Latest news with #SpokaneRegional
Forbes
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Transfer Portal Buzzing: Olivia Miles & Avery Howell Stun Fans With Shocking Moves
On Sunday night minutes before the start of the Spokane Regional championship match between UConn and USC the stadium was not only buzzing with anticipation of the game but the news that hit social media: graduate guard Olivia Miles had entered the transfer portal. Miles, projected to be the number two pick in the 2025 WNBA draft had not only decided to forgo the draft but had also decided to leave Notre Dame who had recently lost to TCU in the Sweet 16 in the Birmingham Regional. However, Notre Dame has continued to make headlines over the last several days as Kate Koval, Kylee Watson, and Emma Risch have all announced they have entered the portal. Koval a 6'5' freshman center averaged 5.3 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks this season in her 10 starts. Watson, a 6'4' senior forward sat out this season due to injury/rehab, but in the 2023-2024 season she averaged 6.2 points per game, five rebounds, , 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks. Risch rounds out the list, the sophomore guard averaged 5.7 points per game, 1.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 13 games this season but a hip injury cut her season short. Irish head coach Niele Ivey is currently left with four players as she also graduated five players, with four of them declaring for the 2025 WNBA draft in Sonia Cintron, Liatu King, Liza Karlen, and Maddy Westbeld. Out of those four players remaining on the team, only Hannah Hidalgo has had substantial minutes and experience, as the team's point leader and the 2024-2025 ACC Player and Defensive Player of the Year. With this mass exodus, is there concern for Ivey's recruiting class? The Irish have the #19 recruit in the country coming in next season in five star forward Leah Macy. According to EJ Arocho, a national and international women's basketball scout, evaluator, and women's hoops writer, the biggest players in the portal right now are LSU's Sa'Myah Smith, Georgia Tech's Kara Dunn, Indiana's Yarden Garzon, Notre Dame's Koval (mentioned above), Bethune Cookman's Asianae Nicholson and the late addition of USC's Avery Howell. Losing sophomore forward Sa'Myah Smith is a large blow for LSU. Smith had a breakout NCAA tournament. In LSU's second round game against No. 14 San Diego State, Smith scored 10 points and had eight rebounds. In the Sweet 16 game against No. 6 Florida State, Smith had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds shooting an impressive 100% from the floor. In the Elite Eight game against No. 2 NC State, Smith again, had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. However, what makes Smith's loss more significant is LSU is graduating their other post player in Aneesah Morrow who led the nation in double-doubles. Plus, LSU's 2026 recruiting class is made up of top 100 recruits but mainly guards. Junior guard Kara Dunn is looking to the portal for a new opportunity. Dunn was an impact player for head coach Nell Fortner's squad as she averaged 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds this season, shooting 49% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc. In the post season, Dunn was a key component in the Yellow Jackets defeat of Virginia Tech in the second round of the Ally ACC tournament where she had 21 points. Even in the loss to NC State in the ACC quarterfinals, Dunn had 21 points on 50% shooting. Georgia Tech was a quiet but mighty contender throughout the year this season as they were undefeated until January 9 and ranked within the top 25. For Tech, losing Dunn and her consistent production will leave a gap that Tech will need to replace with their incoming recruiting class or portal transfers. Dunn was awarded First Team All-ACC honors for her performance in the regular season. International guard Yarden Garzon is looking at exploring her options outside of Indiana after three seasons with the Hoosiers. The junior from Ra'anana, Israel averaged 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, on 43.1% shooting this season. In the Hoosiers game against the No. 1 seeded South Carolina Gamecocks that saw the contest come down the last minutes of play, Garzon had 10 points and eight rebounds. However, for coaches looking at guards in the portal, Garzon's play in the Big 10 and NCAA tournaments demonstrates her ability to score. In the Big 10 second round, Garzon scored 15 points and had seven rebounds against Purdue in their 77-57 win, as well as 18 points in their 78-62 win against Oregon. Although the Hoosiers lost to USC in the Big 10 quarterfinals, Garzon