What is the First Four in March Madness? A look at the women's basketball play-in games

The NCAA women's tournament has officially tipped off with the First Four games underway.

March Madness began Wednesday night with a pair of games, including No. 11 seed Iowa State's win over No. 11 Princeton, and the other two First Four games will continue Thursday.

The First Four hasn't always been a part of March Madness. In November 2021, the NCAA announced the expansion of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament to 68 teams. The First Four are four play-in games featuring lower seeds that need to play their way into the first round of March Madness.

Heading into this year's tournament, the winners of the First Four games are 1-11 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Here are the First Four matchups.

No. 11 seed Iowa State vs. No. 11 seed Princeton

Iowa State defeated Princeton 68-63 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana on Wednesday. The Cyclones will face No. 6 Michigan on Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

No. 16 seed UC San Diego vs. No. 16 seed Southern

UC San Diego and Southern are squaring off at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles in the late game Wednesday, which started at 9 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to take on UCLA, the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, on Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

No. 11 seed Columbia vs. No. 11 seed Washington

Columbia will face Washington at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The winner will face No. 6 West Virginia on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

No. 16 seed High Point vs. No. 16 seed William & Mary

High Point will face William & Mary at Moody Center in Austin, Texas at Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. The winner will face No. 1 Texas on Saturday at 9:45 p.m. ET.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is First Four in March Madness? A look at women's play-in games

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