Spokane’s NCAA Tournament Regional could see return of Stanford’s Hull sisters for Sweet 16

March 13, 2022 Updated Sun., March 13, 2022 at 10:08 p.m.

Former Central Valley High School basketball stars, Stanford guard Lacie Hull (24) and Stanford guard Lexie Hull (12) take the court before their NCAA college basketball game with Gonzaga, Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, in the McCarthey Athletic Center. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)Buy a print of this photo

By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

Basketball fans in Spokane were among the big winners on Selection Sunday.

In less than two weeks, the Spokane Memorial Veterans Arena will host women’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games that could feature defending NCAA national champion Stanford and two of the biggest prep stars in local history.

If the top-seeded Cardinal can win at home against 16 seed Montana State and the winner of Kansas and Georgia Tech, they will play in the Arena on March 25.

Stanford’s star-studded lineup includes former Central Valley High School starts Lexie and Lacie Hull, who led the Bears to state and national titles in 2018.

Now seniors, they were in Spokane earlier this season for a nonconference game at Gonzaga.

That game, which Stanford won 66-62, was intended as the Hulls’ final homecoming game. Now they may get two more.

“We have to focus on these next two games, but the opportunity to play in Spokane in front of friends, in front of family, is super special,” Lexie Hull said.

“Hopefully we’ll just work hard and get to play there,” Hull said.

The second-ranked Cardinal are 28-3 overall and swept through the Pac-12 with a 16-0 record before winning the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

The rest of the prospective regional field is intriguing.

If form holds, the Cardinal would face fourth-seeded Maryland (21-8) in the Sweet 16. The Terrapins, who reached the Final Four in 2013, finished in a four-way tie for first in the Big Ten Conference.

To get there, the Terrapins might have to get past No. 5 seed Virginia Tech (21-8), which finished fifth in a tough Atlantic Coast Conference that included two eventual No. 1 seeds in North Carolina State and Louisville.

The bottom half of the Spokane Regional has two of the hottest teams in the country.

Second-seeded Texas (26-6) has won 11 straight games. On Sunday, the Longhorns won the Big 12 tournament by beating fourth-ranked Baylor and denying the Bears a top seed in the NCAAs.

The No. 3 seed, LSU, is 25-5 overall after winning eight of its last nine. The Tigers were poised to earn a 2 seed in the NCAAs but lost to Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Also in the Spokane Regional is Utah, one of the biggest surprises in Division 1. Picked to finish 11th in the Pac-12, the Utes went 20-11 overall.

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