Here are our temporary foes this weekend at a glance.
(15) Vermont Catamounts
Record: 21-12 (13-3 America East)
Torvik rank: 87
Offense rank: 111
Defense rank: 73
Best player: Anna Olson (12.8 pts, 5.2 reb per game), 6’1 wing/forward. Olson is shooting 58.6% on twos this season and has been excellent in the mid-range.
Season summary: Give the Catamounts credit for sticking with it this season—they had to overcome a 5-10 start to get where they are. That included a 16-point loss to Alaska-Anchorage, which is not a D-1 team, in November. It helped that the America East is not exactly rich with quality teams; the league ranks 23rd out of 31 conferences, per Torvik. Vermont reeled off seven straight wins in January to get back above .500 and comes into the NCAAs a winner of six in a row.
Record: 21-9 (11-7 Big Ten)
Torvik rank: 23
Offense rank: 32
Defense rank: 22
Best player: Julia Ayrault (14.8 pts, 7.4 reb per game), 6’2 wing/forward. The team’s second-leading scorer, Ayrault is its most versatile threat. She’s shooting 48% on twos, 33.8% on threes, and 80.2% at the free throw line. She’s part of a trio that accounts for a huge proportion of the team’s shots while on the floor.
Season summary: Sparty has been through no shortage of tests, what with USC and UCLA in the Big Ten now. They began the year 11-0 with wins over Cal and Vanderbilt (both are tourney teams) in the non-conference and have wins over Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana, all of which made the field. A 30-point win at Michigan was probably the highlight of their year.
(10) Harvard Crimson
Record: 24-4 (11-3 Ivy League)
Torvik rank: 46
Offense rank: 69
Defense rank: 33
Best player: Harmoni Turner (22.5 pts, 5.4 reb, 3.4 ast per game), 5’10 guard. Turner has the ball in her hands a ton and has a workload well over 30%, so it’s fair to bet that how she goes, the team goes—she’s attempted 500+ shots and 129 free throws this season. She’s shooting 48.6% inside the arc, 36.4% from three, and 80.6% at the stripe. She’s gone for 40+ points in a game twice, and that makes her definitely worth tuning in for.
Season summary: The Crimson picked up a nice win on the road at Indiana early in the season on the way to an 11-1 run through the non-conference, and handled business against the weak portion of the Ivy League, suffering losses only the fellow NCAA teams Columbia and Princeton. The Crimson defeated both to win the conference tournament and was 3-3 against those two overall.