Tag: 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA tournament

2023 NCAA women’s Sweet 16: Latest bracket, schedule, and how to watch

There are few surprises with Miami, Colorado, and Ole Miss in the mix of teams, but stalwarts are also accounted for in South Carolina, Iowa, and UConn.

The Sweet 16 is upon us and games begin Friday, March 24. There are four matchups on Friday and four matchups on Saturday. There are few surprises with Miami, Colorado, and Ole Miss in the mix of teams, but stalwarts are also accounted for in South Carolina, Iowa, and UConn.

Sweet 16 Schedule: (All game times are eastern)

Friday, March 24 — Sweet 16

  • No. 4 Villanova vs. No. 9 Miami | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 2 Utah vs. No. 3 LSU | 5 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 6 Colorado | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 5 Louisville vs. No. 8 Ole Miss | 10 p.m. | ESPN

Saturday, March 25 — Sweet 16

  • No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 3 Notre Dame | 11:30 a.m. | ESPN
  • No.1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 UCLA | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Ohio State | 4 p.m. | ABC
  • No. 1 Virginia Tech vs. No. 4 Tennessee | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN2

Only two No. 1 seeds remain in the tournament and this is the first time since 1998 that the Sweet 16 will be without two of its No. 1 seeds.

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Power ranking the 16 remaining teams in the women’s tournament

The frontrunners in the tournament are still the top-seeded teams, but lower-seeded teams are peaking at just the right time and anything can happen in March.

The tournament’s second round has come and gone with upsets galore busting everyone’s brackets. Ole Miss’s upset of No. 1 seeded Stanford shattered the last bracket.

The team field is a bit diverse with only two No. 1 seeds remaining in the tournament, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, respectively. Ole Miss, Miami, and Colorado shocked viewers when they took down their opponents and made it into the Sweet 16.

The frontrunners in the tournament are still the top-seeded teams, but lower-seeded teams are peaking at just the right time and anything can happen in March.

With that said College Sports Wire tried to rank the remaining teams in the Sweet 16.

No. 16 seed taking down No. 1 seeds, Harvard women’s basketball did it first

In 1998, Harvard took down No. 1 seed Stanford to become the first ever No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

Before there was Fairleigh Dickinson University or the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, there was Harvard women’s basketball.

In 1998, Harvard took down No. 1 seed Stanford to become the first-ever No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

Harvard beat Stanford 71-67 on Mar. 14, 1998, and didn’t have another member of this club until 2018 when the University of Maryland-Baltimore County men’s basketball took down Virginia.

Oftentimes, women’s sports are forgotten when discussing history-making moments or worse, intentionally omitted.

When Fairleigh Dickinson University took down No. 1 seeded Purdue in the 2023 tournament, outlets incorrectly reported that there were only two No. 16 seeds in history to take down a No. 1 seed. They neglected to mention that is the men’s history, but not the full history of the tournament.

However, other outlets and aficionados of the game recognized that Harvard women’s basketball did it first.

When history-making moments happen in sports, remember to check the entire history of the sport, not just men’s history.

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STUNNED: Twitter reacts to Ole Miss upsetting No. 1 Stanford

No. 1 Stanford gets knocked out before the Sweet 16.

Ole Miss shocked the world on Sunday when they took down No. 1 seed Stanford, 54-49, in the second round of the 2023 March Madness Women’s D1 NCAA tournament. The Rebels advance to their first Sweet 16 in 16 years.

This is the 11th  Sweet Sixteen in program history for Ole Miss. Stanford is the first No. 1 seed to lose before the Sweet 16 since 2009. The difference maker for Ole Miss was out-rebounding Stanford, 44-39, and their 5 made three-pointers

Stanford is not a stranger to being knocked off by unsuspecting teams, but it is rare. In 1998 Stanford was seeded No. 1 and Harvard came in at a No. 16 and took them down. This was the first time a No. 16 seed took down a No. 1 seed in the history of either the women’s or men’s tournaments.

This has occurred only three times in the history of the women’s and men’s tournaments. Most recently with No. 16 seed Fairleigh-Dickinson defeating No. 1 seed Purdue in the 2023 men’s tournament.

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Dawn Staley pays tribute to history-making HBCU with outfit

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley never misses an opportunity to respect the culture and educate on the history of Black women in basketball.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley never misses an opportunity to respect the culture and educate on the history of Black women in basketball.

In her second-round game against South Florida in the 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA Division I tournament, Staley wore Louis Vuitton pants and a Cheyney State jersey.

Cheyney State is an HBCU that played in the first Division 1 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament which took place in 1982. Not only did they play, but they also made it to the championship game. Cheyney State was and remains, the only HBCU to make it to the championship game and to the Final Four.

Cheyney State made it back to the tournament and won one game in 1983 and three games to advance to the Final Four in 1984.

Staley honored Cheyney State and her former coach, Yolanda Laney, by wearing Laney’s number and replica jersey. Laney led Cheyney State to the championship game back in 1982.

Staley’s outfit always turn heads because her style is impeccable, but this outfit has more behind it than a fancy label. The history it elicits is strong and important. Staley’s team played HBCU Norfolk State in the first round and beat them decisively. But, Staley took the time to go to the locker room and speak to the players and motivate them to keep pushing forward.

