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American Press
28-04-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Cowgirls hope title is just the start
McNeese has won 14 straight SLC games to capture title. (McNeese Athletics photo) When the season began, James Landreneau wasn't sure exactly what he had as a team. The McNeese State softball coach knew there was talent, but also knew his club was young. Still, he expected to be in the Southland Conference race either way. 'I believe this, if you are going to get us, you better get us early,' Landreneau said. 'I think we are going to be pretty good at the end of the year.' He wasn't wrong. The Cowgirls overcame early issues, improved as the season progressed, and repeated their previous success, winning the SLC regular season championship. McNeese became the first team in league history to win four straight titles Saturday when they swept Stephen F. Austin in a doubleheader. The Cowgirls got a lot of help from Nicholls, which won its finale series against Southeastern to open the door for McNeese. But this club didn't sneak up on a championship; instead, it burst onto the scene as the preseason favorite Lady Lions. McNeese finished the season winning 14 of its last 15 games, losing only to nationally ranked LSU in Baton Rouge. All 14 of those wins came in league play. 'It is rewarding to see how this team came together, dealt with adversity early, and fought through that,' said Landreneau. 'How we handled that punch in the mouth and bounced back is what impresses me. 'It has been fun to watch them mature.' Now, they are back on top for the fourth time in a row and 10th overall, double that of Nicholls, which has the second most titles of all time. The Cowgirls have won eight of the last 12 regular-season titles. No championship was awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 'This is what we expect here, to win,' said senior shortstop Reece Reyna, the only player to ever be on four championship teams. 'I have been blessed to be here for four years.' McNeese's season turned at what appeared to be its lowest moment. After getting run-ruled in five innings by Southeastern 9-1 in the first game of a doubleheader in Hammond on April 4, the Cowgirls were three games behind the Lady Lions. Hopes of any four-peat seemed slim. Between games, the players held a meeting, and everything changed. 'We just talked about our goals,' said Reyna. 'We wanted to go down fighting. We did not want that to define us.' They not only won the next two to take the series over SELA and get back into the race, but they haven't lost a league game since. Their only defeat came at the hands of No. 10 LSU in Baton Rouge. 'What I'm proud of is how this group has matured,' said Landreneau. 'The leaders took it upon themselves to say something and turn things around. I didn't have to do it.' After sweeping Stephen F. Austin on the road over the weekend, McNeese is 37-18, 23-4, and won the league by two games. That means the Cowgirls gained five games on the Lions in 23 days. Now they will enter the postseason not only as the hottest team in the league, but also with home-field advantage for as long as they continue to win. The Cowgirls will open postseason play against East Texas A&M, whom they swept earlier this month by a combined 36-6 score. That game is set for 3 p.m. at Joe Miller Field. Their game against Louisiana Tech, scheduled for Tuesday night, has been cancelled. 'The championship is nice, but our main goal is to get back to the NCAA Tournament,' said Landreneau. 'The only way we do that is to win the Southland postseason championship. That is our only focus.' That drive opens Thursday.
USA Today
23-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Notre Dame beats Michigan in NCAA Tournament to advance to Sweet 16
Notre Dame beats Michigan in NCAA Tournament to advance to Sweet 16 Ask anyone before the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and they likely would have guessed Notre Dame would have trailed second-round opponent Michigan instead of first-round opponent Stephen F. Austin at some point. But unlike the Ladyjacks, who held an 8-2 advantage over the Irish before getting blown out, the Wolverines never led. The Irish are in the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year after winning, 76-55. The Irish (28-5) were in control against the Wolverines (23-11) from the opening tip. They were up 20 at the end of the first quarter, and everyone could see where this game was headed already. The Wolverines might have outscored the Irish in every other quarter, but those advantages were marginal. Their 15-1 run to close the game made it seem much closer than it actually was. If anyone watching on ABC opted to change the channel early, it was hard to blame them: Hannah Hidalgo led all scorers with 21 points. Liatu King made all seven of her field-goal attempts en route to a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Sonia Citron scored 16 points in her final game at Purcell Pavilion. Also singing their South Bend swan songs were Olivia Miles (eight points, five assists) and Maddy Westbeld (four points). Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions. Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89 More: Notre Dame fans spread powerful, uplifting message during tournament tilt More: Notre Dame crushes Stephen F. Austin in first game of NCAA Tournament More: Notre Dame alum has the perfect bracket for March Madness 2025
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness women's perfect bracket tracker: Only 138 perfect brackets remain as first round wraps up
It took a while for things to settle down, and there weren't many upsets on the day, but an incredible 97.9% of entries in Yahoo Sports' Women's Bracket Mayhem were busted after the first day of play on Friday in the women's NCAA tournament. Then, on Saturday night, with all but two games complete in the final round, only 138 perfect brackets remained. There weren't any big upsets in the early wave of games. UConn rolled to a 69-point win over Arkansas State, and NC State, Alabama, Iowa and West Virginia all picked up double-digit wins. But it still knocked out a good chunk of perfect brackets to get the day started and brought the number down to just 1.7% through 22 games. Then, after No. 10 South Dakota State's win over No. 7 Oklahoma State, USC's opening-round win and Mississippi State's win over Cal, just 0.2% were still standing. Then, after No. 6 Florida State grabbed a 35-point win over No. 11 George Mason, that number was brought down to less than 200. The Seminoles were the least-picked No. 6 seed in the tournament. Upsets were hard to come by on Friday in the women's tournament. Only No. 9 Indiana's 76-68 win over No. 8 Utah and No 10 Oregon's 77-73 overtime win over No. 7 Vanderbilt were technical upsets based on seeding. Richmond's blowout win over Georgia Tech, which wasn't an upset seeding-wise, knocked out about 5% of perfect brackets. The rest of the games went down as the selection committee expected. No. 1 seed South Carolina picked up a 60-point win over Tennessee Tech, and No. 3 Notre Dame beat No. 14 Stephen F. Austin by 52 points to rally after what was a brutal finish to the season for the Fighting Irish. Ohio State, TCU, Ole Miss and Baylor all grabbed double-digit wins, too. The biggest scare of Friday came after No. 4 Kentucky nearly blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead. The Wildcats beat No. 13 Liberty by just a single point in their matchup.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness women's perfect bracket tracker: Only 0.2% of perfect brackets remain after 28 games
It took a while for things to settle down, and there weren't many upsets on the day, but an incredible 97.9% of entries in Yahoo Sports' Women's Bracket Mayhem were busted after the first day of play on Friday in the women's NCAA tournament. Then, on Saturday afternoon, all but 0.2% remained as the first wave of games wrapped up. There weren't any big upsets in the early wave of games. UConn rolled to a 69-point win over Arkansas State, and NC State, Alabama, Iowa and West Virginia all picked up double-digit wins. But it still knocked out a good chunk of perfect brackets to get the day started and brought the number down to just 1.7% through 22 games. Then, after South Dakota State's win over Oklahoma State, USC's opening-round win and Mississippi State's win over Cal, just 0.2% were still standing. Upsets were hard to come by on Friday in the women's tournament. Only No. 9 Indiana's 76-68 win over No. 8 Utah and No 10 Oregon's 77-73 overtime win over No. 7 Vanderbilt were technical upsets based on seeding. Richmond's blowout win over Georgia Tech, which wasn't an upset seeding-wise, knocked out about 5% of perfect brackets. The rest of the games went down as the selection committee expected. No. 1 seed South Carolina picked up a 60-point win over Tennessee Tech, and No. 3 Notre Dame beat No. 14 Stephen F. Austin by 52 points to rally after what was a brutal finish to the season for the Fighting Irish. Ohio State, TCU, Ole Miss and Baylor all grabbed double-digit wins, too. The biggest scare of Friday came after No. 4 Kentucky nearly blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead. The Wildcats beat No. 13 Liberty by just a single point in their matchup.
