Women's Hoop Report 57

The Hayes Sisters battle the Lady Vols

Anastasia Hayes teams up with her sister Aislynn Hayes to lead 14 seed Middle Tennessee (17-7) against the Tennessee Lady Vols, a three seed, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, March 21.

Above: Anastasia Hayes

Anastasia was named to the Winners Only All-National First Team this week. She averaged 26.8 points in 21 games, leading Middle Tennessee to the Conference USA championship. She brings an all-around game pulling down 5.7 rebounds, dishing out five assists and taking 2.9 steals per contest.

Above: Aislynn Hayes

Her sis Aislynn, a sophomore, is the team's second leading scorer at 14.3 points per game. While not being the the most efficient scorer, she found her groove knocking down 47.4 percent of her three-point shots during the Conference USA Tournament. Alislynn has proven to be an excellent rebounder for a player her size. At 5-6 she has an impressive average of 6.5 rebounds per game which is second best on the team. She is also second best on the team with an average of 3.5 assists per game.

Above: Rae Burrell

Tennessee is 15-6, which was good enough for a third place regular season finish in the SEC.

The Lady Vols are led by the talented guard/forward Rae Burrell. The 6-1, junior from Las Vegas averaged a career best 17.1 points, making 46.6 percent of her shots. She also drained 41.9 percent of her threes.

Above: Tamari Key

Sophomore Tamari Key is Tennessee's leader on defense. She was named to the Winner's Only All-Defensive First Team. Key blocked 2.9 shots per game. She had eight games with four or more blocks including a contest where she swatted 10 shots in a win over Florida, Jan. 31. In that victory Key posted a triple-double. She scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds along with the 10 rejections she recorded.

Micaela Kelly and Caitlin Clark will shoot it out

Above: Caitlin Clark

Two of the best scorers in the nation will do battle as fifth seed Iowa (18-9) takes on 12th seed Central Michigan (18-8) in the NCAA Tournament, March 21.

Iowa's Caitlin Clark is one of the most exciting players in the country. While only a freshman she averages an NCAA's best 27.4 points per game, along with 6.8 assists. The six-foot guard had one triple-double this season. She also tallied 11 games with at least 30 points, including a 39 point explosion against Nebraska, where she hit 12-of-18 shots. She also had 10 rebounds and seven assists that game.

Above: Micaela Kelly

Central Michigan's Micaela Kelly is also a lethal performer. She averaged 23.2 points per game. The 5-6, senior and native of Detroit has scored 1,890 points over the first 111 games of her career. In three games during the Mid American Conference Tournament, she led her team to the championship by averaging 27.7 points, 6.7 assists and four rebounds over three games. She made 56.4 percent of her shots during that stretch as well.

Kelly had six games with at least 30 points including a 37-point output in a win over Miami (Ohio), She made 13-of-22 shots in the victory.

UK's Patterson looks to steal from Idaho State

Thirteen seed Idaho State (21-3) brings a collective unit against a fourth seed Kentucky (17-8) squad with big time talent.

Above: Chasity Patterson

The Wildcats of Kentucky arrive to the NCAA Tournament behind Winners Only All-Defensive First Teamer Chasity Patterson. She leads Kentucky with an average of 3.0 steals per contest. Patterson had a three-game stretch this season where she recorded 25 steals from Dec 13-19. Ironically she hasn't recorded a steal in the last three games that she has played but expect all that to change when she takes on Idaho State.

Above: Callie Bourne

The Bengals won the Big Sky Conference Tournament, taking every game by double-digits. They won the championship game 84-49 over Idaho. Idaho State has four players that average between 10 and 12.4 points per game. One of their most productive players is Callie Bourne. The 5-9 Australian leads the team with a rebounding average of 8.6 boards while scoring 10.5 points and passing out three assists per game.