Kitley with a sprained right shoulder and King with a sprained right ankle. Both warmed up; we anticipate them returning as coach Kenny Brooks noted he opted to err on the side of caution in sitting them. We’re not sure anybody on FGCU can match up with the 6-6 Kitley, the ACC Player of the Year and a Naismith semifinalist.
The Hokies will look to continue a historic season, finishing tied for third in the ACC, posting the most wins in the conference portion of the season since joining the league in 2004. Tech defeated five ranked teams this season, a new program record including taking down two in back-to-back contests for the first time.
As for Longwood, the Lancers can win their first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament game; 16 seeds are typically cannon fodder for No. 1 seeds. But the addition of four additional teams for a bracket of 68 means two “opening round” games, and the Lancers are in one of those. Longwood and Mount St. Mary’s faced one common opponent during the season —St. Francis (Pa.). Mount St. Mary’s went 2-1 against them and beat the Red Flash in the NEC Conference semifinals. Longwood defeated Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 24.
Longwood dominated the Big South Tournament, winning its three postseason games by a combined 73 points. (Footnote: Contrary to reports, Longwood has been to the NCAA Tournament; this is the first D-I appearance. The Lancers advanced to four Division II NCAA tournaments, the last time in 2003, and won two tournament games).
As expected, Liberty (27-4), VCU (15-11), Old Dominion (22-9) and Norfolk State (17-11) all received WNIT bids and will compete in the 64-team field that kicks off Wednesday at various on-campus sites.
The MEAC co-regular season champions Spartans (17-11) received their conference’s automatic WNIT bid as the league’s highest finisher that did not advance to the NCAAs. Fellow MEAC co-champion Howard downed the Spartans 61-44 in Saturday’s conference championship game to claim the league’s lone NCAA tournament bid.
A top-100 NET ranking usually all but guarantees an at-large WNIT invite, so it’s no surprise that Liberty (No. 72), VCU (92) and Old Dominion (94) were asked to participate.
The full WNIT bracket, featuring matchups, game sites and start times, will be released here Monday at around 2 p.m.
Typically, the excitement surrounding a team winning its conference tournament title is so pronounced little attention is paid to the all-tournament teams. With that in mind, here’s a roll call of the players who were at their best in their team’s most important games:
All-tournament honorees
Atlantic 10
Taya Robinson, VCU – The Rams star scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half of VCU’s quarterfinal win over George Washington, then went off for a game-high 25 in a semifinal loss to Dayton.
MEAC
Camille Downs and Deja Francis, Norfolk State – The conference defensive player of the year delivered the offensive play of the tournament Friday, draining a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to lift the Spartans past Morgan State 53-51 in the tournament semifinals. Francis, who like Downs earned first-team All-MEAC honors, lit up Morgan for 19 points to help the Spartans advance to the title game.
ACC
Georgia Amoore, Aisha Sheppard and Kayana Traylor, Virginia Tech – Amoore had 49 points and 14 assists over Tech’s three-game run and became the first Hokie to claim first-team all-ACC tournament honors. Sheppard (50 points) and Traylor (53) earned second-team all-tournament accolades.
Atlantic Sun
Dee Brown, Liberty – The 5-9 redshirt junior guard led the Lady Flames in scoring (13.5 ppg), assists (3.5 apg) and steals (1.5 spg) during Liberty’s two-game tournament stay.
Big South
Tra’Dayja Smith, Kyla McMakin and Akila Smith, Longwood
Tournament MVP Smith, who’s made her bones as a pass-first point guard, went 5-for-5 from 3 and scored 21 points in the champion Lancers’ final-round beatdown of Campbell. McMakin scored 22 points in each of the Lancers’ final two games and Smith, the league’s best offensive and defensive player, averaged 16.3 points and 11.3 rebounds over the three games.