put up 23 points in the loss, and in their second round win against No. 8 Utah, she scored 17 points, contributed seven rebounds, and shot 50% from the floor. Garzon was awarded Big 10 Second Team honors for the regular season. After a breakout year for Asianae Nicholson who saw her stat lines drastically improve at Bethune Cookman, she has entered the portal. Nicholson averaged 12.7 points, 11.8 rebounds while shooting 44.5% from the field this year which was a huge increase from 2.4 points and 3.6 rebounds the year prior. Nicholson also saw her time on the floor this season double. As a HBCU player, Nicholson has largely flown under the radar, but in her last five games of the season she had five straight double-doubles. Nicholson was named to the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Second Team and to the HBCU Women's Basketball Division I All-American Team. However, late on April 2, USC's freshman guard Avery Howell entered the portal. This one shocked basketball writers and fans alike on Wednesday night. Howell played in 35 games for the Trojans, averaged 20.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 3 rebounds, and 39.9% from beyond the arc. Howell was crucial in the success of the Trojans without superstar JuJu Watkins who tore her ACL in the second round of the tournament. In the Sweet 16 matchup against No. 9 Mississippi State that would see Watkins carried off the floor, Howell had 18 points in the team win. Howell would have 18 points again in the Elite Eight game against no. 5 Kansas State to elevate USC to their matchup against UConn for a spot in the Final Four. This is a particularly tough blow for head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and her staff as the freshman was shooting 44.4 and 50% beyond the arc in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. Arocho stated and ranked that some programs have already scored big commits out of the portal. First, and foremost, Jada Williams, the highly sought after guard from Arizona has decided to transfer to Iowa State. In the past couple weeks, it seemed to come down to Iowa or Iowa State, with the Cyclones winning the contest. Williams is a savvy guard able to score (12.7 points per game) and distribute the ball (2.9 assists). University of South Florida picked up IU Indianapolis' senior guard Katie Davidson. Davidson averaged 19.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and was shooting 50.2% from the floor this season. Davidson played her first two years of college in the Mid-American conference before transferring to IU Indy. Cincinnati picked up Florida Atlantic University's junior guard Mya Perry. Perry averaged 15.5 points per game, 3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. Before playing at FAU, Perry played one season at Ohio State, however, Perry had very few minutes for the Buckeyes, in comparison to the Owls, where she was a consistent starter. For her play this season, Perry was named to the American Athletic All-Conference Second Team. Baylor might be losing seniors that helped carry them far in the Big 12 tournament and March Madness but found a key element in Auburn's Taliah Scott. Scott, a sophomore guard averaged 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and two assists this year. Scott has proven she can compete at the highest level as she played at Arkansas during 2023-2024 season averaging 22.1 points per game and 3.3 rebounds. Oklahoma State acquired Haleigh Timmer from South Dakota State. Timmer as a sophomore led her team to a 2023 Summit League Tournament title and was the MVP but missed the next season due to injury. This season, Timmer, a junior averaged 12.8 points per game, with four rebounds, shooting 48.4%, and was named to the All-Summit League Honorable Mention team. South Dakota State won their 12th Summit League tournament title this season taking them to the NCAA tournament where they shocked No. 7 Oklahoma State winning as a 10 seed. Clearly, Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt had the opportunity to watch Timmer play up close in their match up as Timmer had 11 points and five rebounds in their matchup. Although TCU is losing their height and inside the paint game with center Sedona Prince graduating and exhausting her eligibility, they have gained an asset out of the portal in 6-foot-7 center Clara Silva from Kentucky. Silva appeared in 31 games averaging four points and 2.6 rebounds for Kenny Brooks Wildcat program and still has three years of eligibility remaining. After losing recently in the tournament to No. 1 overall seed and Final Four bound UCLA in the Sweet 16, it seems Coach Yolett 'Yo' McPhee-McCuin and her staff at Ole Miss have been extremely