The women's NCAA Tournament opened Friday with 16 games and zero upsets — a statistical improbability that masked a day far more volatile than the scoreboard suggests. [1] Texas Tech, Minnesota, Baylor, and Michigan State all survived genuine scares from lower seeds that had the higher seeds trailing at halftime or scrambling in the final minutes. [2]

UConn, the No. 1 overall seed, cruised past UTSA 90-52 behind Sarah Strong's 18 points. South Carolina, last year's champion, handled its opener comfortably. Oklahoma demolished Idaho 89-59. [3] The day's individual highlight belonged to UConn's Olivia Miles, who made NCAA Tournament history — though the nature of the record was secondary to the performance itself. [4]

Saturday's slate brings the remaining 16 first-round games, and the bracket watchers who exhaled on Friday may not be so fortunate. The women's tournament has grown into appointment television — the 2025 championship drew record ratings — and the audience arriving for Day Two is expecting the chaos that Day One merely deferred.