Women’s Conference Champs

03/06/2023 Women’s Conference Champs

By: Jeff Yoder

South Carolina’s SEC Title Was No Surprise, But Upsets & Chaos Took Over Women’s Champ Week

If you thought men’s college hoops were bonkers over the weekend, the women’s conference tournaments might’ve topped it. Four major conference crowns were claimed on Sunday, including two first-time champions you didn’t expect. The Big East Final takes the stage tonight while the Big 12 Tournament won’t tip off until this weekend.

 

What do we know so far? It’s No. 1 South Carolina vs. the field. The Gamecocks (32-0) continued their historic undefeated season by rolling through the SEC Tournament with three double-digit wins, but every other conference tourney featured surprise upsets or blowouts along the way. Here’s how each major women’s conference tournament played out.

 

Women’s Conference Championships

 

SEC: #1 South Carolina def. Tennessee (74-58)

There’s no stopping Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke. South Carolina steamrolled everybody in the SEC with three wins by an average of 24 points — Arkansas (93-66), Ole Miss (80-51) and Tennessee (74-58) in the final. It’s their seventh SEC title in nine seasons, and Dawn Staley’s net-cutting month of March is becoming an annual routine.

 

Big Ten: #7 Iowa def. #14 Ohio State (105-72)

The Big Ten had five ranked teams in the upper tier of conference play — #17 Michigan, #14 Ohio State, #7 Iowa, #5 Maryland, and #2 Indiana. OSU beat Michigan in the quarterfinals and Indiana with a 20-point second-half comeback in the semis (79-75) while #7 Iowa escaped #5 Maryland (89-84) to set up the Hawkeyes-Buckeyes finale. That’s where Caitlin Clark took over. Iowa buried OSU in the final (105-72) behind Clark’s 30-point triple-double (30-17-10). The Hawkeyes led 61-24 at the half and never looked back. It’s their second straight Big Ten title.

 

ACC: #8 Virginia Tech def. Louisville (75-67)

A first-time champ! #8 Virginia Tech claimed the first ACC crown in program history by shutting down Louisville in the final (75-67) thanks to Georgia Amoore’s 25 points. The final matchup was set up by Louisville shocking #10 Notre Dame with a blowout upset for the ages in the semifinal (64-38). The Hokies handled Miami and #13 Duke comfortably en route to Sunday’s championship game and their first ACC Tournament title.

 

Pac-12: Washington State def. #19 UCLA (65-61)

If there was an underdog of the weekend in women’s hoops, it had to be Washington State. The Cougars entered the Pac-12 tournament as the 7-seed with five ranked teams in the conference. They weren’t really on the radar, but WSU upset #3 Utah in the quarterfinals (66-58) and #20 Colorado in the semis (61-49) while #19 UCLA knocked out #6 Stanford (69-65) to set up Sunday’s showdown. WSU struck down the Bruins in the final (65-61) thanks to Charlisse Leger-Walker (23 points on five 3s), and the Cougars won their first Pac-12 title — the only unranked team to win a power conference championship.

 

Women’s Conference Tournaments Schedules

Big East Final: #9 UConn vs. #11 Villanova (7:00 pm ET)
Big 12 Tournament: Begins Thursday

 

Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images