Editor's note: This edition includes all games played as the women's NCAA tournament opened Saturday.
Pair of No. 10 seeds and an 11-seed provide biggest fireworks
The last time a school from outside one of the "big six" conferences made it to the Women's Final Four, it did so going through a regional in Spokane, Wash.
That was a decade ago, when the Jackie Stiles-led Missouri State team, as a No. 5 seed, beat No. 1 seed Duke and sixth-seeded Washington in the regional there to make it to that program's second Final Four. Stiles and crew did that despite a ton of travel in the 2001 tournament: They played the early rounds at Rutgers, then crossed the country to Washington state.
Gonzaga is a long, long way from making the Final Four still, but the Bulldogs won't have to go very far to earn that trip to Indianapolis if they get it. They'll stay right in Spokane the whole time.
Gonzaga, the No. 11 seed in the Spokane Regional, got its NCAA tournament off to the right start with a victory over No. 6 seed Iowa, 92-86 Saturday, led by career highs of 34 points from Courtney Vandersloot and 30 from Kayla Standish.
It was an opening day in which three double-digit seeds won, one took a game to overtime, and two others made their favored opponents really work to win.
Oh, and as for the two No. 1's in action Saturday, Tennessee started the day looking very ready to make a run at Indy, while Stanford ended it looking good enough … but maybe will be in need a tighter defense clamp-down in the second round.
Kentucky, the No. 4 seed in Spokane, is glad just to be in the second round. The Wildcats, who made the Elite Eight last season, nearly saw their NCAA tournament end in a day this year. But they survived, 66-62 in overtime against 13th-seeded Hampton.
It has been a down year for the SEC, with just four teams in the NCAA field, but this loss really would have been a difficult one for the league to take. Kentucky was outrebounded 40-35 and made one less field goal than Hampton.
What saved the Wildcats was that they made two more 3-pointers and four more free throws than Hampton. But Kentucky is going to need a much better effort in facing No. 5 seed North Carolina in the second round.
In the Dayton Regional, Utah -- which is host to the early rounds -- made a run at trying to become the first No. 15 seed to oust a No. 2, in this case, Notre Dame. But the Irish, who led by just three at halftime, were able to pull away for a 67-54 victory and will face No. 10 seed Temple in the second round.
Temple, like Gonzaga and No. 10 Marist (coach Brian Giorgis' Red Foxes beat Iowa State 74-64 early Saturday afternoon in the Philadelphia Regional), was really not a big surprise to get a first-round victory. All three teams seemed like they were seeded too low, and proved that with how they played Saturday.
Temple controlled its game against seventh-seeded Arizona State, which like Iowa State appeared ripe for an upset. Temple got that, 63-45, and Owls coach Tonya Cardoza is very familiar with what's next: Notre Dame, which she faced for so many years as a UConn assistant.
Meanwhile, back in the Spokane Regional, after the host Bulldogs had eliminated Iowa, they watched to see whom their second-round opponent would be. Montana, the No. 14 seed, gave third-seeded UCLA a run for its money, but the Bruins were able to hold on for a 55-47 victory.
Which means now, UCLA is in a similar position to what Texas A&M was last year: having to face Gonzaga in the second round on the Bulldogs' turf.
Last season, Gonzaga was the de facto host in the subregional at Seattle, a little more than four hours from Spokane. Then, as the No. 7 seed, Gonzaga first defeated 10th-seeded North Carolina and then -- in one of the 2010 tourney's more significant upsets -- downed No. 2 seed Texas A&M.
This year, the Bulldogs really are at home in their McCarthy Athletic Center for the early rounds. And if they get another victory, the Bulldogs will stay in town to play in the regional semifinals at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Gonzaga-UCLA game might have a little subplot … could Bulldogs coach Kelly Graves possibly be lured after the season to fill the vacant job at Washington? Graves is very comfortable at Gongaza and loves living in Spokane, so it would probably take a lot to get him away. But Washington is in need of a total rejuvenation of the program, and maybe Graves would like to step into the what will be the new "Pac-12" next season and see if he can make Washington Huskies hoops relevant again after four difficult seasons under Tia Jackson.
Remember, in the NCAA regional in Spokane in 2001, Washington advanced to the Elite Eight. The Huskies made the NCAA field three subsequent times under former coach June Daugherty, but didn't get past the second round.
Of course, who will fill the Washington job -- like other potential very good openings such as Virginia and LSU -- is talk for after the tournament. But if teams such as No. 10 seeds Marist and Temple and 11th-seeded Gonzaga are able to consolidate first-round upsets with second-round victories, those teams' coaches will be all the more in the spotlight.
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