busy as they picked up Virginia's Latasha Lattimore, University of Central Florida's Kaitlin Peterson, and Wichita State's Jayla Murray. Lattimore a 6'4' senior forward averaged 14.3 points and 8.2 rebounds this year for the Wahoos. Lattimore had previously played at Texas her freshman season where she played in 32 games but only saw an average of 10 minutes. She transferred and played at the University of Miami for two season seeing her minutes increase. However, Lattimore still transferred and had her most productive season yet at Virginia this year. Needless to say with Coach Yo losing size with her graduating class she is most likely hoping Lattimore will help replace that front court presence. Ole Miss also secured UCF's senior guard Kaitlin Peterson who averaged 21.4 points per game this season. Peterson's last two years at UCF she has averaged more than 20 points per game. Before coming to UCF, Peterson played her first two seasons at Indiana but did not see an enormous amount of playing time. In addition to Peterson's scoring ability, Coach Yo added Jayla Murray, a junior forward from Wichita State to her roster. Murray averaged 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, shooting 49% from the floor, nearly doubling her production from the previous year. Murray's improvement was noticed this season as she was named to the American All-Second Conference Team. As of April 2, (which has a live tracker run by women's basketball report Talia Goodman), reports that there are 1,162 active Division I basketball players in the women's basketball transfer portal with only 57 committed to new teams. You can find more of Arocho and Goodman's breaking news related to the transfer portal and women's basketball on X: @EJayArrow & @TaliaGoodmanWBB.
Los Angeles Times
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
The Sports Report: UCLA gets revenge and advances to Final Four
Howdy, I'm your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let's get right to the news. From Ben Bolch: This time, everything came together when it mattered most. Lauren Betts made sure of it, following one powerful move with another. This time, the last seconds were full of joyous anticipation. Kiki Rice made the most of them, sinking two late free throws inside Spokane Arena. This time, there was reason to celebrate the meaning of it all. Gabriela Jaquez made sure to marinate in this moment, bouncing gleefully toward half-court while her teammates formed a joyous mob. A year after Louisiana State ended UCLA's season in the NCAA women's basketball tournament, the Bruins returned the favor. Making the critical plays it needed in the final minutes, top-seeded UCLA pulled away for a 72-65 victory over the third-seeded Tigers on Sunday in a Spokane Regional final, propelling the Bruins to their first Final Four in this tournament in school history. Hello, Tampa! UCLA (34-2) will face either top-seeded USC or second-seeded Connecticut in a national semifinal on Friday at Amalie Arena. Continue reading here NCAA women's basketball bracket From Ryan Kartje: Kennedy Smith could feel her body dragging. It was late December, and she'd just returned from a month-long injury absence. She was still getting her legs back, still trying to find her footing in her first season at USC. But there was no time for that here, not with Paige Bueckers and Connecticut pushing the pace, testing every inch of the Trojans' defense. However fatigued she might have felt, no one could tell that day. The freshman had played just four games at USC to that point, but even then played an essential role in lifting the Trojans past the Huskies, all while on a minutes restriction. To Beth Burns, the architect of USC's defense, it was classic Kennedy. 'What she does, she works four times as hard as some other people on the floor because of what we're asking her to do,' Burns said. 'She takes it on and then some.' Four months later, as a rematch with No. 2 seed Connecticut awaits in the Elite Eight, Smith must shoulder more than ever in the wake of JuJu Watkins' season-ending injury. In USC's Sweet 16 win over Kansas State, she was the Trojans' catalyst on offense, scoring 11 of their first 13 points and leading the team with 19. But it's her defense that will need to make a difference Monday, as a possible head-to-head matchup with Bueckers beckons with a Final Four bid on the line. Continue reading here From Dan Woike: On this patch of land in Pacific Palisades, JJ Redick found heaven. When his family would finish dinner, as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, he and his wife, Chelsea, and their sons, Knox and Kai, would leave the house they were renting on Earlham Street and walk toward the spot he loved so dearly. From these bluffs he could gaze at the ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains. He'd come back to Los Angeles looking for something exactly like this, the intersection of nature and community, a place where he could soak in the splendor while his young family could take root and become a part of the community's fabric. 