After a delayed start, March Madness truly began on the women's side on the second day of the second round with a trio of upsets following Gonzaga's far more predictable upset over the UCLA Bruins last night.
In the Spokane region, the seven-seeded Louisville Cardinals got an impressive 33-point performance from freshman Shoni Shimmel - that has drawn comparisons to BYU's Jimmer Fredette - to upend two seed Xavier Musketeers 85-75. In addition to Shimmel's scoring outburst, the key to the game for Louisville was forcing Xavier into 24 turnovers, including a nearly 40 percent turnover rate in the second half.
Louisville's win is unquestionably a relief for the Gonzaga Bulldogs - Xavier would have presented a significant matchup challenge with 6-foot-5 Amber Harris and 6-foot-6 Ta'Shia Phillips in the post. With absolutely no disrespect to Louisville, playing them in Spokane is much more advantageous to Gonzaga.
Game time for Gonzaga vs. Louisville at Spokane Arena is set for 6 p.m. PST on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in the Dayton region, the six-seeded Oklahoma Sooners upset the three-seeded Miami Hurricanes behind a career-high 27 from Whitney Hand and a double-double from point guard Danielle Robinson with 18 points and 11 assists. Despite shooting 2-for-10 from the field in the second half, Robinson's 6-for-6 second half free throw shooting in second half was a significant reason for the win.
In the Dallas region, the six-seeded Georgia Bulldogs upset the three-seeded Florida State Seminoles, who held FSU without a field goal over the final ten minutes of the game.
Elsewhere:
#5 Georgetown def. #4 Maryland
#5 Green Bay def. #4 Michigan St.
#2 Texas A&M def. #7 Rutgers
#1 Baylor def. #9 West Virginia
#1 UConn def. #9 Purdue