Women’s NCAA tournament 2022 – Why Iowa and Baylor lost and South Carolina’s offense looked shaky

Half of the Sweet 16 of the 2022 women’s NCAA tournament is set, but after one of the most unpredictable opening days of the second round in recent memory, it’s not the lineup most predicted. For the first time since 2016, a pair of top-two seeds went out in the first two rounds, and the regional semifinals will include at least two double-digit seeds for the first time since 2018. Iowa Hawkeyes sophomore Caitlin Clark and Baylor Bears senior NaLyssa Smith, two of the leading candidates for national player of the year, are out of the tournament. Sunday was a wild day.

The 10th-seeded Creighton Bluejays got it started by shutting down the best offense in the country and eliminating red-hot Iowa. Then the No. 10-seeded South Dakota Coyotes led from start to finish and thoroughly dominated Baylor.

This year’s eight wins by double-digit seeds in the first two rounds ties the NCAA tournament mark previously set in 2018 — and the 11th-seeded Villanova Wildcats and Princeton Tigers, as well as the No. 12-seeded Belmont Bruins, play Monday.

Charlie Creme, Alexa Philippou and Mechelle Voepel break down all of Sunday’s top storylines — including the South Carolina Gamecocks’ offensive struggles and whether we’re seeing increased parity in the women’s game — and take a look at what to expect Monday as the second round wraps up.

Follow this link for a complete look at Monday’s games, which are all on the ESPN family of networks. Visit this link to check your Women’s Tournament Challenge bracket.

What happened to 2-seed Iowa against Creighton and No. 2 Baylor against South Dakota?

For a full breakdown of the Bluejays’ 64-62 upset of Iowa and what’s next for both teams, follow this link.

For analysis of the Coyotes’ wire-to-wire 61-47 win over Baylor and how far South Dakota might go in the bracket, follow this link.

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Monica McNutt details how South Dakota dominated Baylor…