The ladies’s NCAA event rolls into the Candy 16 with 4 video games Friday, together with two height seeds in motion. Undefeated South Carolina faces No. 4 Indiana forward of No. 1 Texas squaring off with No. 4 Gonzaga. No. 2 Notre Dame begins the day towards No. 3 Oregon State. Cameron Verge of collapse and No. 2 Stanford face No. 3 NC State in primetime.
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Here’s the overall agenda for Friday’s NCAA girls’s event video games.
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ESPN will broadcast all 4 of Friday’s Candy 16 video games.
Hannah Hidalgo: ‘BS’ to have to sit down 4 mins to take away nostril ring
Notre Dame’s All-American level guard has worn a dia–mond stud within the left aspect of her nostril all season. “Head decorations, head put on, helmets, and jewellery are unlawful,” in step with NCAA regulations, however it hadn’t been a topic till Friday’s Candy 16 sport towards Oregon State.
Hidalgo stated some of the officers informed her right through warm-ups that she would wish to take it out. She requested if she may quilt it, as a substitute, and stated she used to be informed that might be effective. On the finish of the primary quarter, alternatively, Hidalgo stated she used to be informed it needed to be got rid of.
“I feel it’s BS,” Hidalgo informed USA TODAY Sports activities after Notre Dame’s 70-65 loss. “They must have simply let me play with it if that’s what they stated.”
Hidalgo used to be 2 of four within the first quarter. She used to be 2 of 13 the remainder of the best way, and her 10 issues and 4 box targets tied her season lows. – Nancy Armour
South Carolina closes part on large run, leads Indiana 49-32
Indiana have been retaining issues shut — slightly talking — earlier than South Carolina endured to dominate down low to damage it open.
The Gamecocks have opened a 49-32 lead on the part in the back of their competitive assaults within the low submit; South Carolina has already scored 24 issues within the paint, in comparison to simply 10 from Indiana.
The Gamecocks also are some of the deeper groups in all the box, and all 9 gamers who’ve entered the sport have scored.
Hoosiers senior ahead Mackenzie Holmes began chilly, lacking her first 5 photographs, however ended the part with 4 issues on 1-of-6 taking pictures.
The Gamecocks closed the part on a 15-4 run and feature 4 separate runs of 7 consecutive issues. Their 17-point lead is the biggest of the sport. – Lorenzo Reyes
South Carolina leads Indiana after first quarter
The Gamecocks are depending on their inside-outside dominance in construction an early, 26-15 lead over Indiana.
Within the first quarter, South Carolina shot five-of-seven (71.4%) from 3-point vary but additionally blitzed the paint to generate high-percentage scoring alternatives. Indiana, in the meantime, has struggled (3-of-12; 25%) from past the arc. In a similar way, the Gamecocks have 8 early issues within the paint, in comparison to simply two from the Hoosiers.
One house the place Indiana has discovered sudden good fortune has been offensive rebounding, collecting 4 to South Carolina’s 5.
South Carolina megastar heart Kamilla Cardoso has 5 issues on 2-of-3 taking pictures and junior guard Bree Corridor leads all scorers with six issues.
South Carolina, which has been blowing combatants out, ended the primary quarter on a 14-3 run. – Lorenzo Reyes
South Carolina has early lead vs. Indiana
The outright favourite, once more, is rolling early.
No. 1 South Carolina, having a look to stick undefeated, raced out to a snappy 10-5 lead after making 4 of its first 5 photographs.
Indiana has ignored a pair open appears to be like, however has been energetic early at the offensive glass.
We’re underway for the second one sport of the doubleheader nowadays in Albany. – Lorenzo Reyes
Caitlin Clark is a fierce competitor. It is an asset, no longer a flaw
ALBANY, N.Y. — Is fairly, Caitlin Clark isn’t the one Iowa participant trainer Lisa Bluder has needed to tee up right through follow.
“I’ve gotten a technical, as neatly,” Kate Martin stated Friday. “So she’s no longer by myself.”
