And so it begins, the quest for a trophy that, at the moment seems so far away. The mantra of “one game at a time” is probably chanted all through the Division 1 schools as they prepare for March Madness. Before the round of 64, eight teams will vie for the final four slots, and we were treated to two of those games on Wednesday night. When I say treated, I mean it, because each game was filled with determination, guts, and heart. Let’s get into it.
The road to March Madness Began in South Carolina
The Presbyterian Blue Hose met the Sacred Heart Pioneers in Columbia, South Carolina in a game that would determine who has the pleasure of facing the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round. Presbyterian College ended their BIG SOUTH regular season in fourth place but fought their way through the conference tournament and beat No. 3 Radford for the conference championship.
Sacred Heart finished their regular season in the NORTHEAST Conference first, and eventually beat No. 2 Le Moyne for the conference tournament title.
This game was simply fun to watch. Presbyterian scored the first two buckets, both layups, but then the shooting went cold, and Sacred Heart did not score until three minutes in when Sierra Johnson made a layup. Then the scoring stepped some, and by midway through the quarter each team had found a little more footing, with Presbyterian eventually taking it 14-9. SHU couldn’t find the bucket or get around the Blue Hose defense, and it looked as though Presbyterian might be off to the races.
They didn’t let up in the second quarter, and outscored SHU 15-8, ending the half at 29-17. Whatever went on in the Pioneers locker room at halftime obviously paid off, because Sacred Heart came out with some pinpoint defense, which Presbyterian couldn’t get around. From the 6:42 mark, SHU then held Presbyterian scoreless until the end of the quarter when Tilda Sjökvist hit a pair of free throws. The Pioneers outscored the Blue Hose 13-6 to pull within five points.
A hard-fought final quarter between Presbyterian and Sacred Heart
The fourth quarter had the teams going toe to toe, with each team having scoring droughts. Presbyterian brought out a more determined team in the quarter, and although they only made two field goals in the quarter, they went to the free throw line enough to stay ahead. SHU only had three field goals in the quarter, and just couldn’t get over the hump. The Blue Hose took the quarter 14-12, and the game 49-42. The most impressive thing about this game was that neither team ever gave up, ever.
𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐍𝐂𝐀𝐀 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐍!!!
— Presbyterian College Women’s Basketball (@BlueHoseWBB) March 21, 2024
M. Neira – 14 Pts, 6 Rebs, and 2 Asts
B. Brady – 12 Pts, 5 Rebs
T. Sjökvist – 8 Pts, 4 Rebs, and 6 Asts
C. Kline – 4 Pts, 5 Rebs#GoBlueHose pic.twitter.com/i4mFHpQW3M
Even with Presbyterian’s 18 turnovers from which SHU only scored seven points, they managed to fight hard enough to keep their lead. SHU only had 8 turnovers, from which Presbyterian scored 12 points. Mara Neira led Presbyterian with 14 points followed by Bryanna Brady with 12 points. For the Pioneers, Ny’Ceara Pryor scored 12 points and Johnson scored 10.
For the smallest Division 1 program, Presbyterian showed no less heart than any Power Five school, and deserve an enormous amount of credit for their spirit and drive. The same goes for Sacred Heart, who possess the same qualities. Pretty impressive for Presbyterian’s first-ever tournament win.
They faced South Carolina early in the season and lost 99-29. But now it’s later, and while it may seem an insurmountable mountain to climb, I have no doubt that the Blue Hose will give us an energetic and entertaining game.
Vanderbilt faced Columbia at home of the Virginia Tech Hokies
In the second game of the night, Vanderbilt met Columbia in Blacksburg, Virginia with hopes of making it to the First Round with the winner to face Baylor. From the outset, Columbia looked like the tighter squad, and even though the quarter ended tied at 13, Columbia just seemed to be more focused than Vanderbilt. Columbia’s Abbey Hsu was held to just 1 of 2 field goal attempts, scoring a trey at the 3:04 mark, which put Columbia up 13-8.
Vanderbilt’s Iyana Moore then hit a three, and from there both teams went cold until Sacha Washington made a jumper at the buzzer, tying the game at 13-13. The second quarter started off slowly, with a few buckets back and forth. Khamil Pierre then hit a pair of free throws to put Vanderbilt up 17-16. Jordyn Cambridge followed with a three at 7:35 which Cecelia Collins answered with a layup, bringing the score to 20-18 Vanderbilt.
Then slowly the ‘Dores started to break on through to the winning side and ended the half up ten points, 36-26, with some excellent defense to make up for the lack of shooting. It looked as though Columbia might have been getting some juice back in the third quarter, but Vanderbilt was equally tenacious, giving up three points of their lead by quarter’s end. Hsu was limited to free throws in the quarter, scoring no field goals.
The game was close between both schools
In the fourth quarter, the Lions kept pace with the ‘Dores, getting as close as two points in the final moments, but a pair of free throws by Justine Pissott sealed the deal for Vanderbilt, who took the game 72-68. Hsu’s rather poor showing was unfortunate, but it happens. She ended with 13 points, below her season average. Kitty Henderson led the Lions with 20 points and 9 boards, followed by Collins who had 13 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists.
Ready to battle the Bears#DoresDance #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/EijyWUBnYb
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) March 21, 2024
For Vanderbilt, Moore led with 22 points, Washington scored 16 points and added 15 boards, Pierre scored 11, and Justine Pissott 10. If Vanderbilt can start their game against Baylor as they did in the second quarter of this game, they can certainly pose a challenge to Baylor. Hopefully, it isn’t too big of an if.
Tonight, Arizona takes on Auburn for a chance to face Syracuse, and UT Martin meets Holy Cross to play for a matchup with Iowa. Of course, anything can happen. The question is, will it?
And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
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