UPSET IN THE MAKING? - #16 UCSB vs. # 1 BAYLOR

March Madness Takes A Hold of the Gauchos

STEVEN WILSON

News-Press Correspondent

            After a record-setting first round of upsets in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it’s the UCSB women’s basketball team that has taken notice. The Gauchos, who are the 16^th seed in the women’s tournament, flew to Bowling Green, Ohio on Thursday morning to prepare for their matchup today against the No. 1 overall team in the tournament – the Lady Bears of Baylor.

            “It’s March Madness and we are all watching the games and understand, ‘you just have to be the best team on that day,’” UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell said. “You always play to win, but also understand sometimes, even your best game may not be enough.”

            The Gauchos know they will need to play their best, or one of their best games of the season to defeat 34-0 Baylor.

No. 2 Connecticut nearly pulled that off in December. The Huskies led the Lady Bears by 11 points at halftime but could not maintain. The Lady Bears went on to win, 66-61 and no other team has come close to stopping them.

Luckily for the Gauchos, they may just be playing their best basketball of the season. They are on a four-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 11. Senior guard Emilie Johnson says everything is finally clicking.

            “I think, now, at this point of the season, everything is falling together at the same time,” she said. “Before, little pieces would work, but now we are where we want to be.”

            The Gaucho defense has been consistent for most of the year, holding opponents to 51.6 points per game, but it’s the offense that has improved recently. UCSB has scored 60 or more points in its last four games – a dramatic difference if you remember they were in the bottom 20 of 330 teams ranked nationally in offensive scoring heading into the last week of the regular season.

            “We might play our best game and still not win, but I want these kids to believe and enjoy the opportunity,” Mitchell said. “But, like somebody mentioned, if you can keep it close, anything can happen.”

            Keeping the game close will be difficult.

Although UCSB has become a better scoring team, they are nowhere close to the Baylor’s level. Johnson leads the Gauchos with 304 points this year, but the Lady Bears have three players over that mark.

Baylor guard Odyssey Sims and forward Destiny Williams combined to score 820 points this year – a mark close to Brittney Griner’s 793 points this season.

             “Destiny Williams always comes up big because Brittney Griner always demands a double or triple team, and then if Odyssey Sims is on, it's over with,” Mitchell said.

            The Gauchos are a 45-point underdog heading into Sunday, but Johnson says that’s been their role all year.

            “I think this year has prepared us for this moment because we have been the underdog all season in the Big West, which is not the position the Gauchos are used to,” she said. “Being the hunters and not the hunted has prepared us all through this year to just keep fighting and to have a mentality of never giving up.”

Tip-off will take place around 11:30 in California and will be aired on ESPN2.

The Gauchos are hoping the new shoes they were awarded for the tournament resemble a Cinderella glass slipper, while Mitchell concludes her pregame press duties by reminding fans to be optimistic, “Never count out Gaucho heart – anything can happen when you believe!”