MTSU faces Notre Dame in second round today
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw believes parity has arrived for women’s college basketball.
She pointed to 13th-seeded Middle Tennessee State’s victory over fourth-seeded North Carolina on Sunday, as well as a few other surprisingly close first-round NCAA tournament games, including 14th-seeded Eastern Michigan’s two-point loss to third-seeded Boston College in the Mideast Regional.
“This is the first time we’ve actually seen parity because low-seeded teams — especially 12, 13 or 14 — they’ve never had the opportunity to play on a neutral floor. That’s what you’re seeing this year,” McGraw said Monday. “It’s great for the tournament. It’s great for women’s basketball.”
Middle Tennessee State’s 67-62 win over No. 12 North Carolina was the biggest win in school history. It was just the third-ever win for the Lady Raiders (24-7) in the NCAA tournament and the highest-ranked opponent they have ever beaten.
The Lady Raiders’ victory also marked just the third time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994 that a No. 13 seed has won. Texas A&M won two games in 1994, beating fourth-seeded Florida and fifth-seeded San Diego State, and Rice beat fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara in 2000.
Despite those long odds, Middle Tennessee coach Stephany Smith expressed just as much confidence heading into Tuesday night’s game against fifth-seeded Notre Dame (20-10) as she did before the North Carolina game.
“How in the world can I expect them to be confident and poised and go out there and compete if I don’t think we have a chance? I think we do. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world thinks,” she said.
McGraw thought the Lady Raiders were simply the better team in the first round.
“I thought that Middle Tennessee played much better as a team. I thought they played well together,” she said. “They are really fundamentally sound. They box out extremely well. They rebound well.”
Middle Tennessee freshman Krystle Horton said the Lady Raiders aren’t letting their seed discourage them from competing with the elite college teams.
“We did deserve to be out there on the court with them. Being the underdog just gave us more confidence,” she said.
The Lady Raiders will face an added challenge when they face Notre Dame on Tuesday. Instead of playing on a neutral floor, they will be playing against an Irish team that has won 18 straight at home, including 14 straight this season.
“I know there’s going to be a big, boisterous crowd out there, and the majority of them will not be cheering for Middle Tennessee,” Smith said. “But we’re here to win. We’re here to compete. We’re not just happy to be here.”
The Irish face some long odds of their own. They beat 12th-seeded Southwest Missouri State 69-65 in overtime after blowing a 16-point halftime lead. In NCAA tournaments past, teams that have won in overtime in the first round are just 4-16 in second-round games.
McGraw laughed when asked about the statistic.
“I was surprised there were that many overtime games, first of all,” she said. “I try not to think about things like that.”