Creighton guard Lauren Jensen stunned Iowa and busted the last perfect entry in the CBS Sports Bracket Challenge in the first game of the second round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Jensen, a transfer from Iowa, hit a game-winning three-pointer with 15 seconds on the clock to help No. 10 seed Creighton upset the No. 2 seed Hawkeyes.
The last perfect entries in the men’s Bracket Challenge had were eliminated on Friday.
All other brackets were busted over an insane first round in which eight lower-seeded teams advanced, including two No. 12 seeds (Florida Gulf Coast and Belmont) for the sixth time in the women’s tournament’s history.
On Day 1 of the women’s first round, No. 10 seed Creighton grabbed a 10-point win over No. 7 seed Colorado. Creighton sophomore guard Morgan Maly pushed the Bluejays to victory with 20 points from the bench while shooting 50% from the field.
No. 10 seed South Dakota took a 75-61 victory over No. 7 seed Ole Miss to advance to the second round of the tournament for the first time in school history. The Coyotes can thank senior center Hannah Sjerven’s perfect 7-of-7 performance from the field that helped her reach 20 points. Senior guard Chloe Lamb added another 20 points on 50% shooting.
The biggest upset of the day — up to that point — happened in an exciting game between Florida Gulf Coast and No. 5 seed Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley had an impressive 42-point performance, but that was still not enough to avoid getting knocked out by the Eagles, 84-81.
Belmont delivered another 12-5 upset shortly after in a thrilling 73-70 double-overtime win over Oregon. Bruins guard Tuti Jones left it all out on the floor, recording 22 points, six rebounds and four steals over a whopping 44 minutes.
The last perfect bracket on CBS Sports’ Men’s Bracket Challenge was hanging by a thread on Friday afternoon but was finally busted with Villanova’s 80-60 win over Delaware.
That bracket survived a wild set of games on Thursday. The first upset was when No. 11 seed Michigan beat No. 6 seed Colorado State, 75-63. The Mountain West conference went 0-4 in the first round, but the Rams had given the conference some hope by finding a 15-point lead in the first half.
No. 12 seed Richmond took out a fifth-seeded Iowa team that was coming into the game with the fifth-best offense in the nation. However, Richmond shouldn’t have been taken lightly as the program has a history of success as an underdog in the NCAA Tournament. This was the Spiders’ ninth win as a 12-seed or worse since 1979.
The biggest bracket-crusher came when No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s took No. 2 seed Kentucky to overtime and walked away with the 85-79 upset. The Peacocks have made only four NCAA Tournament appearances, with the most recent one being in 2011.
