Virginia Tech to be without star center as women’s tournament opens
Three-time Atlantic Coast Conference women’s player of the year Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech will miss the women’s tournament. She ended any hopes of a comeback by announcing the news Thursday on social media.
Kitley, a second-team All American and the Hokies’ top scorer and rebounder, sustained a torn ACL in Virginia Tech’s final regular season game.
The 6-foot-6 center averaged 22.8 points on 55.6% shooting and. 11.4 rebounds this season.
Connecticut
Much of the nation expects the Huskies to repeat their 2023 men’s championship. UConn was named the champion on 32.3% of brackets submitted on CBS’s site, far away the most popular choice. Purdue was next at 12.3%. UConn also is the favorite in the ESPN Tournament Challenge at 24.7%.
Duke
Guard Caleb Foster will miss the tournament with a right ankle injury, coach Jon Scheyer confirmed Thursday. The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (24-8) face No. 13 seed Vermont Friday night. Foster, a 6-foot-5 freshman, started 15 games this season and averaged 7.7 points while shooting 40.7% from 3-point range. He started 15 games.
UAB
Coach Andy Kennedy had a suggestion for the tournament selection committee — look at a map. Three teams from Alabama were sent more than 2,000 miles from home for the first weekend of March Madness. The Blazers, a No. 12 seed, are joined by No. 4 seeds Auburn and Alabama in Spokane, Wash. “Bananas, isn’t it? I think we should invest in a map maybe and put it in that room in Indianapolis. Those big wall maps, you can get them pretty cheap,” Kennedy said.
Michigan State
Michigan State’s firstround win against Mississippi State was the 56th tournament win of coach Tom Izzo’s career in East Lansing, Mich. Only three coaches have won more tournament games at one school. Mike Krzyzewski won 101 at Duke, Dean Smith won 65 at North Carolina and Jim Boeheim won 62 at Syracuse.
Iowa
ESPN and ABC are looking forward to getting to show all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader Caitlin Clark’s last run through the women’s tournament. Clark’s six appearances on
Fox, NBC and CBS during the regular season averaged 2.11 million viewers, with the last two drawing more than 3 million. According to Nielsen and Sports Media Watch, only seven college games drew 3 million this year and she was responsible for two. Iowa opens tournament play 3 p.m. Saturday on WTAE.
Fairfield
Only one team has a longer winning streak in Division I than the Stags — the South Carolina women. Fairfield has won 29 in a row and sports a 31-1 record as it travels to Indiana to open the women’s tournament Saturday. It also propelled them into the AP Top 25 for the first time.