Five teams you need to know before the women's NCAA Tournament
It's almost time for March Madness, and Mackenzie Salmon has a quick breakdown of five teams you need to know about.
The women's NCAA Tournament gets underway Monday with eight second-round games. Today he is topped only by Kaitlyn Clarke and the top seed yeah, who play in prime time on ESPN. JoJo Watkins and No. 1 University of Southern California It will also be played tonight, one of two night games that conclude the day.
Women's March Madness Games are broadcast and streamed across ESPN's family of channels. USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest news, scores, analysis and more all day long. Follow along.
Live: March Madness ESPN+ And Fubo
NCAA Women's March Madness Bracket.
You can find the full March Madness class for women is here.
Results of the Mad Women's March
Here it is Grading board For today's second round matches in NCAA Women's Championship.
March Madness women's matches today
Below is the full program for Monday Women's NCAA Tournament games.
For the third time in Neal Ivey's four seasons as Notre Dame's head coach, her program is headed to the Sweet 16.
Thanks to a stifling zone defense, No. 2 Notre Dame knocked off No. 7 Ole Miss 71-56 in its second-round game and will face No. 3 Oregon State on Friday.
In the fourth quarter, Ole Miss turned to full-court pressure and increased its defensive intensity to try to spark a run, but the Fighting Irish relied on their defensive stamina and forced 22 turnovers to seal the game.
Notre Dame, as it has most of the season, got huge contributions from its big three: freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo (19 points, four assists), junior forward Maddie Westbild (20 points, four rebounds) and junior guard Sonia Citron (17 points). , 10 rebounds and six assists).
Notre Dame shot 26 of 52 (50%) from the field and limited Ole Miss to just 22 of 57 (38.6%).
Ole Miss has stopped the bleeding, more or less, but it seems as if that won't be anywhere near enough.
Notre Dame outscored the Rebels by just two points in the third quarter, but the Fighting Irish still held a sizable lead.
Notre Dame led 61-42 and is one quarter away from booking its third straight trip to the Sweet 16.
The Fighting Irish have been intentional and deliberate in their offensive approach, swinging the ball to find spaces in the Ole Miss defense, attacking and then finishing — or making an extra pass. Notre Dame recorded 15 assists on 24 field goals, compared to just seven on Ole Miss' 18.
Notre Dame also dominated the paint, outscoring Ole Miss 30-20 there.
In the first half, Notre Dame's 2-3 zone caused all sorts of problems for Ole Miss.
The Rebels struggled to find gaps in defensive pressure and their possessions often trickled deep into the shot clock, resulting in rushed, contested shots, or — worse — committing turnovers.
The Fighting Irish forced Ole Miss into 13 turnovers and limited the Rebels to just 11 of 29 (37.9%) from the floor. Notre Dame's zone also prevented Ole Miss from easily getting into the post.
Notre Dame junior forward Maddie Westbeld led all scorers with 14 points, including the final bucket before halftime, off an offensive rebound. Freshman star Hannah Hidalgo added nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
The Irish led 43-26 at halftime. —Lorenzo Reyes
The conclusion of the women's second round is underway in South Bend, Indiana.
The second-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish are playing at home, holding a 21-9 lead over No. 7 Ole Miss at the end of the first quarter.
The Irish made 50% of their shots from the field in the quarter, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Freshman Hannah Hidalgo leads the way for Notre Dame with six points and a pair of steals.
The Rebels shot just 23.5% from the field during the quarter — their 11-point deficit was the largest they faced after a single quarter all season. — Steve Gardner
The first of the final games in the second round of the women's March Madness bracket is underway, with No. 2 seed Notre Dame taking on No. 7 seed Ole Miss.
How to watch NCAA women's tournament games
The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all women's tournament matches. So you'll find it on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNews and ABC. First game tips at 2pm ET and last game tips at 10:30pm Here's how to watch women's March Madness like a pro.
As Iowa State's Caitlin Clark continues to rewrite the record books, USA TODAY Sports is tracking all of her stats through the NCAA Tournament. Here's everything you need to know about the Guardian Star. Here's an in-depth, illustrated look at the Iowa State star and her race toward an NCAA Division I scoring record.
To understand the impact Kaitlyn Clark had on Iowa, a state that has long loved and championed women's basketball, think about this: for all the superstars who have come out of that Midwestern outpost, for all the legends who have dominated that region. Relics of six by six are still celebrated, for all the locals worshiped by other locals, her likeness was carved out of butter for just one. That it wasn't an exact resemblance is not the point.
“I obviously never expected to be carved out of butter,” Clark said with a laugh as she recalled August 2023. The statue went viral. “But if you're from Iowa, you know this is really important. You go to the state fair just to see the butter sculptures.”
Read Lindsay Schnell's full feature on Clark and Iowa.
Here are all of today's women's NCAA Tournament second-round matchups from USA TODAY Sports experts Nancy Armour, Scooby Exxon, Ellen Horo And Lindsey Schnell.
