Several first-year students showed no jitters on the opening day of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
They embraced the bright lights of the Big Dance.
Unsurprisingly, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer during the regular season, began a run of impressive performances in the tournament’s first game. UConn’s Paige Bueckers showed why she’s an All-American freshman, while teammate Aaliyah Edwards started a double-double.
Others, including Anaya Boyd, who averages only eight minutes a game for Georgia Tech but made major contributions down the stretch to help the Yellow Jackets avoid being upset in the first round.
Clark, a second-team All-American, said she was a little nervous before tipoff. She said playing the first game of the day and not sitting around all day waiting to play or watching games on TV was a benefit. And more than anything,” Clark said, “it’s just a dream come true to be out there playing in the NCAA Tournament.”
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said his talented freshman is used to playing on big stages.
“She’s always played up, you know?” Bluder said. “She won a national championship with her AAU team and played for USA Basketball. So having those experiences have helped her.”
Here is a look at some of the first-year students who made an impact in their women’s NCAA Tournament debuts:
late in Iowa’s win over Central Michigan.
UCONN BUCKETS
The guard, nicknamed Buckets, turned in one of the best tournament debuts by a freshman in UConn history. She scored 24 points as the top-seeded Huskies routed High Point and wasn’t far from a triple-double with nine rebounds and six assists. Edwards showed serious efficiency in 25 minutes, making 8 of her ten shots for 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for the double-double. “This has been like an ongoing thing all year where us freshmen need to perform for us to win, so we just try to do that every day,” Bueckers said.
NELL YEAH!
Georgia Tech Nell Fortner had no problem calling freshman Anaya Boyd’s number in crunch time. She showed no signs of being tight. In the fourth quarter, Boyd played 10 of her 12 minutes in the Yellow Jackets’ win against Stephen F. Austin and overtime. During the season, the 44.4% free throw shooter made two with 1:12 remaining in regulation to tie the game at 48, then Boyd blocked a layup by Avery Brittingham with 55 seconds left to force overtime.
That helped overcome another strong debut by Stephen F. Austin’s talented freshman.
Brittingham hit all six free throws and finished with a double-double, 16 points, and 11 rebounds in her tournament debut.
ORANGE ANCHOR
Syracuse freshman center Kamilla Cardoso, who hails from Montes Claros, Brazil, showed no nerves in her first tournament game, a 72-55 win over South Dakota State. The 6-foot-7 ACC freshman of the year blocked South Dakota State’s first shot attempt, grabbed Syracuse’s first rebound, and scored the game’s first point on a free throw. She finished with six blocks and diverted countless other shots with her long arms in the paint. She scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 from the line. Teammate Emily Engstler said Cardoso’s growth has been better than hers as a freshman. She can shoot the basketball, too,” Engstler said. “She’s strong down low, and I say this. Many 6-7 girls don’t know how to control their bodies too well, and Kamilla does. That’s a skill set that will get her into the WNBA.”
OREGON STATE’S FRESHMEN
As a McDonald’s All-American, Sasha Goforth came to Oregon State from Fayetteville, Arkansas. She added a start in her first tournament game to every other game this season for the Beavers. Goforth didn’t come close to her season-high, but she knocked down 5 of her seven shots for 14 points and grabbed three rebounds.
Teammate Talia von Oelhoffen could still be in high school but chose to arrive at Oregon State early. She played 27 minutes, scoring seven points, and handed out four assists in an 83-59 rout of Florida State.
