The first two days of the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament have brought a number of close finishes. UNC, Nebraska and Oklahoma won games by 3 points or fewer. Kansas topped Michigan in overtime, fighting off the Wolverines’ fourth-quarter rally. Thus far, however, the tournament has been light on madness. There’s been only one seed-line upset (No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee over No. 6 seed Louisville), and the closest game involving a No. 1 or No. 2 seed was Ohio State’s 23-point win over Maine.
The lack of opening-round wonkiness doesn’t mean we’re missing notable results or performances. Instead, Saturday featured a star scorer taking over late in a game to stave off defeat, a different star scorer struggling but still almost ending up with a triple-double and an unusual situation involving the referees.
Subs are important … even in officiating
The madness is expected in March … but not this kind.
Astute observers noticed that an officiating change was made at halftime of the NC State-Chattanooga game. The NCAA released a statement explaining there was “a background conflict that, if known, would prevent (the official) from working that assigned game.”
The official in question — Tommi Paris — holds a master’s degree from Chattanooga University, according to…
