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Women’s Lexington Bracket Breakdown: No easy path for Louisville

By Blake DuDonis

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 02: Louisville Cardinals forward Myisha Hines-Allen (2) celebrate with Louisville Cardinals guard Asia Durr (25) after getting fouled on a made basket during the ACC women's tournament game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Louisville Cardinals on March 2, 2018, at Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, NC. (Photo by William Howard/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 02: Louisville Cardinals forward Myisha Hines-Allen (2) celebrate with Louisville Cardinals guard Asia Durr (25) after getting fouled on a made basket during the ACC women's tournament game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Louisville Cardinals on March 2, 2018, at Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, NC. (Photo by William Howard/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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After defeating Notre Dame for the second time this season, the Louisville Cardinals jumped to the number two overall 1-seed which, in theory, sounds great. When the brackets were revealed however, another story unfolded.

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Baylor, who many considered the “fifth 1-seed” looms at the opposite end of the region, but don’t lose sight of the other landmines throughout the path. The mighty Stanford who proved last year they can never be counted out. The ultra-talented Tennessee who can beat anyone if they all click together. Missouri is unafraid to tangle (literally) with anyone. And don’t even get me started on the lower seeds. Louisville may be the top squad here, but they will have to fight their way to the Final Four.

Can’t miss players

I’m going to assume you know the players from the big programs and if you don’t, they are easy enough to find. I will instead draw your attention to some of the lesser knowns in this region, like Jill Barta of Gonzaga. Barta does a little bit of everything for the Zags, scoring nearly 19 ppg, hauling in over 8 rpg and serves as a defensive stud when jumping the passing lanes. Don’t forget to also check out Tashia Brown of Western Kentucky, Allazia Blockton of Marquette and Savannah Smith of Northern Colorado.

Best first round matchup

Hard to go wrong here but for me it’s #6 Oregon State against #11 Western Kentucky. It seems

BOWLING GREEN, KY – JANUARY 06: Western Kentucky Lady Toppers head coach Michelle Clark-Heard talks with WKU Hilltoppers guard Nichel Tampa (12) as she comes off the court during the second quarter between Southern Miss Lady Golden Eagles and the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green on January 6, 2018 at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY. (Photo by Steve Roberts/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BOWLING GREEN, KY – JANUARY 06: Western Kentucky Lady Toppers head coach Michelle Clark-Heard talks with WKU Hilltoppers guard Nichel Tampa (12) as she comes off the court during the second quarter between Southern Miss Lady Golden Eagles and the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green on January 6, 2018 at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY. (Photo by Steve Roberts/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

like so long ago that the Beavers were in the Final Four and looking to be the next big time program. Well, that still may be true as they have a ton of talent coming in next year and have been sneaky good this year. Marie Gulich leads this team but no player’s numbers leap off the page at you. What they do well though is rebound and defend. With wins over Oregon and UCLA in hand, plus close losses to Duke and Notre Dame, the Beavers are no push over.

The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky will not be intimidated though, as their head coach Michelle Clark-Heard has led them to yet another 20-win season, their sixth in a row reaching that mark. Don’t think they had a cupcake schedule either: their first game of the year was a win at Mizzou, followed by an OT loss to Iowa. They then went and lost to Notre Dame by just 13 and then handed Mercer one of their two losses all season long. WKU doesn’t mind getting up and down and if they can get Oregon State in a track meet, this one could be fun.

Biggest potential upset

Florida Gulf Coast as a 12-seed has to be a terrifying prospect as an opposing coach. I’ll take the Eagles upsetting #5 Mizzou. Now, before Tiger fans get all over me I will say that they could easily make the Sweet Sixteen. In fact, I think the winner of this game does just that. FGCU led the country in total three-pointers attempted with 1,126, which divided out equalled about 33 attempts per game. The physicality of Mizzou will be a problem but if the Eagles can hit their outside shots, I think they can outscore their SEC opponent.

What the Elite Eight looks like

In yet another bracket that could have one or two plot twists, I’m still going chalk and taking #1 Louisville and #2 Baylor.

The pick

While I understand the committee taking injuries into account, I don’t really like the notion. Yes, losing Kristy Wallace certainly hurts Baylor, but who is anyone to say her backup isn’t still good. Everyone (myself included) was ready to write off Notre Dame when their slew of injuries came, then all they did was share the ACC regular season championship and make it to the title game. Baylor is still good and they still only lost once.

All that said, I’m going to pick the Cardinals. Asia Durr is, ya know, good, but the roster does a nice job of filling their roles. They are pretty good defensively and they can really stroke it. Honestly, if these two teams played 100 times I could see the finally tally being 52-48, one way or the other. This game being a pseudo-home game for Louisville tips the scales in their favor for me.

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