AMARILLO, Texas—NIU wasn’t the only higher-seeded team to fall at the 23rd annual NWIT at the Amarillo Civic Center.

In one of the wackiest endings in NWIT history, the No. 1 seed, Notre Dame went 0-3 to finish last, while the eighth-seeded “cinderella team” Santa Clara captured the championship trophy.

Thursday’s first-round action definitely turned many heads. Every favored team lost to its lower-seeded opponent on day one of this three-day tourney.

Santa Clara romped on the Fighting Irish, 81-65; seventh seed Indiana mangled the No. 2 Lady Blazers from the University of Alabama (110-71); Fifth-seeded Kansas knocked off Louisville, 71-66; and Houston defeated the No. 3 NIU Huskies by an 83-71 mark.

When asked if the top four seeds getting knocked off was shocking, Phil Woodall, the NWIT Team Selection Chairman, shrugged it off.

“Last year, all the top seeds won on the first day,” Woodall said with a smile. “And I was four-for-four again this year except the consolation bracket is correct.”

NIU coach Jane Albright, directing NIU in its first-ever NWIT appearance, understood the upsets also.

“It’s been that kind of year,” Albright said. “It shows that there is a lot of parody in women’s basketball. Whoever shows up on game day can win.”

The Huskies didn’t show up for Friday’s contest either as UAB, the eventual consolation victors, knocked off NIU, 78-71.

“A bookie from Las Vegas called me and said that whoever I pick to win,” Woodall joked, “he’d bet against for next year’s tourney.”