Miami downs Indiana; second No. 1 seed to tumble short of Sweet 16
Coming into the 2023 women's NCAA basketball tournament, none of the No. 1 seeds had lost in the early rounds since 2009. Now, it has happened on back-to-back nights.
The Indiana Hoosiers, the top seed in the Greenville 2 Regional, were stunned Monday by the No. 9 Miami Hurricanes 70-68 at Indiana's Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in the second round. That followed the No. 1 seed Stanford Cardinal's 54-49 loss to the No. 8 Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday at Stanford's Maples Pavilion in the Seattle 4 Regional.
Like the men's tournament, the early rounds ended with just two No. 1 seeds moving on. The women's NCAA tournament, which began in 1982, has had two No. 1 seeds lose before the Sweet 16 in the same year just one previous time: in 1998, when Stanford lost in the first round and the Texas Tech Lady Raiders lost in the second round. The four No. 1 seeds to lose across the men's and women's tournaments so far this year are the most combined 1-seeds to lose in the first two rounds since the men's tournament expanded in 1985.
Miami is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1992 and will play the No. 4 seed Villanova Wildcats. Indiana, which made the Elite Eight in 2021, won the Big Ten regular-season championship for the first time since 1983 this season. But the Hoosiers trailed throughout Monday's loss to the Hurricanes, who won their first-round game 62-61 over the Oklahoma State Cowgirls.
The top 16 seeds host the early rounds in the women's tournament, but that doesn't prevent upsets. Last season, two No. 2 seeds, the Baylor Bears and Iowa Hawkeyes, lost in the second round to the South Dakota Coyotes and Creighton Bluejays, respectively.
But a No. 1 seed hadn't fallen before the Sweet 16 since the Duke Blue Devils lost to the Michigan State Spartans in the second round in 2009.
The Hurricanes (21-12) were led by Lola Pendande's 19 points. Indiana (28-4) was led by 22 points and nine rebounds from Mackenzie Holmes.
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