'Everybody has, whether you believe in God or not, everybody has things that make you feel like you're closer to God, if that makes sense — where you can feel the presence of God or whatever spirit you believe in,' Redick said. The spot reminded him of his childhood and the Blue Ridge Mountains where he grew up, and vacations at Holden Beach on the shores in North Carolina. 'Being where I can see mountains and the ocean is I'm like in heaven,' he said. Continue reading here From Dylan Hernández: When their moment came to show the world what they were about, they were served a fastball over the middle of the plate. And the Dodgers whiffed. Stupid me, thinking they'd overcome their penchant for choking when they won the World Series last season. The Dodgers have accepted an invitation from President Trump to visit the White House on April 7, the franchise of Jackie Robinson bending the knee to hateful forces similar to the ones they challenged when breaking their sport's color barrier. How pathetic. How spineless. More than anything, how hypocritical. Continue reading here From Ben Bolch: Remember those sayings about college football coaches in their first few seasons? You know, how people would justify their struggles? It's still early. Give him time. He just has to get his guys in. Well, those excuses are gone. Less than a week after his first season ended, DeShaun Foster essentially said so himself. 'We're going to be able to reload,' the UCLA coach said in December when asked about holes he needed to fill on a roster that had just completed a 5-7 season. 'That's the nature of the business. You guys have seen plenty of teams go from three wins or whatever they did to conference championships, you know? Prime [Colorado coach Deion Sanders] has done the same thing — he lost a lot of guys in the portal and he was able to reload.' In other words, Foster just put himself on a loudly ticking clock. Continue reading here From the Associated Press: Kyren Paris homered on the first pitch he saw after a lengthy rain delay and the Angels rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Sunday. Paris — a second-round pick in 2019 — hit his first home run this year after hitting one last season in 51 at-bats. Closer Kenley Jansen gave up a leadoff double to Andrew Vaughn and a walk to Matt Thaiss to begin the bottom of the ninth. He got Miguel Vargas to pop out before inducing a double-play grounder from Brooks Baldwin. Mike Trout collected his first hit of the season when he singled to load the bases in the top of the first inning. Jorge Soler followed with a sacrifice fly and Yoán Moncada had an RBI groundout for a 2-0 lead. Continue reading here Angels-White Sox box score MLB scores MLB standings From the Associated Press: Jarrett Allen scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 24 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Clippers 127-122 on Sunday afternoon. Evan Mobley had 22 points as Cleveland reached 60 wins for the third time in franchise history, and the first since the 2009-10 season. The Cavaliers (60-15) moved 4½ games ahead of Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Allen and Mitchell also had 12 rebounds, while Mitchell was three assists shy of a triple-double. Continue reading here Clippers-Cavaliers box score NBA scores NBA standings From the Associated Press: Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele scored twice and Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and two assists as the Kings set a team record for home victories in a season, beating the San José Sharks 8-1 on Sunday night. Phillip Danault, Trevor Moore and Trevor Lewis also scored, and the Kings picked up their 27th home victory. They previously had 26 victories on home ice four times, with the most recent instance coming in 2022-23. David Rittich made 22 saves. The Kings moved two points ahead of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division as they jockey for home-ice advantage ahead of a probable fourth straight meeting in the first round of the playoffs. Continue reading here Kings-Sharks box score NHL scores NHL standings From the Associated Press: Steven Lorentz scored the tiebreaking goal on a deflection with 8:25 to play, and the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a two-goal lead before prevailing 3-2 victory over the Ducks on Sunday