Tag: Women’s NCAA Tournament

Game time, TV set for Colorado’s Sweet 16 rematch against Iowa

Plenty of eyeballs will be on Colorado’s Sweet 16 rematch vs. Iowa

A good number of eyeballs should be on the Colorado Buffaloes’ NCAA women’s basketball tournament rematch against Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes.

Following Iowa’s round of 32 win over West Virginia, it was announced that Saturday’s Sweet 16 showdown between the Buffs and Hawkeyes will be nationally televised on ABC. The game will tip off at 1:30 p.m. MT (3:30 p.m. ET) at MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

Play-by-play voice Ryan Ruocco, analyst Rebecca Lobo and sideline reporter Holly Rowe will be on the broadcast for ABC.

In last year’s Sweet 16 matchup, Clark scored 31 points en route to besting the Buffs, 87-77. The Hawkeyes later fell to LSU in the national championship game.

This season, fifth-seeded Colorado beat Drake in the first round and Kansas State in the round of 32 to earn its second straight Sweet 16 bid. No. 1 Iowa, which recently secured its third consecutive Big Ten title, got past Holy Cross and West Virginia in the first two rounds.

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PHOTOS: CU Buffs women’s basketball snags Sweet 16 berth with win over Kansas State

Relive Colorado’s emphatic NCAA Tournament victory at Kansas State

For the second straight season, head coach JR Payne and the Colorado Buffaloes are headed to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Sweet 16.

The fifth-seeded Buffs punched their ticket to Albany by upsetting the fourth-seeded Kansas State Wildcats on their home court Sunday afternoon, 63-50.

Colorado backup point guard Tameiya Sadler played hero in front of a sold-out Bramlage Coliseum crowd, scoring 10 critical points in the second half. Fellow veteran Maddie Nolan also came up clutch early with three huge 3-pointers.

The Buffs will face either West Virginia or Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the Sweet 16 later this week.

Check out the best pictures from Colorado’s March Madness win over K-State:

Oklahoma Sooners survive Florida Gulf Coast upset bid to advance in NCAA Tournament

After trailing for all of the entirety of the first half, the Oklahoma Sooners rallied to beat Florida Gulf Coast 73-70 to advance.

In their opening-round matchup, the Oklahoma Sooners were put to the test by No. 12 seed and ASun champion Florida Gulf Coast.

Oklahoma fell behind in the first quarter by as much as 12 points and were down 10 after the first 10 minutes. But [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag]’s squad responded with a big second quarter to trail by just two at halftime.

The Sooners shot it well in the first, but Florida Gulf Coast forced them into four turnovers, and the Eagles earned four offensive rebounds to keep the pressure on the No. 5 seed Oklahoma.

In the second quarter, the Sooners turned up the defensive pressure, holding the Eagles to just 26.7% shooting after they shot 47% in the first quarter. That defensive effort allowed Oklahoma to cut into the deficit.

Oklahoma’s dynamic forward duo [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag] and [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] led the way with 10 points apiece.

The second half featured a back-and-forth affair with each team taking leads throughout the final 20 minutes.

Battling an injury, Vann continued her dynamic NCAA Tournament performance with 14 second-half points, including six fourth-quarter points and a free throw that gave OU a three-point lead in the final seconds of the game. [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] came up clutch with seven of her 11 points in the fourth, including what turned out to be the game-winner with under a minute to play.

For the game, Vann scored 24 points on 9 of 18 shooting to lead the way for the Sooners who had just three players in double figures in the win.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Emani Jefferson had a fantastic game, with 22 points and 12 rebounds to give the Sooners fits.

For the game, Oklahoma held Florida Gulf Coast to just 37% shooting and the Sooners only led for a total of 7:57 of game time.

The Sooners survived and now will take on the host Indiana Hoosiers in the round of 32 on Monday. Gametime is currently to be determined.

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Game preview: Colorado to face host Kansas State in the round of 32

The Colorado women are one win away from getting back to the Sweet 16

Last season, the Colorado women’s basketball team upset Duke in a No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed second-round matchup, knocking the host Blue Devils out of the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, the Buffs will try to beat another host team, as No. 5 seed Colorado (23-9) will face off against the No. 4 seed Kansas State Wildcats (26-7) in Manhattan.

In their first-round matchup on Friday, the Wildcats dispatched Portland State, 78-65, with senior guard Gabby Gregory leading the team with 22 points. Kansas State is 16-1 on its home court this season. The Wildcats’ only loss came against the Iowa State Cyclones in late February.

Colorado beat Drake, 86-72, on Friday evening to open its March Madness run. Aaronette Vonleh and Jaylyn Sherrod combined for 34 points.

Sunday’s round of 32 game will feature a premiere matchup in the paint as Vonleh will battle Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee. Both players lead their respective teams in scoring. Vonleh averages 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while Lee averages 20.1 points and 8.5 boards.

