USC faces Baylor; Iowa cruises
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Candace Parker reveals her Final Four picks
3-time WNBA champion Candace Parker reveals her Final Four and National Championship picks for the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
Sports Seriously
The women’s NCAA tournament rolls into another day of Sweet 16 games today with four contests on the schedule. The day is headlined by superstar Caitlin Clark and top-seeded Iowa, who play in the afternoon on ABC. JuJu Watkins and No. 1 USC are also in action today, facing No. 5 Baylor. Angel Reese and No. 3 LSU face No. 2 UCLA to start the day, and Paige Bueckers and No. 3 UConn take on No. 7 Duke in the night cap.
Women’s March Madness games are airing on ABC and ESPN today. USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest news, scores, analysis and more all day. Follow along.
STREAM: March Madness on ESPN+ and Fubo
Here is the full schedule for Saturday’s NCAA women’s tournament games.
Baylor was in the headlines on Saturday because of the Washington Post article on former head coach Kim Mulkey.
But the current players for the No. 5 seeded Bears showed they are in their own era as they took a 7-2 lead over No. 1 Southern California in their Sweet 16 game with 7:33 in the first quarter. Freshman star JuJu Watkins has the only points for USC, a jumper in the first 30 seconds of play. Jada Walker has four points for the Bears. The game is on ESPN. — Victoria Hernandez
No. 1 seed Iowa is moving on to the Elite Eight for a date with No. 3 seed LSU, a rematch of the 2023 NCAA women’s tournament championship game. It marks Iowa’s sixth Elite Eight in program history.
The Hawkeyes cruised past No. 5 seed Colorado in the Sweet 16 on Saturday. Iowa, who led by as many as 27 points, easily defeated the Buffaloes 89-68.
Clark finished her night with 29 points (13-for-22 from field, 3-for-11 from three), 15 assists (the most in a game in her NCAA tournament career), six rebounds and one block.
Every one of Iowa’s starters reached double figures, with junior Sydney Addolter adding 15, senior Kate Martin adding 14 and senior Gabbie Marshall with 12. The team collectively shot 53.8% from the field and 9-of-22 from three.
“I think that’s why we were so successful, we really moved the ball,” Clark said postgame. “Our defense was really good… proud of the group.”
Colorado, however, struggled to shoot the ball. The Buffaloes shot just 37.5% form the field and 9-of-29 from three. They were out rebounded 43-34 and lost the battle in the paint, 46-36. — Cydney Henderson
JuJu Watkins is a 6-2 guard for Southern California. She hails from Los Angeles and was the nation’s top recruit coming out of high school. Watkins led the Trojans to their most regular-season victories in 30 years and was named Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week 14 times.
Watkins, who was also named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a first-time all-conference selection, averages 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. — Victoria…
Read More: USC faces Baylor; Iowa cruises 2024-03-30 21:33:45