No, however the best way Clark is stressed out — she’s been described as aggressive, fiery, even a whiner — has turn into the topic of unending fascination as she’s rewritten faculty basketball’s file books and helped flip perceptions of the ladies’s sport on their head. After the shut name towards West Virginia in the second one spherical Monday evening, there have been tips even her father used to be telling her to chill out.
“I used to be by no means speaking to my dad. I do not know why other folks concept that,” she stated Friday.
“I do know individuals are at all times observing. I do know eyeballs are at all times on me. That is more or less what occurs when you’re within the highlight. And it is not the rest you shy clear of,” Clark endured. “I am aggressive. I am fiery. That is how it’s.”
And it is not distinctive. Learn Nancy Armour’s column.
Oregon State advances with win vs. Notre Dame
In spite of everything, it used to be rebounds and second-chance issues.
In spite of failing to deal with the ball, Oregon State pulled out a hard-fought, back-and-forth 70-65 victory over Notre Dame to make a travel to the Elite 8 only one season got rid of from a 13-win marketing campaign.
Oregon State outredbounded Notre Dame through a margin of 43-24. That ended in a barrage of second-chance issues and compelled the Preventing Irish to be environment friendly on their very own offensive finish. That’s additionally why, even supposing Oregon State coughed up the ball 26 occasions, the Beavers had sufficient to be triumphant.
Oregon State shot 29-of-48 (60.4%) from the sphere, whilst Notre Dame — 26-of-73 (35.6%) — struggled to transform open appears to be like. The Preventing Irish did rating 27 issues off of turnovers.
Oregon State used to be led through its two forwards, Timea Gardiner (21 issues and 11 rebounds) and Raegan Beers (18 issues and 13 rebounds).
The Beavers will face the winner between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Indiana. – Lorenzo Reyes
Oregon State leads Notre Dame after 3 quarters
Oregon State began the second one part simply how it ended the primary.
The Beavers, going again to overdue in the second one quarter, went on a 16-2 run that prolonged halfway into the 3rd length to construct a outstanding lead over Notre Dame within the 3rd quarter. The Irish, alternatively, chipped away and are down 53-50, in spite of dealing with a 10-point deficit previous within the length.
Oregon State endured to depend on its peak and positioning within the low block to restrict scoring alternatives from the paint.
Preventing Irish megastar freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo has been chilly all sport, taking pictures simply 2-of-13 (15.4%) from the sphere and scoring most effective six issues. Hidalgo has been visibly pissed off, particularly after a fast-break layup used to be crammed through Oregon State ahead Raegan Beers. – Lorenzo Reyes
Caitlin Clark thinks her information will probably be damaged
Caitlin Clark isn’t possessive of her information.
Clark turned into faculty basketball’s all-time main scorer previous this month, passing Pete Maravich. On Monday, she overtook Kelsey Plum because the single-season scoring chief in girls’s Department I basketball, too.
“Someone goes to come back alongside and smash my information, and that is the reason precisely the way it must be,” Clark stated Friday. “That is more or less the purpose of a file. Other folks chase them down and smash them.”
Maravich died in 1988 however Lynette Woodard, who had held the former girls’s scoring file, used to be readily available to peer Clark move him in Iowa’s regular-season finale. Woodard performed at Kansas when the Affiliation for Intercollegiate Athletics for Ladies used to be the governing frame for girls’s basketball and the NCAA doesn’t acknowledge AIAW participant information.
“Lynette Woodard used to be ready to come back to our Senior Night time and be in Carver-Hawkeye Area. Someone that perhaps wasn’t at all times given all her vegetation however used to be truly like a pioneer in our sport and did such a lot for our sport. In an effort to proportion that along with her used to be truly particular,” Clark stated.
“The following individual that comes alongside to damage mine, I will be proper there supporting them, and expectantly I will see it in individual.” – Nancy Armour
Hannah Hidalgo’s No. 1 fan
Numerous other folks have paid, and paid large cash, to peer Caitlin Clark play this season. There are a couple of gamers for whom she’d go back the choose.
