It was a chalk kind of day at the first round of the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday.
All four of the higher seeds won games, though one was clearly too close for comfort. Arizona State and Arizona played the best game of the day, with the Sun Devils surviving a last-second shot by the Wildcats to tie in their third Territorial Cup matchup of the season.
Here were the results of the first-round games:
Game 1: No. 12 Kansas State 91, No. 13 Cincinnati 66
Game 2: No. 9 BYU 76, No. 16 Houston 66
Game 3: No. 10 Arizona State 54, No. 15 Arizona 51
Game 4: No. 11 Kansas 56, No. 14 UCF 35
Here are three takeaways on the day.
The Big 12 Bubble Bracket
Welcome to the Big 12 Bubble bracket, where four teams were among the First Eight Teams out going into the first round. Utah (No. 2), Arizona State (No. 5), BYU (No. 7) and Kansas (No. 8) are on the outside looking in per ESPN. With Arizona State, BYU and Kansas all in action on Wednesday, each needed a win to keep their bubble hopes alive.
BYU? Check the box, though a 10-point win over No. 16 seed Houston is unlikely to impress the committee. But the Cougars have won four straight and get — wouldn’t you know it? — Utah on Thursday in the second round. Someone’s bubble is going to burst.
“I think we’re 7-1 against those teams on the bubble, but truthfully, we have a game tomorrow against a team that is on the bubble,” BYU head coach Lee Cummard said. “We have to take care of our business there.”
Arizona State? Check the box, but it was another typical Territorial Cup showdown with Arizona. The Sun Devils won three matchups with the Wildcats for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Next up is Iowa State, which is inside the bubble on the Last Four Byes. That would be a useful win for the Sun Devils.
Kansas? Check the box. The Jayhawks needed that win, and they took care of business. UCF has won one game since losing leading scorer Leah Harmon to an injury. Now, the Jayhawks need to beat Colorado.
Elsewhere on the bubble, Stanford — on that First Eight Teams out — lost in the ACC Tournament, which could help any of these teams out. But chances are they need at least one more win and it sets up another bubble day in Kansas City for everyone to enjoy.
Kansas State Breaks a Record
Kansas State showed Cincinnati the door in the tournament opener, 91-66, because the Wildcats were setting records from the arc.
The Wildcats made 17 3-pointers, which broke an 18-year-old Big 12 Tournament record held by Iowa State (which did it twice) and Oklahoma.
The 3-pointers were concentrated among three players — Jordan Speiser (six), Taryn Sides (five) and Nastja Claessens (five). The trio combined for 58 points, with Speiser and Sides with 20 points and Claessens with 18 points.
Speiser joined a Kansas State legend with the performance. Her six 3-pointers tied Laurie Koehn for most 3-poitners in a single game. Koehn is a program legend. Speiser is a freshman.
“I don’t even know what to think, honestly,” Spesier said. “It’s really awesome to hear, but I owe it to my teammates. All my shots came from one-more passes. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to get it done.”
Kansas State needs that energy on Thursday against Texas Tech. The Wildcats handed the Lady Raiders their first loss of the season in January.
About that Floor …
The Big 12 debuted its new ASB GlassFloor on Wednesday. It will be a source of conversation this week and next week when the Big 12 Men’s Tournament begins.
To that end, here is what some of the players had to say about floor after their games. After all, their opinion matters the most if we’re talking about the playability of the floor.
“I was sliding a little bit,” BYU’s Brinley Cannon said. “It’s really cool looking. But it definitely has a different feel you kind of have to get used to.”
“Yeah, just getting used to it,” BYU’s Sydney Bellamy said. “Slips here and there, but I think we got it.”
Houston’s TK Pitts had one of the more interesting comments, one the league may or may not have considered.
“Yeah, it was kind of hot, too,” she said. “You get down on the surface, it’s a little hot.”
How about dribbling the basketball?
“But I think when we were dribbling, we were talking about it, it was a little different,” Arizona State’s Marley Washenitz said. “It took a little getting used to, like with some of the lines, stuff like that. But overall, I thought it was a really cool experience.”
As for how the court was used for non-basketball things?
“In pre-game introductions the whole court being lit up in BYU blue and their names being on the whole court, I thought that was as cool of a thing I’ve seen as far as pre-game introductions,” BYU coach Lee Cummard said.