Following CU’s first-round win over Drake, Buffs head coach JR Payne was asked about preparing for Kansas State:

“Lots of film, lots of rest tonight for the girls,” Payne said. “This is a Pac-12 schedule we’re playing this weekend — Friday-Sunday. We’re used to the rhythm of it. I think our team will do a great job of resting. Tomorrow morning, we wake up (and) the scout (report) is already done. (We’ll) start teaching our team the scout. What’s important? What does it look like? What does it feel like?”

Colorado and Kansas State will tip off at noon MT on ESPN.

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USC Women’s NCAA Tournament preview: Trojans are focused on Game 1, but what about Game 2?

USC, if it wins its first game this weekend, has a short turnaround for a Monday second-rounder. Here’s a quick look:

The USC Trojans need to win four games in the next two weeks to punch their ticket to the 2024 Women’s Final Four in Cleveland. This Women’s NCAA Tournament will be an unqualified success for USC if it can get that far. First things first, though: USC needs to win its two games this weekend in the Galen Center at the NCAA Women’s Tournament’s subregional, the four-team pod through which one team will advance to the Sweet 16 next week in Portland. USC has its first-round game versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, but before that game on Saturday in Galen, Michigan and Kansas will battle in the 9-versus-8 seed matchup.

In previewing this subregional, Kansas appears to be the tougher, thornier potential opponent for USC for one basic reason: The Jayhawks are a defense-first team. They rely on their toughness to win games. This brings up a memory from last year’s NCAA Tournament which doesn’t involve USC but could play into a potential Kansas-USC matchup on Monday in the second round.

Ole Miss, under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, is a defense-first team. “Coach Yo” had Ole Miss ready to muck things up against Stanford and its skilled performers in the second round last year. It didn’t matter that Stanford was a No. 1 seed playing on its home floor. Ole Miss made the game physical and ugly and difficult, and Stanford couldn’t handle that. USC has seen what a physical, tough, defense-first team can do to its offense. Arizona really bothered the Trojans in recent weeks. Kansas could be that thorny kind of foe in the second round. USC needs to be ready to win an ugly game.

Yes, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is the first point of focus for this team. We’re not ignoring that. However, in terms of looking at all four teams in Los Angeles this weekend, we who write about USC sports can give you a little sneak peek at Kansas in a possible second-round game. Our conclusion: Michigan beating Kansas would be a good outcome for USC. We will see what happens.

Michigan-Kansas starts the Saturday schedule at Galen Center at 11 a.m. local time in Los Angeles on ESPNEWS. USC then follows with a 1:30 p.m. game (30 minutes after Michigan-Kansas) on ESPN.

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The most important number for USC women’s basketball in NCAA Tournament first-round game

Beyond winning the game, USC needs to achieve one other specific goal in its NCAA Tournament opener on Saturday.

The USC women’s basketball team begins the Women’s NCAA Tournament this Saturday afternoon on its home floor in the Galen Center, the first time the Trojans will host an NCAA Tournament game in Galen since the building opened nearly 20 years ago. It’s a special time for USC, coach Lindsay Gottlieb, superstar JuJu Watkins, and the rest of an overachieving team which won the Pac-12 Tournament and gained a No. 1 seed.

As USC prepares for its first-round game versus the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, the Trojans aren’t expected to be tested in this contest. It’s a 1 seed versus a 16 seed, after all. What should USC realistically try to get out of this game beyond a win? There’s one really big key, and there’s one number you should have in mind when thinking about that key point.

USC, if it wins on Saturday, would have to turn around on Monday and play another game against Michigan or Kansas. If you watched JuJu Watkins during the season, you know that in the games where she has more rest, she plays and shoots better. She always delivers on defense, but her better offensive games during the season usually came on Fridays and not Sundays. Her 51-point game against Stanford: Friday. Her excellent game versus Colorado: Friday. Her 8 of 27 shooting performance in the loss to Washington? Sunday. Her 6 of 32 shooting line at Oregon State? Sunday.

USC needs JuJu Watkins to be fresh for Monday. That means putting this game away at halftime or early in the third quarter, so that JuJu can get added rest for the Monday game.

The important number: 25. If JuJu Watkins doesn’t have to play more than 25 minutes, that would be a great result for USC. Watkins averages 34.3 minutes per game. Yes, she has had a long time to rest, but she needs her best game in the second round. She shouldn’t have to be at her very best against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. If JuJu can at least play fewer than 30 minutes, that would be good, but hitting 25 minutes — maybe 27 tops — would be especially encouraging for this team as it tries to handle the strain of playing two NCAA Tournament games in three days.

USC plays A&M-CC at 1:30 p.m. in Los Angeles on Saturday, with ESPN showing the game nationwide.