“I’d say JuJu presently most definitely. This is who I would pay and move see,” Clark stated, regarding Southern California’s freshman phenom JuJu Watkins.
“But in addition Hannah Hidalgo at Notre Dame,” Clark stated. “I feel she’s been super. I feel Hannah has more or less flown beneath the radar a little bit bit.” – Nancy Armour Learn extra
Halftime rating: Oregon State 32, Notre Dame 31
Oregon State has the merit in dimension, intensity, rebounding and issues within the paint.
The place it’s suffering is caring for the ball.
Notre Dame, in spite of a deficient taking pictures efficiency, has stayed on this sport and is down one, 32-31 on the part. The Preventing Irish have long past simply 12-of-33 (36.4%) from the sphere, however have scored 14 issues off of 12 Oregon State turnovers. Notre Dame, in the meantime, has dedicated only a unmarried turnover.
The opposite house the place the Irish have a transparent edge: pushing the tempo. Notre Dame has close out Oregon State in transition whilst scoring 12 issues at the smash.
Oregon State Ahead Raegan Beers leads all scorers with 12 issues on six-of-seven taking pictures and has added seven rebounds. Notre Dame has gotten 11 issues from guard Sonia Citron and 9 from ahead Maddy Westbeld. — Lorenzo Reyes
Oregon State up 17-15 after 1st Q: Raegan Beers leads Beavers
The Beavers became to the pick-and-roll with megastar sophomore ahead Raegan Beers to create mismatches and get Beers blank appears to be like on the basket.
The Preventing Irish have struggled to comprise Beers’ presence, permitting simple access passes and coming into early foul hassle. Notre Dame had attempted to double Beers, however the foul problems have pressured the Irish to play extra conservatively on protection.
Beers has 8 early issues on four-of-five taking pictures and 5 rebounds, 3 of which have been offensive. Oregon State has an impressive six-to-one merit on offensive rebounds and has a 12:4 edge on forums, general.
Oregon State takes a 17-15 lead into the second one quarter.
Notre Dame ahead Maddy Westbeld leads the Irish with seven issues. – Lorenzo Reyes
Oregon State vs. Notre Dame guidelines off, then stops
The Candy 16 is formally underway — more or less.
No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Oregon have tipped off in Albany for the primary sport of the regional semifinal spherical, even though the motion slowed simply as briefly because it began. A shot clock factor straight away halted play simply 32 seconds into the motion.
Oregon State had received the top however ignored their first box function strive earlier than officers stopped play on account of the clock factor. – Lorenzo Reyes
Oregon State mascot: Benny Beaver
Who’s Oregon State’s lovely mascot, you ask? It is Benny the Beaver. However wait… there is additionally Bernice Beaver, who has lately returned from retirement.
Occasions Union Middle now MVP Area
In search of the positioning of the Oregon State vs. Notre Dame sport? For those who concept it used to be at Occasions Union Middle, you are unsuitable – more or less. The Albany venue internet hosting the Candy 16 was once known as Occasions Union Middle, however used to be renamed MVP Area in January, 2022.
Candy 16 predictions
The insanity is again nowadays, and video games most effective get sweeter from right here on out − that’s our prediction no less than. It seems like we are due for some buzzer-beaters or extra time battles. Perhaps each. This spherical of the girls’s NCAA Match has just about the entirety it’s good to need, from longtime powerhouses dancing deep for the umpteenth time to techniques seeking to make the second one weekend a normal vacation spot. There’s savvy seniors, exceptional beginners and the entirety in between. Listed below are some daring predictions for spherical 1 of the Candy 16, which guidelines off Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET. — Lindsay Schnell
Oregon State vs. Notre Dame predictions
USA TODAY Sports activities mavens Nancy Armour and Lindsay Schnell are break up on who will win this Candy 16 matchup. Armour says Notre Dame will win whilst Schnell has Oregon State shooting the victory.