night. Leo Carlsson scored his 20th goal and Sam Colangelo tied it on a power play early in the third period for Anaheim, which will soon wrap up its seventh consecutive non-playoff season. Lukas Dostal stopped 20 shots. Carlsson put a shot through traffic for his fourth goal in three games. He has the first 20-goal season by any Ducks player under 21. The 20-year-old former No. 2 overall pick finished the best month of his two-year NHL career with 17 points in 15 games in March. Continue reading here Ducks-Maple Leafs box score From the Associated Press: Rookie Riley Tiernan scored her first professional goal in the second half and Angel City defeated the visiting Seattle Reign 2-1 on Sunday night at BMO Stadium. Tiernan's goal came on a header in the 63th minute. She's the third rookie to score in the league this year. 'Probably the highlight of my life, to be honest,' Tiernan said with a smile after the game. Alyssa Thompson scored for Angel City in the eighth minute with a hard strike from the top of the box. She yelled in celebration before she was embraced by her sister, Gisele Thompson, a defender on the team. Continue reading here NWSL scores NWSL standings 1923 — The Ottawa Senators of the NHL completes a two-game sweep of the WCHL's Edmonton Eskimos with a 1-0 victory to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years. Harry 'Punch' Broadbent scores the goal. 1931 — Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven others die in a plane crash in a wheat field near Bazaar, Kansas. During his 13 years at Notre Dame, the 43-year-old coach, led the 'Fighting Irish' to 105 victories, 12 losses, five ties and three national championships. 1968 — The American League's new franchise in Seattle chooses Pilots as its nickname. 1973 — The Philadelphia Flyers tie an NHL record for most goals in one period, scoring eight goals in the second period of a 10-2 win over the New York Islanders. 1973 — Ken Norton scores a stunning upset by winning a 12-round split decision over Muhammad Ali to win the NABF heavyweight title. Norton, a 5-1 underdog, breaks Ali's jaw in the first round. 1975 — UCLA beats Kentucky 92-85 for its 10th NCAA basketball title under head coach John Wooden. Wooden finishes with a 620-147 career record after announcing his retirement two days earlier. 1976 — Cleveland Cavaliers beat Jazz to clinch club's first ever NBA playoff berth. 1980 — Larry Holmes scores a TKO in the eighth round over Leroy Jones to retain his WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas. 1980 — Mike Weaver knocks out John Tate in the 15th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Knoxville, Tenn. 1982 — NBA and NBAPA reach 4-year agreement on return for minimum & maximum payrolls, the first of its kind in team sports. 1984 — Mike Bossy becomes first player in NHL history to record 7 straight 50 goal seasons. 1985 — Old Dominion beats Georgia in the 4th NCAAW National Championship. 1986 — Freshman center Pervis Ellison hits two free throws with 27 seconds left to seal Louisville's 72-69 victory over Duke in the NCAA basketball championship. 1990 — 20-year old C Joe Sakic becomes the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season 1991 — Tennessee edges Virginia 70-67 in overtime for its third NCAA women's basketball title. It's the first overtime in the NCAA's 10-year history. 1991 — Amy Alcott wins the Dinah Shore golf tournament with a record eight-shot victory over Dottie Mochrie. 1994 — Chicago White Sox assigns former NBA superstar Michael Jordan to the Birmingham Barons of Class AA Southern League. 1995 — Major league baseball players end their strike. 1997 — Martina Hingis becomes the youngest No. 1 player in tennis history. The 16-year-old Swiss sensation, who claimed her fifth title of 1997 at the Lipton Championships on March 29, supplants Steffi Graf in the WTA Tour rankings. 1998 — Expansion clubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks both suffer losses in their MLB debuts. 2002 — UConn women's basketball team beat Oklahoma, 82-70; Huskies conclude perfect season (39-0). 2002 — Andre Agassi wins his 700th career match and captures his second straight Key Biscayne Title. 2005 — Tarence Kinsey hits a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to lift South Carolina to a 60-57 victory over Saint Joseph's for the NIT championship. 2012 — Ray Whitney passes 1,000 career points with a goal and assist in Phoenix's 4-0 victory over Anaheim. 2013 — In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA women's tournament, sixth-seeded Louisville stuns defending national champion Baylor in the regional semifinals, 82-81. It's the end of a remarkable college career for Baylor's Brittney Griner, a record-setting 6-foot-8 post player who ended up as the second-highest scoring player in NCAA history. 