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Trojans Wire discusses Pac-12 basketball, Women’s NCAA Tournament on national podcast

We talked about USC women’s basketball, the Women’s NCAA Tournament, and more on The Jones Report with Tyler Jones.

The arrival of the Women’s NCAA Tournament is the big story here at Trojans Wire alongside USC spring football practice. My colleague Tim Prangley is covering spring ball, attending some of the practice sessions and diving into the details on the USC football roster. I am continuing to cover the USC women’s basketball team, which has attained a No. 1 seed in the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament.

Before Selection Sunday, I joined Tyler Jones of The Jones Report for a discussion of Pac-12 basketball, men and women, plus a brief talk about College Football Playoff expansion. I joined the broadcast at the 1-hour, 22-minute mark of the show, and I began to talk about USC women’s basketball and the Women’s NCAA Tournament just after the 1-hour, 38-minute mark of the show. I speculated about the possibility that USC could face Iowa in a potential Final Four semifinal. Sure enough, that’s how the bracket has unfolded. That matchup could happen. USC and Iowa now need to win four games apiece to make it happen.

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Arizona, viewed as a 50-50 Pac-12 bubble team, gets into Women’s NCAA Tournament

Arizona’s battles vs USC showed how good a team the Wildcats are. They deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament.

The Pac-12 women’s basketball bubble did not burst on Sunday for the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona was viewed as a bubble team through Selection Sunday, right up until the moment when the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament field was revealed. Arizona was going to be one of the last four teams in or one of the first four teams out. The Wildcats were near the cut line, and they were sweating along with other bubble teams across the country.

Then came the big moment: Arizona’s name came up as part of a First Four matchup with the Auburn Tigers. Arizona got into the very back end of the field of 68. The Wildcats got in mostly because they won on the road at Stanford, a huge victory with immense value that moved the needle just enough to get into the bracket. However, USC also helped Arizona make the field. The Trojans didn’t lose to the Wildcats, but they did struggle with them twice in under 10 days just before Selection Sunday. USC beat Arizona by one basket (two points in Tucson, three points in Las Vegas) on two separate occasions. Arizona didn’t get the huge win it hoped for, but by playing USC close in two different games, Arizona showed it could compete with the best in college basketball. When USC then beat UCLA and Stanford to win the Pac-12 Tournament, those near misses by Arizona looked better by comparison.

The selection committee recognized as much. The Pac-12 was rewarded for its quality with a seventh selection to the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Arizona joins USC, Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State, Colorado, and Utah to give the Pac-12 a large group of teams in March Madness.

Arizona’s First Four game versus Auburn is Thursday, March 21, at 4 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN2.

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Colorado given No. 5 seed entering third straight NCAA Tournament

The CU Buffs women are dancing, but not in Boulder

The Colorado Buffaloes are headed to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament for the third straight year, but it won’t be in Boulder as previously expected. Instead, they’ll visit Manhattan, Kansas this weekend as a No. 5 seed with No. 12 Drake awaiting them in the first round.

While Colorado was hoping to secure a top-four seed and the right to host, head coach JR Payne remains confident that her group has enough experience to handle a difficult road trip.

“We’ve played a lot of tough road games this year, and this one will be no different,” CU’s eighth-year head coach said.

Colorado, which is ranked No. 17 in the latest USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll, dropped five of its final six regular season games before bowing out in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.

Junior guard Frida Formann has confidence that Colorado can get back on track in Manhattan.

“It’s really just going back to the basics and getting back to who we are,” Formann said. “I don’t think there’s any magic to it. Honestly, when you get further into the season, people start to know you… Now, we have one guaranteed, so we just got to put it all out there.”

If the Buffs can get past the 29-5 Drake Bulldogs, they’ll face either No. 4 Kansas State or No. 13 Portland in the second round.

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How Colorado’s Pac-12 Tournament loss impacts its March Madness outlook

We may not be getting a March Madness game in Boulder anymore…

Colorado women’s basketball’s recent woes have likely cost the Buffs an opportunity to host first and second-round NCAA Tournament games.

Following Thursday’s double-overtime loss to Oregon State in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, the Buffs have dropped six of their last eight games during the season’s most critical juncture. As a result, ESPN women’s bracketologist Charlie Creme is no longer giving Colorado a top-four seed.

Creme released his latest March Madness projection on Friday morning and the Buffaloes were slotted as a No. 5 seed. The bracketology has Colorado headed to Notre Dame with a first-round matchup against No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast.

Fortunately, head coach JR Payne and the Buffs proved last season that they can win March Madness games on the road by beating both Middle Tennessee and Duke at Cameron Indoor. That same underdog energy now must be harnessed once again.

The 68-team NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket will be announced on March 17.

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