SPOKANE, Wash. — No one here could escape the symbolism. March Madness logos seemed to be everywhere in this small city last week, on posters, stickers, towels, electronic billboards and in hotel lobbies. The madness had come to this and the three other cities hosting the final 16 teams in the N.C.A.A. women’s basketball tournament.
Last year’s tournament had no such branding. Held entirely in bubbled-off venues in the San Antonio area, with some games in San Marcos and Austin, the 2021 tournament looked like the N.C.A.A.’s evil stepchild. While the men’s tournament reveled in coveted TV spots and received lavish attention, Sedona Prince shared the women’s paltry accommodations on her TikTok and Twitter accounts. Women play with all the skill and intrigue seen in the men’s game, but the N.C.A.A. gave Prince and her fellow competitors none of the pageantry.
Consider this women’s tournament a do over. In basketball terms, a makeup call.
The action in Spokane showcased the greatness on display in what is the first N.C.A.A. women’s tournament to feature 68 teams, like the men, and to use the March Madness branding. There was smooth excellence, typified by the defending champion, Stanford, which throttled Maryland, 72-66, on Friday with its intensity and the do-it-all skills of Haley Jones, an all-American forward. There was also grit, embodied by Ohio State, which might have pulled off a last-minute comeback win on Friday against Texas were it not for the Longhorns’ defense and the incandescence of the freshman point guard Rori Harmon.