While all four No. 1 seeds remain in the NCAA D1 Women's Basketball Tournament, there are some Cinderella teams scattered around the Sweet 16, making their mark on this year's field. Let's take a look at the group that has thrown a wrench into the Big Dance:
Lucky Sevens
BR-21 Washington and BR-20 Tennessee are the lowest remaining seeds in the field — both at No. 7 — through two rounds of play. The Huskies have been solid so far, picking off 10-seed Penn 65-53 and 2-seed Maryland 74-65. In beating the Terps, Washington really shut down the naysayers.
Team leader Kelsey Plum dropped 32 points and pulled down six rebounds and had seven assists. If 3-seed Kentucky wants to stop this Cinderella's run, they're going to have to find a way to deal with Plum, who is Washington's all-time leading scorer with 2,352 points. Fun fact — the senior Husky has reached double digits in points scored in 99 of her 101 career games. Good luck shutting her down.
Tennessee is the only team to make it into every single NCAA Tournament field, and the Lady Vols have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen 34 out of 35 trips to the Big Dance. After ousting 10-seed Green Bay 59-53, the team easily picked off 2-seed Arizona State 75-64.
The Lady Vols (21-13) are led by Diamond DeShields, who is averaging 14.2 points per game overall and 19.0 in the tournament. Bashaara Graves is a solid compliment to DeShields, pumping in 10.2 points and 8.4 boards per contest. Both players are 1,000 point scorers. Next up: a shot against No. 3 Ohio State. Fun fact — Tennessee is 27-6 in the Sweet 16.
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Slick Six
BR-11 DePaul was cast with a No. 6 seed entering the tournament and the Blue Demons have played with a chip on their shoulder in the opening rounds. DePaul went off on 11-seed James Madison in its tourney debut this year, scorching the team 97-67. In the following round, the squad ousted 3-seed Louisville 73-72.
Chanise Jenkins is the top dog on the Blue Demons roster. The Big East Player of the Year is scoring 14.6 points per game for DePaul (27-8) and is dishing off five assists per contest. Fun fact — DePaul has won 11 straight road games. That's a good sign when there are no home contests on the horizon until next season. Next up for the team is a showdown with No. 2 Oregon State.
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Live Fives
BR-13 Florida State and BR-19 Mississippi State are heading into the Sweet 16 as the lone remaining No. 5 seeds. While a five seed doesn't normally qualify for a legit Cinderella team, these two were not expected to reach the Elite Eight when the tourney kicked off. Florida State posted a solid victory over Middle Tennessee, 72-55, in its opener and blasted 4-seed Texas A&M 74-56. If any team has momentum on its side, it's the Seminoles. Senior center Adut Bulgak has been a beast, nabbing her 19th career double-double against the Aggies to move into eighth place all-time (in just two seasons). Brittany Brown is also one to keep an eye on. The junior swiped her 95th steal of the season in Round 2. Florida State faces 1-seed Baylor next.
Mississippi State is used to playing in close games, knocking off 12-seed Chattanooga 60-50 in the opening round and No. 4 Michigan State 74-72 in Round 2 to reach the Sweet 16. Victoria Vivans was on fire in the Round of 32, popping off for 24 points against the Spartans. Morgan Williams provided a solid 1-2 punch with 14 points and nine assists. Fun fact — the Bulldogs played in front of a record home crowd of a combine 92,914 fans. Needless to say, crowd noise wont be an issue when the team faces BR-1 UConn next.