Are there more setbacks in store in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament?

Four teams have punched their tickets for the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. And for the first time in March, a No. 1 seed was eliminated as NC State heads home. While Chalk held onto the River Walk Regional to set up a showdown between No. 1 seed UConn and second-seeded Baylor, disruptions reigned in Mercado, where fourth-seeded Indiana and 3-seed Arizona will both make their first appearances in the Elite make Eight.

With four more games on tap for Sunday, which teams will join the Huskies, Lady Bears, Hoosiers and Wildcats? Is Oregon ripe for a prank on No. 2 seed Louisville? What’s next for Iowa and Caitlin Clark, who were driven away by the Huskies and Christyn Williams’ career day? And we’re getting a jump on what to expect in the Baylor-UConn regional final on Monday (7pm ET, ESPN / ESPN app).

Follow this link for Sunday’s NCAA tournament tip times, and visit here to view your Women’s Tournament Challenge streak.

One game went to extra time. Two ended in confusion. Which team impressed you the most on Saturday?

Flexible: It’s a boring answer, but I have to say UConn. Juniors Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa looked real and played as upperclassmen and leaders. Aaliyah Edwards was such a dominant presence inside for the Huskies, going 9-of-11 for 18 points. And fellow freshman Paige Bueckers played a very controlled game and understood how well everyone around her was playing. She tried not to do too much or force things, and she showed a lot of point guard maturity, which was already the case during her first college season.

Arizona also stood out. The Wildcats are known for their defense, and they finished where Troy and Iowa State got close but couldn’t quite do.

But along with the defense that held Texas A&M to 59 points, the Wildcats also did a good job offensively. They took over with a 24-14 third quarter. Aari McDonald was brilliant with 31 points, but everyone around her did their part too.

Cream: Even with a 1-2 record on Saturday, the Big Ten remained impressive. Michigan took Baylor, which was one of the most dominant teams in the NCAA tournament, for extra time. The Wolverines were down by 12 late in the second quarter, but are not fading. Baylor holds teams up to 31.7% shooting; Michigan got 46%. The Wolverines kept looking for open eyes against a typically closed defense. Another stop or two on the defensive and the Wolverines could have pulled the blast.

Indiana entered the Sweet 16 with little fanfare. Now the Hoosiers are the first team to win a No. 1 seed. Their 73-70 win over NC State illustrated everything they’ve been all season – balanced, disciplined, smart, gritty. All five starters scored in double digits. They flipped the ball only nine times (to NC State’s 17). Indiana collected more rebounds and had more points in the paint than a larger Wolfpack team.

Indiana had the game under control for most of the second half with a whopping 13 lead in the fourth quarter and let NC State come back into the game late. The lead narrowed to two, but senior starters Nicole Hillary-Cardano and Ali Patberg made the necessary free throws in the last 21 seconds to place Indiana in the first Elite Eight of the program.

In November, Iowa was nowhere to be seen in the preseason rankings. With most of the roster – including Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano – expected back, where will Iowa start in 2021-22?

Flexible: The Hawkeyes can certainly build from this; they continued to play a lot against UConn on Saturday, but the Huskies had too many weapons and too much defense on offense.

A native of Iowa, Caitlin Clark took the time to make her decision about college. She could have visited many places, but the opportunity to do something great for a program about two hours from her hometown was important to her.

“The reason I came to Iowa is because I wanted to do something special,” Clark said. “I think more and more people are starting to take that route. I think that’s important, especially since this is my home state, this is where I wanted to go. I know I’m in the right place. really special.

“I think for this team it’s only from here. So I know a lot of little girls dream of going to all those blue bleeds, but I think playing for your home state is really something special. … There was a real one. belief. that one day we would make it to the Final Four. We didn’t say we would do it in my freshman year here. “

Cream: The great thing about watching a season unfold and have a life of its own is a team like Iowa. Most people felt like Clark would be a freshman, but Iowa wasn’t ranked in the preseason, largely because the departures of Kathleen Doyle and Makenzie Meyer seemed too big a gap to fill. Clark changed that. She gave the game a new star and the Hawkeyes an immediate foundation.

