National TV gives event momentum
With hopes of a separate television contract in upcoming negotiations, the women’s NCAA Tournament keeps gaining momentum.
The national title game returns to network television for the first time since 1995, with an ABC broadcast on April 2 from Dallas and a one-hour pregame show.
ABC will feature at least six games from the women’s tournament, including two first-round games Saturday and a pair of second-round contests Sunday.
“Putting it on ABC, we’re giving it the best opportunity for success,” said Dan Ochs, who handles women’s basketball programming for ESPN. “This tournament continues to grow and deliver for us.”
South Carolina’s 64-49 victory over Connecticut in last year’s title game averaged 4.85 million viewers on ESPN — the most-watched women’s championship game since 2004. It was also the fourth-largest audience for the title game since the network began airing the entire tournament in 1996.
The 2022 women’s tournament overall averaged 634,000 viewers per game, a 16% increase over 2021, with many of the rounds seeing their highest averages in more than 10 years.
ESPN has every reason to believe those numbers can increase: Regular-season games on the network averaged over 190,000 viewers, making it the most-viewed regular season since 2015.
And a matchup of two undefeated teams on Feb. 12, in which South Carolina topped LSU, was the most-watched regular-season women’s game since 2010 with an average of 1.47 million viewers.
Advertising for the tournament has sold out for the second straight year, ESPN said, with 15 broadcast sponsors and nearly 100 advertisers.
It’s like a welcome-back party for Duke in the NCAA Tournament, complete with home amenities.
Third-year coach Kara Lawson has the Blue Devils as the No. 3 seed in the Seattle 4 Region, taking on No. 14 seed Iona in tonight’s first round. It marks the program’s first tournament appearance since 2018 and their first time hosting opening-weekend games since the year before that.
“There’s no doubt I’m proud of the team and the strides we’ve made this year,” Lawson said Friday. “We finished 10th in our league last year, and this year we finished second. That’s hard to do in any league, let alone the ACC.”
The Blue Devils (25-6) are one of 16 site hosts for the tournament, with sixth-seeded Colorado and 11th-seeded Middle Tennessee meeting in the pod’s first game today.
Lawson’s first season ended after four games when the Blue Devils shut down their season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Blue Devils didn’t make the field last year with a 17-13 record in their first full run under Lawson.
“I was kind of upset that we didn’t get to be in it last year,” guard Celeste Taylor said. “But to come back and not only be in the tournament, to be a 3 seed, I think that’s a really great jump, a really great sign of progression in our program.”
Duke returns to tourney with home site:
Brinae Alexander scored over 1,100 points in her career before finally having an opportunity to play in an NCAA Tournament.
She made up for lost time.
Alexander scored a game-high 18 points, and secondseeded Maryland rolled to a victory over 15th-seeded Holy Cross in the first round Friday in College Park. Alexander is one of a handful of transfers who have given the Terrapins a boost this season. She played previously at Vanderbilt, and now she’s part of a highly seeded Maryland team.
“I was really excited to especially be able to play home and have that home-court advantage,” Alexander said.
Abby Meyers, who reached the second round of March Madness last year while at Princeton, scored 16 points for the Terrapins. Diamond Miller added 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Terps (26-6) scored the game’s first 14 points and advanced to face seventh-seeded Arizona on Sunday.
Simone Foreman’s 13 points paced Holy Cross (24-9).
Maryland 93, Holy Cross 61:
South Florida 67, Marquette 65 (OT): Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 22 points and Elena Tsineke’s jumper with 31.2 seconds left in overtime put South Florida ahead for good in a victory over No. 9 seed Marquette to start the women’s NCAA Tournament in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Golden Eagles (22-11) had a final look to win, but Mackenzie Hare’s 3-pointer went inside the rim and rolled out with a second to play.
“What a way to start the NCAA Tournament,” South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said.
The Bulls (27-6), who didn’t lead for the game’s first 38 minutes, rallied several times, including from 47-36 down in regulation, to tie their mark for wins in a season.
Breaking the record this year won’t be so easy as South Florida will face the No. 1 overall seed and defending champion South Carolina, undefeated on the year at 33-0 after a 72-40 winner over No. 16 seed Norfolk State.
“We have one day to prepare for them, they have one day to prepare for us,” Fernandez said. “So we’ll see.”