- Notre Dame G Hannah Hidalgo (23.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.6 spg), the most disruptive on-ball defender in the country who can get to the rim whenever she wants.
- indiana f Mackenzie Holmes (20.0 ppg, 66.7% FG), power in the paint
- UCLA F Lauren Betts (14.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 65.3% FG), can score at will in the paint when her teammates get her the ball
- Iowa G Caitlin Clark (31.9 ppg, 8.9 apg), leading scorer and most complete offensive player in the history of the women's college game
- USC G Mckenzie Forbes (13.5 ppg, 3.3 apg), who only makes big shots in big moments
- UConn F Ice Brady (4.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg), who surged in Big East tournament, doubles her scoring output
- NC State guard Sania Rivers (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.9 rpg), whose athleticism is usually good for at least one highlight per game
- Twins Gonzaga Gs Kayleigh (11.9 ppg, 4.5 apg) and Kaylynne Truong (11.6 ppg, 5.9 apg), whose stats are almost identical, are like that.
March Madness schedule for women
Here it is Ladies schedule:
- first round: March 22-23
- Second round: March 24-25
- Sweet 16: March 29-30
- Elite Eight: March 31 – April 1
- The last four: Friday, April 5 at 7:30 and 9 pm ET on ESPN
- NCAA Championship Game: Sunday, April 7 at 3pm ET on ABC
Freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo led the Fighting Irish to a 55-51 victory over the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the ACC Championship game to secure Notre Dame's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Hidalgo, who had 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in the win, was named the 2024 ACC Tournament Player of the Year and was named to the all-tournament first team.
The ACC Tournament accolades are just the tip of the iceberg for Hidalgo, whose impressive freshman campaign also earned her national recognition. Here's everything you need to know about the new student.
Meet Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair, the all-time leading scorer in women's college basketball whose name isn't Kaitlyn Clark
Syracuse guard Deeisha Fair is the fifth-leading scorer all-time in women's college basketball history after passing former Baylor star Brittney Griner (3,283 points) this season. Fair, 22, trails only Missouri State alum Jackie Stiles (3,393), Ohio State alum Kelsey Mitchell (3,402), Washington alum Kelsey Bloom (3,527) and Clark (3,685 and counting) on the NCAA women's basketball all-time scoring list. Universities (NCAA).
“She's different. She's special. She's one of the best players to ever play the game,” coach Felicia Leggett-Jack told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, part of the USA Today Network, in January when Fair surpassed 3,000 career points.
Here's everything to know about the Syracuse star, who has quietly climbed the all-time scoring list under Clark. — Sydney Henderson
To understand and appreciate the pride that Utah State women's basketball player Alyssa Bailey feels in her Polynesian heritage, one need only look at her right leg.
One tattoo that features prominently from ankle to hip is a swirl of Polynesian tribal symbols. In ancient times, this type of ink – especially full sleeves – was commonly associated with warriors.
That's also an apt description for Bailey, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, a powerful, relentless forward who averages a team-high 21.0 points and 6.4 rebounds. No. 22 Utes. But because the eldest, who is Samoan and Alaska Native (Inupiaq), also values femininity, she asked her tattoo artist to add flowers as well.
“Women are not known for being very feminine in our Polynesian culture, but I think it's important to not be stuck in a box that other people put you in,” Bailey told USA TODAY Sports. “For me, I grew up playing soccer with my brothers and cousins, and I was a tomboy. But I also like to be feminine. And if you want to wear (fake) eyelashes or do makeup or do your nails, it's okay to show that side of you too.” .
Read Lindsay Schnell's full feature here.
It's understandable why JuJu Watkins, a front-runner for National Freshman of the Year, elicits a reaction every time she's on the floor. The 6-foot-2 rookie from the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles has a silky smooth jacket, veteran balance, and a combination of skill, power and body control rarely seen.
With Kaitlyn Clarke heading to the 2024 WNBA Draft, where she is projected to go No. 1 overall, Watkins, the nation's second-leading scorer this season behind Clarke, is positioned to become the face of women's basketball. She will be joined by Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, another this year's nominee.
It's not lost on any of the game's influencers: Both players are black. And in a game made by black women, it's important that the faces of the future look like the faces of the past.
Read Lindsay Schnell's full feature here.
Caitlin Clark is the reigning National Player of the Year, a sharp-shooting supernova with a penchant for shooting 3-pointers from the logo, dribbling passes without looking over defenders' arms, and talking trash to anyone and everyone who gets in her way.
Postseason for Clark and yeah It starts next week, with They are playing hockey In the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament. No matter what happens in the next few days, Iowa State is expected to secure a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting the first two rounds. A year after leading Iowa State to the national championship game, Clark is trying to return to her second straight Final Four, a feat few players have accomplished. USA TODAY Sports is following her game closely. In case you need a brush up on your Clark trivia, we've got our complete guide to all things Clark.
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