March Madness continues today [Sunday] for the Washington State women’s basketball teams, which open play in the NCAA Women’s Tournament in Texas. Meanwhile, the Gonzaga men and women have a preparation day before their respective games on Monday.The WSU Cougar women play the South Florida Bulls at 6:30 Sunday at the Frank Irwin Center in Austin. The Cougar women are seeded ninth in the Mercado Region with 12-11 record in the tough Pacific-12 Conference.
Other Northwest women’s teams playing Sunday include the Big Sky Conference champion Idaho State Bengals, who play Kentucky at 11 am in San Antonio, and the Oregon State Beavers, who play Florida State at 4:30 in San Antonio.
The Gonzaga women play Belmont at 1 pm on Monday, also in the Mercado Region in San Marcos.
Meanwhile, the top-ranked Gonzaga men prepare for a late Monday morning game against Oklahoma in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs crushed Norfolk State, 98-55 in their tournament opener Saturday evening. Oklahoma beat Missouri, 72-68. The Bulldogs were led by senior Cory Kispert, who scored 23 points, including six three-pointers. Spokane native Anton Watson came off the bench after the team got off to a sluggish start and sparked a rally that pushed the Zags to a 20-point lead at the half. Watson scored 17 and pulled down seven rebounds.
The Eastern Washington men finished their season with a 93-84 loss to Kansas. Eastern started the game with a 9-0 run and led 46-38 at the half. But the Big-12 team caught up in the second half and away for the win. The Eagles were led by Spokane junior Tanner Groves, who scored 35 points. EWU won the Big Sky tournament and finished the season 16-8.
The Oregon Duck team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after an uncontested win over Virginia Commonwealth. The VCU team had players test positive for the coronavirus and the game was cancelled. The Ducks move on to a second round game Monday at 12:10 against Iowa.
The Oregon State men play their second-round Sunday night at 6:40 against Oklahoma State.