Fairleigh Dickinson coach calls for neutral NCAA sites following close call at Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Mid-majors in men’s basketball weren’t the only teams carrying the banner for plucky underdogs this weekend. Fairleigh Dickinson (30-5) nearly became the first No. 15 seed to upset a No.
2 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament before falling just shy in a 58-48 loss to Iowa in a first-round game Saturday. The Knights rebounded from a pair of 15-point deficits in the first quarter, coming within 2 points inside the final five minutes before the Hawkeyes pulled away. In 127 games matching No.
2 and No. 15 seeds, the lower-seeded team has never won. To the players, there are no moral victories, but they left the overheated arena proud of their performance.
FDU had won 22 consecutive games (and has won 40 in in a row in the Northeast Conference) before the loss Saturday. Iowa (27-6) finished second in the Big Ten, both in the regular season and during the tournament. “I think first it puts a lot of respect on the NEC and mid-major schools,” guard Ava Renninger, a two-time All-NEC player, said.
“They’re a top-10 team in the country, and we came in and showed what we’re made of and showed what mid-major schools can do against these high teams. ’ “The respect that we brought to the NEC and that we brought to FDU and to show that on any given day anybody can beat anybody, I think that’s a huge step forward for women’s basketball in the East,” Fairleigh Dickinson coach Stephanie Gaitley said. After upsetting Wisconsin in the NCAA men’s tournament Thursday, High Point coach Flynn Clayman railed against power-conference programs for not scheduling quality mid-major teams.