Is UConn stacked enough for another title?
The big reveal of the NCAA women's basketball tournament field will be on Monday.
It's the "Field of 64," but perhaps we should be more accurate and call it, "Connecticut, and the 63 other teams along for the ride."
Connecticut, ranked No. 1 in the country with a 32-0 record and aiming for its fourth consecutive national title, has played two of the other three teams that are projected to receive No. 1 seeds during Monday's pomp and circumstance at 6 p.m. on ESPN. The Huskies defeated No. 3 South Carolina by 12 points and No. 2 Notre Dame by 10 points.
Connecticut has not faced No. 4 Baylor, the other likely No. 1 seed. But figure that would have been a double-digit win, too. Connecticut's average margin of victory this season has been 39.7 points per game.
Since 1995, Connecticut has won 10 national titles. And this team could be one of the program's strongest. Senior Breanna Stewart, a 6-foot-4 forward, is one of the best players in the history of women's college basketball.
Stewart is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft, as well as the only current college player to have a chance at winning a spot on the 2016 U.S. women's Olympic basketball team.
The national player of the year the last two seasons, and the most outstanding player at the Final Four each of the last three seasons, Stewart is a matchup nightmare, and is most frequently compared to Chicago Sky star Elena Delle Donne. Stewart is long and tall and is dangerous in the paint, but she also is a strong 3-point shooter. She has scored 2,554 points over her career for a 17.5-point average. She has also averaged 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.7 blocks over her four years.
This season, Stewart is averaging 19.2 points per game.
The Huskies' other big guns are senior guard Moriah Jefferson (12.6 ppg) and forward Morgan Tuck (12.5 ppg), a senior out of south suburban Bolingbrook High School.
Some WNBA experts believe Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck will be the first three picks in the WNBA draft, which will be held on April 14.
The others:
Meanwhile, as it pertains to those other 63 teams, DePaul, the Big East regular season champion and the No. 18 team in the country, will once again be the only women's team from the state of Illinois to get a bid.
Had DePaul won the Big East tournament on its own floor last week, as was expected (instead, the Blue Demons were upset by eventual champion St. John's in the semifinals), there would have likely been first round NCAA games in Lincoln Park at McGrath-Phillips Arena. Now, DePaul will probably have to hit the road as a projected No. 5 seed.
Besides St. John's with the automatic bid, there will likely be one other Big East team in the field: Seton Hall.
Power conferences:
Six teams from the Big Ten are projected to make the cut. Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue and Iowa. The ACC will also likely get six teams as will the Big 12 while the Pac-12 will probably get five teams. The SEC will likely lead the field with as many as nine teams.
Mild Cats:
Northwestern was expected to give the Big Ten yet another team. But sadly, the Wildcats petered out after a strong, promising start. They were 10-0 and ranked as high as No. 12 in the country before losing their first game to DePaul, ranked No. 16 at the time.
Northwestern then lost 14 of its final 19 regular season games and went 4-14 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats showed some life in the Big Ten tournament and won their first three games to advance to the semifinals. But a loss to Maryland there ended any hope of Northwestern crashing the NCAA tournament with the Big Ten's automatic bid. The Wildcats finished the season with an 18-16 record.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com
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