The teams playing at Stanford
Miami: The Hurricanes had to travel 2,574 miles to get here, the longest trip of any of the 64 teams in the women’s NCAA Tournament. It’s their fifth trip to the Big Dance in six years under coach Katie Meier after making it just three times in the previous 17 years. Adrienne Motley ( 15.6 points per game) and Jessica Thomas ( 11.9) are not only their leading scorers, but also “the two biggest goofballs on the East Coast,” Motley says proudly. The influx of Notre Dame and Louisville to the ACC in recent years has made life tougher for the Hurricanes, who tied for fifth this year.
South Dakota State: Since transitioning from Division II to I in 2007- 08, the Jackrabbits have reached the NCAA Tournament seven times. Only once have they advanced to the second round; they lost to Baylor in the second round in 2009. Coach Aaron Johnston’s team is known for firing threes: They rank 19th nationally in treys ( 252) and 25th in three- point tries ( 734). Freshman Madison Guebert has made 78 of 196 ( 38 percent). SDSU gave Notre Dame and Maryland tough games before losing by 11 and seven, respectively. It beat Arkansas and DePaul.
USF: In each game of the WCC tournament, the sixthseeded Dons rallied in the final minute. They beat No. 3 San Diego in overtime, No. 2 St. Mary’s and No. 1 BYU. Taylor Proctor did it all, sending the first game to OT with a last- second shot and averaging 23.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the tourney. She’s averaging 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds for the season, and Zhané Dikes adds 14.2 points and Rachel Howard 11.6 ( 41 percent on threes).
Stanford: Stanford is 32- 4 in tournament games at Maples. Leading scorer Lili Thompson ( 14.4 points per game) will be back in the starting lineup after missing two games to attend her grandfather’s funeral and coming off the bench in the upset loss to Washington in the Pac- 12 tournament. Briana Roberson will start at point guard even though freshman Marta Sniezek had a tournamentrecord 13 assists ( with no turnovers) in the loss to UW. Karlie Samuelson is sixth in the nation in three- point shooting percentage ( 45.2); lately she’s been sizzling, making 38 of 77 ( 49.4 percent).