2013 — Pete Weber ties Earl Anthony by winning his 10th major Professional Bowlers Association title with a 224-179 win over Australian Jason Belmonte in the Tournament of Champions. 2017 — UConn's record 111-game winning streak comes to a startling end when Mississippi State pulls off perhaps the biggest upset in women's basketball history, shocking the Huskies 66-64 on Morgan William's overtime buzzer beater in the national semifinals. 2018 — Anthony Joshua beats Joseph Parker by unanimous decision to become a three-belt world heavyweight boxing champion. Joshua adds Parker's WBO belt to his WBA and IBF titles, and moves within one belt of becoming the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000. Compiled by the Associated Press
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UCLA shines in critical moments to defeat LSU and reach Final Four for first time
UCLA shines in critical moments to defeat LSU and reach Final Four for first time UCLA players and coaches celebrate after defeating LSU 72-65 in the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA tournament on Sunday. (Young Kwak / Associated Press) This time, everything came together when it mattered most. Lauren Betts made sure of it, following one powerful move with another. This time, the last seconds were full of joyous anticipation. Kiki Rice made the most of them, sinking two late free throws inside Spokane Arena. Advertisement This time, there was reason to celebrate the meaning of it all. Gabriela Jaquez made sure to marinate in this moment, bouncing gleefully toward half-court while her teammates formed a joyous mob. Read more: Lauren Betts dominates again as UCLA advances to Elite Eight showdown with LSU A year after Louisiana State ended UCLA's season in the NCAA women's basketball tournament, the Bruins returned the favor. Making the critical plays it needed in the final minutes, top-seeded UCLA pulled away for a 72-65 victory over the third-seeded Tigers on Sunday in a Spokane Regional final, propelling the Bruins to their first Final Four in school history. Advertisement Hello, Tampa! UCLA (34-2) will face either top-seeded USC or second-seeded Connecticut in a national semifinal on Friday at Amalie Arena. It took some late fortitude to set the stage for the cross-country trip. With LSU having closed to within 59-53, Jaquez followed two free throws with a three-pointer that she celebrated by raising her arms in triumph. UCLA held a 62-53 lead and just needed to play a clean final 90 seconds. The Bruins got the job done. UCLA players celebrate after defeating LSU in the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA tournament on Sunday. (Young Kwak / Associated Press) This was the long-awaited breakthrough UCLA had been seeking under coach Cori Close, who has taken her teams to the second weekend of this tournament seven times. The Bruins had reached a regional final only once previously under their current coach, losing to Mississippi State in 2018. Advertisement Now they're two victories away from the school's first NCAA title in the sport after winning the 1978 AIAW championship behind the dynamic play of Ann Meyers and Denise Curry. Joining them in school lore will be Betts, who continued her dominant run in this tournament with 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks. The 6-foot-7 center has now tallied 78 points, 31 rebounds and 11 blocks over her last three games. Jaquez added 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals and Timea Gardiner made five of eight three-pointers on the way to 15 points. The Bruins celebrated by dumping a cooler of confetti on Close. Beating LSU (31-6) necessitated a better finish than a year ago, when the Bruins missed their final eight shots while being outscored 14-2 on the way to a 78-69 loss. Showing the poise their coach had referenced her players having on the eve of the rematch, UCLA did not wilt this time. Advertisement Returning from foul trouble to start the second half, Betts quickly reasserted herself. She stepped out to contest an Aneesah Morrow three-pointer that was airballed, made a layup and snagged a defensive rebound. Londynn Jones added a three-pointer to push the Bruins' lead into double digits for the first time, forcing LSU to call a timeout. UCLA was just getting started. After Jones followed a steal in the backcourt with a jumper and Jaquez added a three-pointer, the Bruins' cushion was up to 43-29 and the Tigers needed another timeout. UCLA players celebrate after defeating LSU on Sunday to reach the Final Four. (Young Kwak / Associated Press) LSU surged to get within 46-41 before