NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament first round has battle of Tennessee as Lady Vols meet Lady Raiders
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BVM) — Although the State of Texas may be hosting the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship in San Antonio this weekend, the selection committee was generous enough to the Tennesseans to put two of the state’s top teams against each other in the tournament’s opening round. The matchup will take place in the tournament’s River Walk Region and will see the No. 3 seed Tennessee Lady Vols (16-7) go up against the No. 14 seed Middle Tennessee State Lady Raiders (17-7) on March 21. In fact, the matchup may be the lone all-Tennessee game fans will see in the tournament as the only other team from the state, Belmont who is the No. 12 seed in the Mercado Region, would have to pull a number of upsets off to set up a potential Final Four matchup with the other schools, given they even make it that far.
The opening-round matchup is an intriguing one for fans on both sides as well as basketball fans as a whole. Tennessee, making its record 39th straight NCAA Tournament bid, is one of the most well-known programs in the entire sport. With eight NCAA tournaments in their history and an all-time tournament record of 125-30, the Lady Vols have been somewhat synonymous with postseason excellence, though the program has been longing for a Final Four appearance, last making one in 2008.
Led by former Lady Vols player Kellie Harper in her second season as head coach, Tennessee will look to make a deep run in the playoffs. Though their drought from the Final Four is longer, the team also hasn’t made a Sweet 16 since 2016, a shocking situation given the historic prowess of the team. Harper will look to fix that narrative this season as her team will have an opportune chance to do so led by AP All-American honorable mention senior forward Rennia Davis who averages 17.3 points and 9.0 boards per game and junior guard Rae Burrell, an All-SEC Second Team member, who scores 16.6 points per game.
“I have a lot of respect for [Middle Tennessee State Head Coach Rick] Insell,” Harper said during a press conference following the selection show. “They are well coached. They always have terrific gameplans, especially given this much time to prepare. They’ll really have a gameplan that their players will really buy into there. They’re usually really good at what they do. They don’t overcomplicate things. They make the game very simple and execute very well whether that’s on the offensive end or defensive end.”
With a 5-7 record against teams in the tournament field, including a win over No. 1 seed South Carolina, the Lady Vols have proven they can win any game they draw. However, they will be faced with some tough competition in the Lady Raiders.
The Lady Raiders will come into the NCAA Tournament hot. As the Conference USA regular season and tournament champions, Middle Tennessee certainly knows how to take care of business and beat teams they’re supposed to. The team matched each of their conference losses with victories against the same team and have won four straight including three tournament victories. The team also picked up an early season victory over Troy University, another team in the tournament field. Though the team also lost to fellow tournament participant Belmont, the positive momentum the team has built over the backend of the season will be huge in the play.
The Lady Raiders are led by sisters Anastasia Hayes and Aislynn Hayes who both earned C-USA all conference honors while Anastasia, a former Lady Vol, took home the conference’s player of the year honors after leading the C-USA in scoring and steals, while ranking second in assists and minutes and sixth in field goal percentage. Her 26.5 points per game also put her as the second highest individual scorer in the nation.
The Lady Raiders will have a little bit of history working against them however. In 21 previous meetings between the two programs, the Lady Vols hold a 21-0 record over the Lady Raiders which includes a victory the only other time the two programs met in the tournament in 1984. Though facing a tough draw, Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell is still excited for his team to be in the field.
“We are excited to be back in the NCAA Tournament,” Insell said in a press release. “We face a very good Tennessee team, and we are excited about that challenge. Kellie (Jolly) Harper has done a great job everywhere she has been, and she’s done a great job at Tennessee.”
No matter what team wins, the Volunteer state will be the true winner. Whether that is the Lady Vols of Tennessee or the Lady Raiders of Middle Tennessee State, Tennesseans will be happy to see a team continue to represent their team women’s college basketball’s biggest event of the year.
