Women’s conference tournament takeaways: Clemson improves NCAA tourney chances with win
· Yahoo Sports
Women’s basketball conference tournaments are underway this week. NCAA Tournament automatic bids will be won, and hosting and seeding implications are plentiful. For some teams, they may be playing their last games when their bubbles burst at the conference tournaments.
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Follow along for Thursday’s takeaways:
Clemson earns most wins in 25 years
Clemson and Virginia entered Thursday’s ACC tournament second-round game with shaky prospects for the NCAA Tournament. Clemson was projected recently as a No. 11 seed and Virginia as a No. 10 seed by The Athletic. They’re both No. 10 seeds according to ESPN and Her Hoop Stats.
With a 63-50 win, Clemson not only solidified its NCAA Tournament chances, it also picked up its 21st win, the most in program history since the 2000-01 season. It’s just the third time since 2000 that Clemson has finished with 20 wins or more.
It’s a welcome improvement for second-year head coach Shaun Poppie, who won just 14 games last season and now has the Tigers NCAA Tournament bound for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
As has been the case all season, Clemson used a stellar shooting performance to win. The Tigers shot 50 percent on 3-pointers and were led by guard Mia Moore, who had 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting. The Tigers can likely continue to climb up the NCAA Tournament seeding line if they beat Duke in Friday’s ACC tournament quarterfinals. Clemson beat Duke in a 53-51 thriller on Feb 22.
Despite the loss, Virginia should be safe in its NCAA Tournament chances, unless multiple bubble bids are taken during championship week. The Cavaliers were one of the last four bye teams cited by bracketologists, including at The Athletic.
Virginia might be nervous on Selection Sunday, and there’s a chance it drops to a No. 11 seed, but it should be NCAA Tournament bound for the first time under fourth-year coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Virginia Cavaliers, Clemson Tigers, Women's College Basketball
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