Morrow, the Tigers' leading scorer to that point with 13 points, went down with an injury and briefly had to go to the locker room before returning for the fourth quarter. Guard Flau'Jae Johnson led LSU with 28 points. Advertisement After getting played closely in the first half of its most recent tournament victories over Richmond and Mississippi, UCLA's 31-25 halftime lead over the Tigers felt like a massive edge. It largely came courtesy of Gardiner's making all three three-pointers she took in the second quarter, helping the Bruins withstand playing the entire quarter without Betts because of foul trouble. Earlier this week, Close had said she wanted her team to be able to push through chaos and have the flexibility to play the game 'like an art project, not a scientific formula.' That chaos came in the form of playing so many minutes without the team's best player. Betts had asserted herself in the early going, blocking two shots in the first 10 seconds and making three of five shots before exiting the game. But despite a prolonged shooting slump by the Tigers, who missed 14 of their first 16 shots, UCLA could not build more than a five-point lead. Two missed layups and three missed free throws were largely to blame. Read more: UCLA finds its Dylan Andrews replacement in former New Mexico standout Donovan Dent Advertisement Things deteriorated further for the Bruins late in the first quarter when Betts was called for her second foul, sending her to the bench for the rest of the first half. But then something encouraging happened: UCLA went on a run. Back-to-back three-pointers from Jaquez and Gardiner capped a 12-2 push that gave the Bruins a 23-17 advantage and swung the momentum hugely in their favor. They would not let up, this time different from so many others. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Forbes
30-03-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Bueckers Joins Historic Group in Tonight's Victory Sending UConn To The Elite Eight
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 29: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates in the ... More fourth quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Arena on March 29, 2025 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by) Tonight in the Spokane Regional, graduate guard Paige Bueckers added another accolade to her growing and long list of accomplishments scoring 40 points. Bueckers became the fourth player in UConn history (fifth instance) to score 40 points in a game, and the first to do it in the NCAA tournament. Bueckers joins elite company in the Huskies record books with Nykesha Sales scoring 46 points in 1997, Maya Moore (40, 41) in 2009 and 2010, and Katie Lou Samuelson (40) in 2017. With tonight's 40 point performance Bueckers passed Maya Moore for the most 25-point games in the NCAA Tournament (7) by a UConn player in the last 25 years. She also surpasses Seimone Augustus (LSU, 2002-2006) and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn, 2011-2015) to become the 10th-highest scorer in March Madness history. Additionally, Bueckers performance tonight places her 16th on the highest scoring individual performances in March Madness women's history and 13th on the list if performances taken after 2000 are considered. Bueckers joins Alabama's senior guard Sarah Ashlee Barker as the only player in the March Madness tournament this year so far to score 40 or more points. Barker scored 45 points making 17 of her 25 field goal attempts, including four 3-pointers in the double overtime loss to Maryland in the second round. SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 29: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates with ... More teammates in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Arena on March 29, 2025 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by) In the 82-59 win tonight against the Oklahoma Sooners, Bueckers led the team at the half with 11 points, making 4 of her 11 field goal attempts, going 1-for-2 from beyond the arc and a perfect 2-for-2 at the foul line. However, the Huskies found themselves down four points to OU at the half. Bueckers explained after the game that the Sooners had the upper hand at the half, "They had a great first half, and we didn't make a lot of shots, but we dug down defensively, stuck to our defense, and I think that's what we want to just hang our hat on, is defense winning games." As Bueckers said, the Husky defense plus her 29 second half points allowed the team to take a 23-point margin of victory which is the fourth-largest by a team in NCAA tournament history after trailing at the half, and second-largest in the Sweet 16 or later. Bueckers finished the game