– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — We all know the massive downside in playing in the Big East Women’s Basketball Tournament in its current constitution: the blue-and-white specter named Connecticut that haunts every building it enters, especially when it comes to conference tournament time.
But, spring is almost upon us, and this is the right time to be optimistic and view playing in the tourney with rose-colored glasses, especially when knowing the incontrovertible fact that one of the other teams in the conference is assured to play for a conference championship and, with it, the opportunity to play for an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
Friday afternoon marked the start of the journey of those teams in hopes to reaching Monday’s final, as the Big East Tourney got underway and started with the school that made the title game just two years ago, No. 8 seed Georgetown. The Hoyas’ three-game losing streak to end the season plunged them into the 8-9 game (and straight into Connecticut’s path), but they ended their skid with a come-from-behind 62-58 victory over No. 9 Butler in Friday’s curtain-raiser. Down by six after the first quarter and behind 30-23 at halftime, the Hoyas turned it around in the second half, especially in the third quarter in which Georgetown grabbed seven offensive rebounds, forced six turnovers, and attempted 15 more shots from the field than the Bulldogs (21-6). Laila Jewett had 19 points to lead the Hoyas, who will now take on the Huskies in Friday’s first quarterfinal.
The other two games on Thursday came in the bottom part of the bracket, which will produce one of Monday’s finalists. In the second game, No. 7 Providence got a standout performance from Sabou Gueye, who poured in a career-high 31 points in the Friars’ 69-55 win over the tenth-seeded DePaul Blue Demons. The senior guard from Senegal made 15 of her 26 shots from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds with three assists and two steals.
In the closer, No. 6 St. John’s kept their faint NCAA Tournament hopes alive as they scrambled late to take down No. 11 Xavier 53-48 to advance to the Big East quarters. The Johnnies, who defeated a ranked Oklahoma State team in non-conference play, were down 41-35 entering the final frame before Brooke Moore scored 10 of her 16 points in the final stanza. Moore went 7-for-8 from the field, including making all four of her shots in the fourth, one of those from beyond the arc.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday’s first round, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Robert Cole. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are five pictures in total.
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