With so much of the squad returning and Clark poised to become an All-American mainstay, the chances are slim that the Hawkeyes will be dropped from the preseason rankings next season. In fact, they’re poised to become a top-four seed next year and will start there in our first bracketology off-season.

Our panel was divided on which team would win Sunday’s Oregon-Louisville game (7:00 PM ET, ESPN / ESPN app). What is the key to the matchup?

Cream: I think many of us chose Oregon based on Louisville’s slow starts in the NCAA tournament so far. Ultimately, that should catch up with the cardinals, right? Louisville was down 15-12 versus Marist after the first quarter and 25-10 versus Northwestern. Oregon was able to build a small early lead against Georgia in their second round, but it held South Dakota on eight points in the first quarter in the opening round.

So the 10 minute opening is key to this matchup. There is no doubt that Louisville coach Jeff Walz addressed the poor early game with his team. Now we will see if the message resonates. Oregon may be too good for the cardinals to climb out of another big hole.

Two transfers are also key to the Ducks. Sedona Prince, a 6-foot-7 transfer who hailed from Texas, appears to have made her stride in the tournament, tackling Georgia’s size well with 22 points. Louisville offers a similar challenge with 6-5 Elizabeth Dixon and 6-3 Olivia Cochran.

Taylor Mikesell, who arrived in Eugene from Maryland, will also play a big role. Mikesell, a great gunner, had to handle the ball much later in the season with freshman point guard Te-Hina Paopao with an injured foot. Against the Lady Bulldogs, she scored 11 points, beating 2 of 4 3-point tries, and had only three turns in 34 minutes.

Louisville All-American Dana Evans hasn’t played well this post-season, but she is still an accomplished defender. If Mikesell can provide similar play against Evans, Oregon’s chances of moving forward look even better.

No. 6 seed Michigan took over Baylor to overtime. What have the Lady Bears learned from the close call that will help them advance to the Elite Eight against UConn, a game that has been eagerly anticipated since Selection Monday?

Cream: I was surprised that, despite needing the extra period, it never felt like the Lady Bears were not playing well. They shot 50% of the field. Aside from a free throw, NaLyssa Smith didn’t miss her 44-minute action. Baylor got more great production from Moon Ursin and DiJonai Carrington. That’s a tribute to how well Michigan performed.

The Wolverines were well prepared and executed their game plan almost perfectly. Leigha Brown (23 points, 7 rebounds) – who was forced to sit out more than 30 days this season due to COVID-19 protocols – appeared to be peaking, and it’s a shame she’s out of games this season. The Wolverines deserve far more credit than Baylor deserves to be criticized.

But as the Lady Bears face UConn, it’s important to note that Baylor was in the top five nationally in every recovering category and led the country in rebound margins. There was no dominance against Michigan. While Lady Bears played the Wolverines, it was only 37-32. More importantly, Baylor only had 15 second chance points. That’s usually a staple of Lady Bears’ crime. They didn’t have that to rely on and it kept Michigan close.

Meanwhile, UConn completely dominated the glass against Iowa, 42-27, allowing only seven offensive rebounds from the Hawkeyes. Every game is different and takes on its own personality, but the Huskies have the staff, especially with Edwards playing a bigger part (she had her third consecutive 18-point game against Iowa), to do even more than Michigan did on the plates. , potentially taking away what would have been considered a great Baylor benefit.

When the Lady Bears beat UConn 74-58 a year ago, they dominated the recovering numbers 44-26. If Baylor wants to become just the fourth team to beat the Huskies three times in a row in the past 20 years (North Carolina, Notre Dame and Tennessee are the others), regaining that swagger on the glass could be key.

Flexible: As Charlie said, there wasn’t much Baylor got wrong – the Michigan-Baylor game was the best played by both teams on Saturday. It was really entertaining, and Baylor coach Kim Mulkey gave her Michigan counterpart Kim Barnes Arico a lot of praise for how hard and well the Wolverines played, pushing Baylor to the overtime buzzer.

Baylor and UConn are so elitist in so many categories, including defense percentage and rebounding. Both teams play high-level defense, and therefore chances of a second chance can be high as there won’t be many of them.