NCAA Women's Tournament first weekend takeaways: South Carolina looks dominant, Iowa looks shaky

Against the fifth-seeded Buffaloes, the presumptive National Player of the Year needs to get back to basics — attack off the dribble, push the tempo, make smart decisions and, yes, sprinkle in some long-range three-point attempts. 

2. South Carolina is simply a machine

What else is there to say? The Gamecocks drilled 16-seed Presbyterian 91-39 in their first-round contest, and then proceeded to annihilate 8-seed North Carolina 88-41. 

The Tar Heels won 19 games in the regular season, finished tied for seventh in the loaded ACC and boasted wins over Sweet Sixteen participants Notre Dame (2 seed), N.C. State (3 seed) and Duke (7 seed). South Carolina beat that team by 47 — holding North Carolina to a paltry 23.8% from the field, scoring 23 fast-break points and 38 points in the paint.

The Gamecocks still need to win four games to win their third national title in the last seven tournaments. But, as things stands right now, they are the clear favorite to get it done. 

3. Pac-12 leads the way

It's truly a shame that greed and selfishness (looking at you, SEC and Big Ten) have caused the impending demise of the Pac-12.

Of the 16 teams advancing to Portland and Albany, five of them hail from the Conference of Champions — 1-seed USC, 2-seeds UCLA and Stanford, 3-seed Oregon State and 5-seed Colorado. That is the most of any conference, with the ACC (Notre Dame, N.C. State and Duke) in second. 

In fact, it's possible that we could have an all-Pac-12 Final Four in Cleveland, with Oregon State representing the Albany Regional 1, UCLA or Colorado representing the Albany Regional 2, USC representing the Portland Regional 3 and Stanford representing the Portland Regional 4. It's unlikely, but still electric to think about.

4. Duke could keep it rolling

The lowest seed remaining? None other than Kara Lawson's seventh-seeded Duke squad. The Blue Devils knocked off No. 2 seed Ohio State in Columbus on Sunday, hitting all the key buckets (in large parts thanks to Reigan Richardson) and getting all the key stops to eliminate the Big Ten regular-season champs. 

Now, Duke faces third-seeded UConn in Portland on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), with a chance to reach its first Elite Eight since 2013. Paige Bueckers, who notched an incredible 32 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals in the Huskies' 72-64 win over No. 6 seed Syracuse in the Round of 32, will be a hassle to handle for Richardson, Ashlon Jackson and the rest of the Blue Devil backcourt. 

But, from Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair to Virginia Tech's Georgia Amoore, Lawson's vaunted defense has found a way to force high-scoring guards into inefficient, mistake-filled outings. That gives the Blue Devils a fighting chance against UConn. 

5. Wes Moore deserves his flowers

When Wes Moore arrived in Raleigh in April of 2013, the NC State Wolfpack had reached the second weekend of the tournament twice since 2000. Now, in his 11th season at the helm, Moore has led NC State to that point for the fifth time. 

The latest installment comes on the heels of a dicey win over No. 6 seed Tennessee on Monday afternoon, as the Wolfpack salted away the 79-72 win at the foul-line. Friday's matchup against Stanford (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) will be a battle. With N.C. State two wins away from its first Final Four since 1998, it wouldn't want it any other way.