The opening stretch of the NCAA women’s tournament reaches its conclusion on Monday.
The second round will wrap up with eight more games as No. 1 Texas, No. 1 USC and No. 2 UConn all try to play their way into the Sweet 16.
Will the favorites continue to dominate this tournament, or will we start to see some upsets? Stay tuned as we follow all of the day’s action.
(All times ET)
No. 2 NC State 83, No. 7 Michigan State 49
No. 1 Texas 65, No. 8 Illinois 48
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Iowa (ESPN)
No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 5 Alabama (ESPN2)
6 p.m.: No. 3 LSU vs. No. 6 Florida State (ESPN)
7 p.m.: No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 6 West Virginia (ESPN2)
8 p.m.: No. 2 UConn vs. No. 10 South Dakota State (ESPN)
10 p.m.: No. 1 USC vs. No. 9 Mississippi State (ESPN)
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Iowa works the ball into the post for its first basket, likely trying to go at Reagan Beers, who has two fouls.
Hannah Stuelke scored on a reverse layup, but Beers went down after getting hit in the face. She’s out of the game as a TV timeout is taken, and Liz Scott replaces Beers.
Stuelke was called for an intentional offensive foul for swinging her left elbow out on that layup
The Terrapins and Crimson Tide have tipped off with a berth in the second weekend on the line. Maryland struck first with a 3-pointer from Shyanne Sellers.
Lucy Olsen hit a 3 for Iowa with six seconds remaining in the first half, but the Hawkeyes trail Oklahoma, 38-27.
The Sooners haven’t shot well, going 37% from the floor (12% on 3s). But they have 13 offensive rebounds, getting repeated opportunities to make up for misses.
Sahara Williams has a game-high 13 points for Oklahoma with Zya Vann providing nine off the bench. Leading scorer Reagan Beers has only two points, sitting out much of the first half with foul trouble, but that hasn’t mattered.
Lucy Olsen has been Iowa’s only consistent scoring threat, hitting 3-of-5 3-pointers. But the Hawkeyes have committed 12 turnovers. Between that and not getting defensive rebounds after Oklahoma misses, it’s been an uphill climb.
Jan Jensen’s message to the Hawkeyes in the halftime locker room should be pretty simple.
Stop turning the ball over: Iowa’s 12 turnovers is on pace for second-most to the 30 Tennessee forced.
Start battling better on the boards: Oklahoma is +10 in total rebounds and +9 in offensive rebounds. Iowa is allowing third- and fourth-chance points consistently. Giving that many chances to teams in the tournament is a recipe for an early trip home.
Turnovers and offensive rebounds are both hurting Iowa. The Hawkeyes have committed 11 turnovers, while allowing Oklahoma to grab 13 offensive boards.
No matter how well Iowa has played defensively since switching to a zone, they can’t get the ball back.
After another offensive rebound and two free throws from Liz Scott, Oklahoma has a 38-24 lead with 1:27 remaining in the first half.
Iowa started to show some life on offense, scoring seven points on three consecutive possessions. But Oklahoma answered with two straight baskets (one on another offensive rebound) and a 3 from Zya Vann to take a 32-21 lead.
Iowa calls a timeout with 4:28 remaining in the first half. Jan Jensen trying to give her team a breather and prevent the game from getting out of hand.
Oklahoma got four offensive rebounds on one possession. But luckily for Iowa, the Sooners did not score. However, OU has eight offensive boards at the 6-minute mark of the second quarter.
A Sahara Williams 3-pointer puts the Sooners on top 25-14.
The most notable aspect of that 16-1 run by Oklahoma is they did it without center Raegan Beers, who averages a team-high 17.7 points per game. She’ll hit the bench again here with two fouls.
Iowa does have options to neutralize her impact. Addy O’Grady can put size on her. Hannah Stuelke is Iowa’s rim runner and is strong posting up. And freshman Ava Heiden has emerged as a forward of the future for Iowa following a strong Big Ten Tournament. This Iowa group is a little more by-committee than the Caitlin Clark seasons where the stars spent four-plus years playing alongside each other in the starting lineup.
Oklahoma finishes the first quarter on a 16-1 run, pushing Iowa back after an early lead.
