After Angel Reese’s 1st Game Ended in Defeat, A Revisit to NCAA Women Basketball’s Biggest Upsets of Opening Night
2024/04/02

The No. 20 positioned Colorado decimated Angel Reese’s Louisiana State University Lady Tigers 92-78 on Monday and marched onto one of their biggest victories in the NCAA season openers. The upset did hurt the defending champions who wanted to have a terrific start to their journey of clinching yet another title. However, this was not the first time an upset had happened.

The following are some of the latest upsets in season openers from 2018.

Villanova vs Princeton (69-59) November 11, 2022

One of the biggest upsets of the 2021-22 season was when the Villanova Wildcats defeated the Princeton Tigers by a respectable margin of 69-59.

The Wildcats showed complete domination during the second and fourth quarters by a heavy margin of 21-9 and 16-10. The Villanova forward Maddy Siegrist scored a double-double by basketing a staggering 32 points with astounding 13 rebounds. The Tigers were 24 seeded but failed to deliver on 11 November 2022 at the Jadwin Gymnasium.

Ohio vs Notre Dame (86-85) November 27, 2020

The Ohio State beat the Notre Dame by a narrow margin of 86-85 during the regular season game on November 27, 2020. This was the Bobcats’ first triumph against a ranked team in the program’s history. It was regarded as a big upset since the Notre Dame had won the 2018 NCAA Championship.

 

Missouri State vs Minnesota (77-69) November 5, 2019

The Missouri Women thrashed the No. 23 seeded Minnesota by a respectable margin of 77-69 on November 5, 2019. While Missouri’s junior Brice Calip recorded a career-high 21 points, their forward Jasmine Franklin scored a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. This was Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s first triumph in the role of the head coach of the Lady Bears.

Northwestern vs Duke (84-58) November 11, 2018

The Northwestern clobbered the Duke in a blowout victory of 84-58 in the Blue Devils season opener on November 11.

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2018. The game was played at Evanston, Illinois, and saw spectacular performances from the Northwesterns. Especially two players stood out in their pursuit namely – Lindsey Pulliam and Pallas Kunaiyi Akpanah. Pulliam pocketed a humongous 21 points whereas Akpanah scored a double-double with an astounding 17 rebounds. Thus, the Northwestern displayed their skills both in offense and defense. 

South Dakota vs Iowa State (76-69) November 28, 2020

The South Dakota State upended the Iowa State in a close contest by 76-69 on November 28, 2020 at Frost Arena. Greer recorded 20 points in their leap to the win while Theuninck stood up for the Jackrabbits with 6 rebounds.

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Thus, a team that wasn’t ranked decimated a No. 15 seeded team with courage, passion, and labor of love.

South Florida vs Texas (64-57) November 8, 2019

Similarly, the South Florida Bulls thrashed the Texas State Longhorns by a decent margin of 64-57 on November 8, 2019. Enna Pehadzic smashed 16 points along with Bethy Mununga who basketed a career-high 12 points with 8 rebounds.

Though the two teams were close throughout the game, the Bulls took the lead at 56-54 with the help of Pehadzic’s three-pointer.

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The Florida State completed 8 out 10 free throws from there on whereas the Longhorns couldn’t score four of their final shots and that made all the difference.

UCLA vs Georgia (80-69) November 14, 2018

Michaela Onyenwere took major credits in the UCLA’s win over the 14th-seeded Georgia on November 14, 2018. She helped her team by basketing a career-high of 25 points with 11 rebounds. Her teammate Kennedy Burk smashed 21 points while Japreece Dean added 17. The UCLA head Cori Close thanked her defense for standing up to the occassion and providing them with one of the most outstanding wins in their career.

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Though , it will surely be looking to make a comeback soon.

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