The first major shake-up of the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament came in the final game Sunday as No. 8 Ole Miss upset No. 1 seed Stanford 54-49 on the Cardinal’s home court at Maples Pavilion. Stanford joins two 1-seeds on the men’s side, Purdue and Kansas, in exiting in the first weekend of March Madness.
The Rebels’ win sends a women’s No. 1 seed home before the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009, and ended a day that had been dominated by chalk as half the regional semifinals were set. Ole Miss advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.
How far will Ole Miss go and how does its win change the race in the Seattle 4 Regional? Few expected the Rebels — who in 2019-20 went 7-23 overall and 0-16 in the SEC — to make it this far. But under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, who took over in 2018, the Rebels’ defense has become their calling card. They flustered Stanford, the 2021 national champions, which lost in the Final Four semifinals last year.
When the season opened, many penciled in South Carolina and Stanford, the past two national champions, for the Final Four. But only one of them has a chance to be in Dallas. The Gamecocks remain unbeaten; they topped South Florida on Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 in the Greenville 1 Regional.
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