After two days and 32 games, the first round of the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament came to a close late on Saturday night when No. 3 seed LSU completed a dominant 55-point victory over No. 14 seed San Diego State. That was a fitting way for the largely uneventful first round to end.
We can only hope that the subsequent rounds of this year’s Big Dance are much more entertaining. For now, let’s take a look at some winners and losers from the first round.
Winner: Big Ten
The reimagined Big Ten set a record by sending 12 teams to the Big Dance this year, far surpassing the previous mark of nine by the SEC in 2016 and the Big East in 2011. Furthermore, the Big Ten had the No. 1 overall seed in UCLA and another No. 1 seed in USC. This was the first time since 2022 that one conference had multiple No. 1 seeds.
The dozen Big Ten teams represented the conference well by going 10-2 between the First Four and first round. Only Washington and Nebraska came up short, and both of those defeats were by five points or fewer. On the flip side, six of their 10 wins came by double digits, including a 46-point win by USC, a 38-point victory by UCLA and a 35-point triumph by Iowa.
Only one Big Ten team has ever won a national championship (Purdue, 1999). That number could double this year.
Loser: Fans
The first two games of the tournament on Friday morning were fun, as Michigan pulled off a double-digit comeback in the second half to beat Iowa State, and Kentucky held off an upset attempt by Liberty. Unfortunately, the rest of the first round did not follow suit.
There were three games decided by at least 60 points and more matchups decided by 30-plus points (11) than single digits (seven). While there were four “upsets,” two of those were a No. 9 seed beating a No. 8 seed. The only double-digit seeds to win were both No. 10s (Oregon and South Dakota State).
The lack of big upsets is not a new phenomenon. Since the women’s tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994, only one team seeded No. 14 or higher has ever won a game (No. 16 Harvard over No. 1 Stanford in 1998), and only seven No. 13 seeds have done so.
But games don’t have to end in upsets to be exciting, and the lack of compelling contests was the bigger issue in this lackluster first round. Oregon’s thrilling overtime win over Vanderbilt was the only memorable game of the 32 that were played on Friday and Saturday.
Winner: Sarah Strong
Strong was the No. 1 recruit in her high school class and showed why all season long with a terrific freshman campaign for UConn. She was named Big East Freshman of the Year, becoming the 15th Husky to earn that honor, and will likely be named the national Freshman of the Year when that award is handed out later this spring.
Her first NCAA Tournament game was a masterpiece: 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks on 9 of 10 from the field. She is the first player, let alone freshman, to put up at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a tourney game in the last 25 years.
Even considering the competition (UConn beat Arkansas State by 69), it was a stunning tourney debut for Strong, who once again made it clear that she is already one of the best players in the country.
Loser: Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State
Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State, both No. 7 seeds, were the only teams to fall to double-digit seeds in the first round, which by default makes them two of the biggest losers of the first round.
Few teams this season had a higher offensive ceiling than Vanderbilt, who could fill it up in a hurry behind star freshman Mikayla Blakes. The Commodores were plagued by inconsistency, however, which was never more evident than their first-round loss to Oregon. After scoring 43 points in the first 32 minutes, and falling behind by as many as 19, they scored 24 points in the final eight mintues to force overtime. In the extra frame, they managed just four points over the final four minutes en route to defeat.
Oklahoma State’s 25 wins this season were their most since 2014, when they went to the Sweet 16. On Saturday, they were looking for their first win in the Big Dance since 2021, and got off to a strong start. They controlled the second quarter to take the lead over South Dakota State into the break, and built a double-digit advantage early in the third. After that, however, the wheels fell off. Over the final 17:14, they were outscored 48-31, and the Jackrabbits shot 18 of 30 (60%) from the field.
Winner: Richmond
The Spiders made their first NCAA Tournament appearance 35 years ago in 1990 when they lost to Tennessee Tech in the first round. In the three-plus decades since then, they had been to the Big Dance three other times, with all of those trips also ending in a first-round defeat.
When they took the floor on Friday against Georgia Tech, they made it clear immediately that this year would be different. They held the Yellowjackets to just seven points in the first quarter and built an early double-digit lead that they never surrendered. Maggie Doogan led the way with 30 points, nearly outscoring Tech’s entire starting lineup (32 points) by herself.
The Spiders’ victory was the program’s first in the NCAA Tournament, and a major accomplishment for coach Aaron Roussell, who is building a budding powerhouse in the Atlantic 10.
They’ll have their hands full in the second round against No. 1 overall seed UCLA, but the Spiders led the country in true shooting % (60.9), were eighth in 3-point rate (46.0) and fifth in 3-point % (38.3). If they can get hot from the outside, they just might have a chance to shock the world.
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