Virginia's women won their first NCAA tournament game since 2009 as the No. 10-seeded Cavaliers won 68-62 over No. 7 Cal, which had star post player Kristine Anigwe sidelined with an undisclosed injury.
That was the first upset of Friday's first round, and it was soon followed by another, as No. 10 Minnesota topped No. 7 Green Bay 89-77, with the Gophers coming back from 13 points down.
Minnesota was one of the last four teams to make the field with an at-large bid, and the Gophers made the most of it. Guard Kenisha Bell led the way with 26 points as Minnesota made 10 of 18 3-pointers.
There was no report of Anigwe being injured until Friday shortly before the game, when it was announced that she wasn't medically cleared to play. The junior had been practicing since the Bears' last game, a 77-74 quarterfinal loss to UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament. Anigwe had 15 points and 11 rebounds in that game, and she averaged 16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds this season for Cal.
The Cavaliers' last appearance in the NCAA tournament was in 2010. The following year, longtime coach Debbie Ryan resigned and was replaced by Joanne Boyle, who had been at Cal. Friday's game was a matchup of her and good friend Lindsay Gottlieb, who was an assistant to Boyle at both Richmond and Cal and then took over the Bears when Boyle left.
Felicia Aiyeotan led Virginia with 16 points off the bench, going 8-of-11 from the field.