Louisville joins South Carolina, Stanford and NC State in securing No. 1 seeds in NCAA women’s basketball tournament

The Louisville Cardinals maintained a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament despite losing in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, while the Iowa Hawkeyes’ recent surge and Big Ten tournament title earned them a No. 2 seed in the Greensboro Regional that also features No. 1 South Carolina, the tournament bracket announcement revealed on Selection Sunday.

Louisville, the top seed in the Wichita Regional, appeared to be at risk of sliding to a 2-seed after its loss to Miami in the ACC tournament and as the Baylor Bears went on a tear throughout Big 12 play. Baylor ultimately fell to Texas in the Big 12 tournament championship game Sunday afternoon, keeping the Bears on the 2-line and bumping the Longhorns up to a No. 2 seed as well.

“We had a lot of discussion around [Louisville’s] whole body of work and what they had done throughout the whole year and felt like they were a really consistent team,” Nina King, chair of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee, told reporters Sunday. “Their overall record is extremely strong. … What they have done as well as the teams above and below them just didn’t feel like it warranted moving Louisville.”

South Carolina, defending national champion Stanford and NC State were the other top seeds, as expected, and will play in the regionals in Greensboro, North Carolina; Spokane, Washington; and Bridgeport, Connecticut, respectively. South Carolina is the No. 1 overall seed.

In addition, the UConn Huskies — who played without reigning national player of the year Paige Bueckers for 19 games due to a knee injury — were tabbed the No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport Regional. The last time the Huskies did not play in a Bridgeport or…