While Norfolk State lost to the Gamecocks, the ripple effect of playing in a game like this against the No. 1 seed was not lost on their coach or the media.

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Staley is constantly pushing the game forward and making sure she lifts others up along the way.

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Only 7 women’s brackets are perfect after the first round

After the first round of the tournament there remain only seven perfect brackets out of over 2 million submitted.

Sunday starts the second round of the 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA Division 1 tournament. After the first round of the tournament there remain only seven perfect brackets. The NCAA tracked “more than 2 million in the major online games of the Women’s Bracket Challenge Game, ESPN, CBS and Yahoo” to arrive at this number. After the first round in last year’s tournament there were only three perfect brackets left.

The breakdown of the brackets during the first round looked like this:

  • No. 12 Toledo def. No. 5 Iowa State: 77 perfect brackets
  • No. 6 North Carolina def. No. 11 St. John’s: 62 brackets
  • No. 4 Villanova def. No. 13 Cleveland State: 50 brackets
  • No. 7 Baylor def. No. 10 Alabama: 30 brackets
  • No. 6 Colorado def. No. 11 Middle Tennessee: 13 brackets
  • No. 5 Louisville def. No. 12 Drake: 9 brackets
  • No. 5 Oklahoma def. No. 12 Portland: 7 brackets
  • After No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Texas, No. 4 UCLA wins: Still 7 brackets

Currently the seven remaining sit on the following platforms: ESPN 6 and Yahoo 1.

The second round starts Sunday with No. 1 seeded South Carolina taking on No. 8 South Florida at 1 p.m. ET on ABC. South Florida beat Marquette, 67-65, with a buzzer beater with 31.2 seconds left in overtime to advance.

First Round: South Florida beats Marquette in an overtime buzzer beater

With 31.2 seconds left in overtime, South Florida’s senior guard Elena Tsineke scored a jumper to win the game.

With 31.2 seconds left in overtime, South Florida’s senior guard Elena Tsineke scored a jumper to win the game. South Florida defeated Marquette, 67-65, to start Round 1 of the 2023 March Madness Women’s D1 NCAA tournament.

Marquette almost came back to win the game with four seconds left on the clock, but Mackenzie Hare’s three-pointer circled out of the basket. It was a nail biting way to end the game.

The Bulls trailed Marquette for the first 38 minutes of the game but had four players scoring double-digits. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu led her team with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

South Florida will face the defending National Champions in the second round of the tournament when they take on Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks. The game will take place in Columbia, South Carolina on March 19th at a time yet to be announced.

First Four: Golden Eagles soar over the Monmouth Hawks

It had been over 40 years since Monmouth had been to a tournament game.

On Thursday, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles defeated the Monmouth Hawks, 79-69, and broke a few March Madness droughts.

It had been a few decades since the Golden Eagles had been to the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament and won a game. It had been over 40 years since Monmouth had been to a tournament game.

Four players for Tennessee tech had double digits and with 12 three-pointers made, the Hawks couldn’t overcome the deficit. The Golden Eagles advance to the Field of 64 and will take on No. 1 seeded Indiana on March 18th at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.

This is only the eighth victory for the Ohio Valley Conference in the NCAA Tournament with Tennessee Tech accounting for four of those victories over the years.

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First Four: St. John’s storms past Purdue to victory

St. John’s Red Storm defeat Purdue, 66-64, and advance the the Round of 64 in the 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA tournament.

St. John’s Red Storm defeat Purdue, 66-64, and advance the the Round of 64 in the 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA D1 tournament. The Red Storm held the lead for the majority of the game, but Purdue made a late run in the fourth quarter and almost took the game.

St. John’s made 11 three-pointers in the game with senior guard Unique Drake accounting for 4 of those buckets. Jayla Everett, a redshirt senior, led the Storm with 20 points and Drake put down a solid 16 points.

This was the 11th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first in seven years. The first time they made the tournament was back in 1983. The Johnnies will take on the No. 6 seed North Carolina on Saturday, March 4:00 p.m. ET.

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First Four: Mississippi State fetched a win over Illinois to keep March Madness dream alive

Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the University of Illinois Wednesday night, 70-56, in the First Four of the 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA D1 tournament.

Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the University of Illinois Wednesday night, 70-56, in the First Four of the 2023 March Madness Women’s NCAA D1 tournament. This is Mississippi’s 21st win of the season and 23rd all-time NCAA Tournament win. This is head coach Sam Purcell’s first season with the Bulldogs.

“Here you go. You know you always get me. You get me. I’m not doing it. Again, it’s not about me. I appreciate all the love and the recognition, but I would not be sitting here today if I wasn’t coaching a great group of young women,” Purcell said.

Redshirt Senior Jessika Carter was dominant scoring 22 points with nine rebounds. Mississippi State’s bench outscored Illinois 20-6 with two other players, Anastasia Hayes and JerKaila Jordan, scoring in double digits.

Mississippi State will take on the No. 6 seeded Creighton Blue Jays in the Round of 64 which is scheduled for Friday, March 17th at 6:00 p.m. ET.

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