Indiana becomes second No. 1 seed to be knocked out of March Madness in successive days
By Ben Morse, CNN
First, it was the Stanford Cardinals — then, it was the Indiana Hoosiers.
March Madness is certainly living up to its name as Indiana became the second No. 1 seed to be knocked out of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament in successive days after losing 70-68 to the No. 9 seed Miami Hurricanes on Monday.
Despite tying the game at 68-68 with a three-pointer from Yarden Garzon with just eight seconds left, Indiana was unable to hold on as Miami forward Destiny Harden’s floater with three seconds remaining put the Hurricanes in front where they were able to hold on until the final buzzer.
The upset result marked the first time multiple No. 1 seeds have fallen before the Sweet 16 in the women’s bracket since 1998. That year, No. 16 Harvard was the first ever 16-seed to upset a first seed (Stanford), while No. 9 Notre Dame beat Texas Tech in the second round.
According to ESPN, the four No. 1 seeds to lose across the men’s and women’s tournaments so far this year are the most combined top-seeded teams to lose in the first two rounds since the men’s tournament expanded in 1985.
Miami, which will face the No. 4 Villanova Wildcats in the next round, is into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1992.
“It doesn’t feel real, still,” Miami forward Lola Pendande, who led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds, told reporters afterwards. “When we were done with the game, I was like: ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe it. We’re here. We’re really here.'”
Miami’s big win over Indiana came a day after the school’s men’s squad beat Indiana’s men’s team. According to ESPN, it is the 10th instance of a program defeating the same school in both the women’s and men’s NCAA tournaments in the same year, and the third time both wins occurred in the same round.
After Monday’s action, the women’s Sweet 16 match-ups are all set.
No. 1 seed South Carolina will face No. 4 UCLA, No. 3 Notre Dame takes on No. 2 Maryland, No. 8 Ole Miss faces No. 5 Louisville and No. 6 seed Colorado will battle with No. 2 seed Iowa for a spot in the Elite Eight.
Elsewhere, Miami takes on Villanova, No. 3 LSU faces No. 2 Utah, No. 1 Virginia Tech will play No. 4 Tennessee and No. 3 Ohio State duels with 11-time NCAA champion UConn.
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