Reuters
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Women's NCAA Birmingham 3 Roundup: No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Notre Dame advance
March 22 - Madison Conner scored 23 points as TCU, the second seed in the Birmingham 3 regional of the NCAA Women's Championship, shrugged off a slow start to beat No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson 73-51 on Friday afternoon in a first-round clash in Fort Worth, Texas. The Horned Frogs (32-3), who reached the second round for the first time since 2006, will play either seventh-seeded Louisville or 10th-seeded Nebraska in the Round of 32 on Sunday in Fort Worth. TCU trailed by three after the first period but rallied to carry a 35-27 lead into the break despite three key players shackled with foul trouble. The Horned Frogs stretched their advantage to 52-35 and were up by 15 heading to the final 10 minutes of play. Sedona Prince added 16 points and 10 rebounds for TCU, while Hailey Van Lith amassed 13 points and seven assists and Agnes Emma-Nnopu scored 10 points. Teneisia Brown's 18 points paced Fairleigh Dickinson (29-4), the Northeast Conference champion. Ava Renninger added 12 points for the Knights, who finished just 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. No. 3 Notre Dame 106, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 54 Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron scored 24 points apiece as the Fighting Irish easily dispatched the ? in South Bend, Ind. Lisa Karlen added 13 points for Notre Dame (27-5), with Maddy Westbeld scoring 12 and Liatu King hitting for 10 points. The Fighting Irish outshot Stephen F. Austin 56.3 percent to 32.8 percent from the floor, forced 28 turnovers that they converted into 38 points and forged a 44-30 rebounding edge in the easy win. Notre Dame shrugged off a slow start to tie the game at 8-8 on Hidalgo's layup at the 6:43 mark of the opening quarter. The Fighting Irish eventually led 26-13 after one period and had a 37-point advantage heading into the fourth. Trinity Moore's 14 points led Stephen F. Austin (29-6), while Avery VanSickle and Ashlyn Traylor-Walker finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. No. 4 Ohio State 71, Montana State 51 Taylor Thierry's 16 points led a balanced attack as the Buckeyes turned it on in the second half to beat the Bobcats in Columbus, Ohio. Chance Gray scored all 15 of her points from behind the 3-point line for Ohio State (26-6), which led by just five at halftime. Cotie McMahon also had 15 points, Jaloni Cambridge added 12 and Ajae Petty hit for 11. Montana State's Esmeralda Morales led all players with 20 points, while Natalie Picton added 12 for the Bobcats (30-4). No. 5 Tennessee 101, No. 12 South Florida 66 Talaysia Cooper finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead the Lady Volunteers over the Bulls and into a second-round matchup with host Ohio State on Sunday. Tennessee (23-9) hit 16 3-pointers, including three each from Cooper, Zee Spearman and Samara Spencer. The Lady Volunteers were 16 of 37 from beyond the arc and 39 of 78 (50 percent) from the field. Tennessee, which trailed 25-24 with 31 seconds left in the first quarter, took the lead on a layup by Kaniya Boyd with seven seconds left in the period and led the rest of the way. South Florida (23-11) committed 24 turnovers, which Tennessee converted into 36 points. The Lady Volunteers turned the ball over only six times and recorded 19 assists, led by Spencer's five. Tennessee's bench also outscored South Florida's 54-3 and the Lady Volunteers had the edge in paint points 44-30. No. 6 Michigan 80, No. 11 Iowa State 75 Michigan got past Iowa State behind 28 points from Jordan Hobbs and 16 from Olivia Olson in South Bend, Ind. Hobbs canned five 3-pointers in the victory and nine of Olson's points came in the fourth quarter, including a jumper with 20 seconds remaining that pushed the Wolverines' lead to five points. Michigan trailed by five at halftime and by three heading to the final period before an Olson three-point play to begin the quarter tied the game at 56-56. The Wolverines never trailed again as Greta Kampschroeder added 13 points, Mila Holloway scored 12 and Syla Swords hit for 11. All of Michigan's points were scored by its starting five. Audi Crooks led Iowa State (23-12) with 28 points while Arianna Jackson added 12 for the Cyclones, who beat Princeton in a First Four game on Wednesday to earn a spot in the 64-team Tournament field. No. 7 Louisville 63, No. 10 Nebraska 58 Tajianna Roberts scored 16 points and Olivia Cochrane added 14, including a free throw with 10 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, pushing the Cardinals past the Cornhuskers and into the second round against TCU on Sunday. Louisville (22-10) improved to 15-1 in Women's NCAA Tournament first-round games under coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals pulled away from a tie game with 59 seconds left. Cochrane made one of two free throws with 30 seconds left to give Louisville a 59-58 lead. After Nebraska's Britt Prince was called for an offensive foul, Jada Curry (13 points) made two free throws with 21 seconds left to put Louisville ahead by three. Nebraska's Logan Nissley missed a 3-pointer, and Cochrane made one of two free throws to ice the win. Louisville scored 27 points off 24 turnovers by Nebraska (21-12). The Cardinals also outscored Nebraska 32-20 in the paint. --Field Level Media