Sahara Williams has eight points for the Sooners, followed by four each from Zya Vann and Liz Scott. Kylie Feuerbach leads Iowa with six points, but the Hawkeyes scored only one point during the final seven minutes of the quarter.
Oklahoma has surged ahead, scoring 10 unanswered points to take a 14-10 lead at the 3-minute mark of the first quarter. Zya Vann has provided a boost off the bench with four points for the Sooners.
Iowa has an early 10-8 lead over Oklahoma at the first TV timeout. Four turnovers hurt the Sooners as the Hawkeyes went ahead 10-4, but Oklahoma has settled down and worked the ball inside.
Kylie Feuerbach has six points for Iowa, while Sahara Williams leads the Sooners with four.
Iowa and Oklahoma are tipping off in the Spokane 4 regional on the Sooners’ home court at Lloyd Noble Center. The Hawkeyes are the No. 6 seed, while Oklahoma is No. 3.
The winner faces either UConn or South Dakota St., who play Monday night.
Iowa demolished Murray State in its first-round matchup, while the Sooners did the same to Florida Gulf Coast.
Birmingham 3 is officially a bracket of rematches. Both games will be played on Saturday (1 and 3:30 p.m. ET).
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 5 Tennessee: Texas won, 80-76, in their one SEC meeting in January. The 76 points scored by Tennessee were the second-most Texas allowed all season. The most was a 80-70 loss to Notre Dame in overtime. The problem in both of those games were 3-pointers (season-high nine by Tennessee, eight by Notre Dame).
No. 2 TCU vs. No. 3 Notre Dame: It’s redemption time for Notre Dame. The first blemish on the Fighting Irish’s season was a 76-68 loss to TCU at the Cayman Islands Classic in November. A loss to Utah followed in a week of absent defense for Notre Dame. They allowed Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith to score a combined 41 points. The Fighting Irish have more depth available in the frontcourt than they had at the beginning of the year while Maddy Westbeld and transfer Liza Karlen returned from injury.
Another 20-point game from SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker and 19 points from Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda helped power Texas. Both players also grabbed six rebounds in the 17-point win.
The Longhorns’ defense frustrated the Illini all games. Texas forced 20 turnovers, including 10 steals, and cashed in with 23 points.
Texas will now move on to the Sweet 16 and face No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday.
Madison Booker has 18 points. Rori Harmon leads all players with seven assists.
Texas is up 19 with under five minutes to play.
Through three quarters, Texas is up over Illinois and on the verge of another Sweet 16 berth.
Madison Booker leads all players with 18 points. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda has 14 and Taylor Jones has added 10 points. The Longhorns have forced 18 turnovers leading to 22 points.
Texas has a 30-10 points in the paint advantage; have recorded eight steals and 22-5 lead in points off turnovers.
They are heading towards the final quarter with a 22-point lead and are looking to secure their fourth trip to the Sweet 16 in the past five seasons.
Illinois’ inability to protect the ball has led to 15 total turnovers and two in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Longhorns have taken advantage with 17 points off Illini turnovers.
Texas’ Madison Booker leads all players with 10 points.
Madison Booker is such a fun player to watch. If she gets to that midrange pocket on the baseline, it’s game over. (And yes, she wears No. 35 for Kevin Durant.)
Taking on point guard duties in the absence of Rori Harmon a year ago improved her court vision and decision-making. Harmon said earlier this season watching it from the sideline in turn improved her own game.
Texas won the 1986 national championship, completing a 34-0 undefeated season under Jody Conradt. It is the only national title game berth for the Longhorns.
It took the Longhorns a bit to get started, but the team certainly looks like a No. 1 seed at halftime. After keeping it close with No. 8 seed Illinois early, the Longhorns emerged to open up a 34-18 lead at the half.
Offensively, Texas has spread the ball around. No player on the team has double-digit points entering the half. Madison Booker has had impressive moments, but only has 8 points so far.
Defensively, however, Texas has been a force. Illinois is shooting just 30 percent from the field, including 1-for-6 from beyond the arc. The team has put the clamps on Genesis Bryant and Adalia McKenzie, holding them to a combined 0-for-7 from the field. Illinois has 13 turnovers at half.
Behind that fantastic defense, Texas has opened up a 34-18 lead at half. Unless Illinois can breakthrough in the second half, Texas could wrap this one up shortly after the game restarts.