BRADENTON, Fla. – A week of firsts continued Monday at the NCAA Women’s Championship when coaches from the top eight teams that qualified for the match play portion of the event sat in a room and manipulated their lineup to match their opponents.
Think Presidents Cup style. One coach throws out a name for Match 1 and the opposing coach selects a candidate. The higher-seeded team earned the option of going first or deferring to the opponent.
Duke coach Dan Brooks and USC coach Andrea Gasto, coaches who have combined for eight NCAA Championships over the past 16 seasons, both threw out a player first and did not defer.