making 16 of her 27 field goal attempts, converting 6-of-8 three pointers, contributing six rebounds, and three steals. After the game when asked about her performance and being a part of a program with so many legends, Bueckers expressed, 'It is an honor. I'm extremely blessed and extremely grateful that I even get to play at UConn and be in these conversations with, like, the greatest of all time. But people see the points, but like, a large just attribution to Sarah, Jane, Ice, the way they were screening for me, getting me open, getting me looks. Like, everybody sees the points, but nobody seese the screens set, the passes that were found to me. So it's, I guess, an individual point total, but it's really a team effort.' UConn will play USC on Monday, March 31st at 9pm ET on ESPN for a chance to move on to their 24th Final Four. To follow along with coverage of the women's March Madness Spokane Regional, follow me on Twitter.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Coming off a loss, JuJu Watkins and USC eager to resume winning ways in March Madness
LOS ANGELES (AP) — JuJu Watkins and her Southern California teammates have had plenty of time to stew and then get over their loss to rival UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament title game. Nearly two weeks later, the top-seeded Trojans (28-3) are eager to return to their winning ways in March Madness. They host 16th-seeded UNC Greensboro (25-6) in a first-round game Saturday at Galen Center, where the Trojans were 14-1 in the regular season. 'It's been about urgency in each moment because it is a one-and-done situation, but still a confidence that we have everything that we need,' USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. 'So a lot of our last two weeks have been about technical things and also about mindset. We can be one of the top teams that still has room for growth and that's an exciting thing.' Watkins led her team to the Elite Eight last year, losing to Paige Bueckers and UConn. In December, the Trojans beat UConn by two points. If both teams advance, they could face each other again in the Spokane Regional. First, though, the Trojans face the Spartans, who were the Southern Conference regular season and tournament champions, earning the program's second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. All eyes will be on Watkins, who is 79 points away from breaking Kelsey Mitchell's two-year scoring total of 1,762. The star guard already surpassed Caitlin Clark's two-year total of 1,662 points when she had 29 in the Big Ten title game loss. Watkins' will to win is well-known, but she sees the same commitment in her teammates. 'I think that's really important,' she said. 'Every day people come in here ready to go and it's something that pushes me to be better. The sky's the limit for this team, for sure.' In Saturday's second game, eighth-seeded California (25-8) plays No. 9 seed Mississippi State (21-11). Racking up the miles California joined the ACC from the West Coast-based Pac-12 this season. That meant trips to Clemson, Duke, Wake Forest and Virginia. Toss in visits to Louisville and Notre Dame, plus the ACC Tournament in North Carolina, and the Golden Bears racked up their share of mileage. To get to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, however, they jumped on a short flight from the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles. No time changes necessary. 'We'll have a lot of support,' forward Marta Suárez said. 'At least a little bit more than in Greensboro, you know?' Coach Charmin Smith said the team oversold its block of tickets this week. Getting away from it When Watkins needs to get her mind off basketball, she streams 'Severance,' a science fiction psychological thriller. Gottlieb took a night off ahead of March Madness to attend a Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Los Angeles Clippers this week. Gottlieb was an assistant for the NBA team from 2019-2021 before leaving for the Trojans. 'With everything going on in my head to just watch a game and to kind of be a fan and just watch what chemistry on the bench looks like, watch what those two high-level teams are doing,' Gottlieb said. 'That kind of gets me in my zone when I can just take basketball from a different perspective.' Cavs guard Darius Garland told Gottlieb how proud he is of her. Assistant Mike Gerrity, a USC grad, said he's rooting for the Trojans. 'It shows how locked in people are on women's basketball and what we're doing here,' Gottlieb said. 'They don't try to give suggestions on what to run or what to do. They're just supportive.' ___ AP March Madness bracket: and coverage: Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
