PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas– Sixth ranked Louisville defeated third-ranked Texas, 71-63, last night behind 18 points from senior guard Morgan Jones in the second annual women’s Battle 4 Atlantis. In some worlds that might be must see TV between two Top 10 teams in last week’s AP poll.
But here, it was just a consolation bracket game.
The women’s Battle 4 Atlantis has turned upside down after all three ranked teams– the Ville, the Longhorns and 11th ranked Tennessee– in the field losing before the championship game.
Instead, we will get a chance to watch 5-0 UCLA, from the Pac-12 which defeated Tennessee, 89-53, in one semi-final; play 5-0 Marquette from the Big East, which defeated Texas in the first round and Gonzaga, 70-66, in the other semi-final for the title today in the Atlantis ballroom.
It’s a lot different than last year’s highly anticipated wildly successful early season matchup between eventual national champion South Carollina, led by Olympic gold medal coach Dawn Staley, and perennial national power Connecticut and its Hall of Fame coach
Geno Auriemma.
but the women’s game is becoming more competitive between 15 and 40.
Marquette is a relative newcomer to the national stage.
“I’m not sure this was the prettier basketball game we’ve seen since the tournament startted, but I’m really thrilled with the win” Eagles’ coach Megan Duffy said. “We had a statement program win against Texas, then came back with the same grit and determination to win a little bit differently. I thought we had great contributions by our bench, and in a tournament with three games in three days, you’re going to have differnt people step up.”
The Golden Eagles, which won 23 games last year and reached the third round of hte WNIT. They were picked to finish sixth in the Big East pre-season poll. But they won here by holding Gonzaga without a field goal in the final 7:47. Senior forward Chloe Marotta another big game with 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks. Senior guard Jordan King added 13 points, 8 rebounds and four assists.
Star senior guard Charisma Osborne scored 23 points and hit five three pointers to help UCLA, a Pac-12 darkhorse that was ranked 26th in last week’s AP poll, 5 blow away the Lady Vols (2-3), who are off to their worst start since 1981-82. Freshman guard Kiki Rice, a co-MVP in the 2022 McDonald’s AA game who recently became the first UCLA athlete to sign an NIL deal with Jordan Brand, added 15 points six rebounds and six assists for Cori Close’s Bruins, who made 16 threes, consistently frustrating Tennessee from the deep perimeter with their shooting. The Lady Vols were plagued by their inability to close out on shooters.
“We were chasing all night,” Lady Vols’ forward Rickea Jackson said. “When you are playing catch up against good teams like this, we had to know to be disciplines and not get outreboiunded and take care of the ball.”