Notre Dame vs. Oregon State: What to wait for
The Irish are almost enjoying on fumes at this level, having misplaced some other participant (ahead Kylee Watson) to a season-ending harm simply earlier than the NCAA Match. They’ve were given a impressive freshman level guard in Hannah Hidalgo, who has but to neatly, play like a freshman. Is that coming someday?
The Beavers, picked to complete tenth within the Pac-12 this season, have that at all times coveted inside-out assault and, in step with the numbers, are the second-best defensive crew left within the event, in the back of most effective South Carolina. They had been rolling in mid-February earlier than sophomore heart Raegan Beers broke her nostril and ignored a couple of video games, stalling their momentum. Can they get again to that degree of play? Learn extra on Notre Dame vs. Oregon State. — Lindsay Schnell
What to learn about Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame’s freshman megastar and ACC rookie of the yr
The ACC event accolades are simply the top of the iceberg for Hidalgo, whose stellar freshman marketing campaign has additionally earned her nationwide reputation. This is the entirety to understand concerning the freshman standout.
NCAA girls’s event agenda
Here’s the scoreboard and agenda for nowadays’s Candy 16 video games within the NCAA girls’s event.
Oregon State vs. Notre Dame odds
Notre Dame is the favourite to defeat Oregon State in Friday’s March Insanity matchup, in step with the BetMGM faculty basketball odds.
Will Notre Dame’s accidents in the end meet up with them?
You must be inspired with the second-seeded Irish, who misplaced level guard Olivia Miles to a season-ending harm closing yr. Everybody knew she wouldn’t be in a position to head in the beginning of the season and a freshman, Hannah Hidalgo, must step in. However may any person have expected Hidalgo would play like a first-team All-American? However that’s infrequently been the one harm factor for Notre Dame. Guard Cass Prosper has ignored lots of the season, no longer enjoying since November, and the Irish misplaced ahead Kylee Watson to a torn ACL right through the ACC event. Someday, the ones accidents meet up with the Irish − and we’re considering it occurs within the Candy 16, vs. Oregon State. — Lindsay Schnell
Iowa’s Molly Davis harm replace: ‘Unsure’ for Candy 16
ALBANY, N.Y. — Molly Davis used to be at Iowa’s follow Friday, dressed in exercise tools and a compression brace. However she most effective stretched and didn’t run or take part in drills right through the portion that used to be open to the media.
“Molly is unsure for day after today,” Bluder stated later on. “I truly concept she’d be again through now. I truly did. I do not know how lengthy it will take for her to fully heal, however we aren’t going to place her available in the market when it is unsafe for her to be available in the market.”
Ladies’s March Insanity gamers to look at nowadays
- Notre Dame G Hannah Hidalgo (23.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.6 spg), essentially the most demanding on-ball defender within the nation who can get to the rim every time she desires
- Indiana F Mackenzie Holmes (20.0 ppg, 66.7% FG), a pressure within the paint
- USC G Mckenzie Forbes (13.5 ppg, 3.3 apg), who just about most effective hits large photographs in large moments
- N.C. State guard Saniya Rivers (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.9 apg), whose athleticism is normally excellent for no less than one jaw-dropping spotlight consistent with sport
- Gonzaga dual Gs Kayleigh (11.9 ppg, 4.5 apg) and Kaylynne Truong (11.6 ppg, 5.9 apg), whose stats, like them, are just about an identical.
- South Carolina G Te-Hina Paopao (47.1% from 3), essentially the most impactful switch of the 2023-24 season
- Oregon State G Talia von Oelhoffen (10.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.7 apg), some of the ideal defensive guards within the nation who hit some of the largest photographs within the steady season.
- Stanford F Cameron Verge of collapse (17.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg), the projected No. 2 choose within the 2024 WNBA Draft who’s a handful at each ends of the ground
— Lindsay Schnell
NCAA girls’s March Insanity bracket
You’ll be able to in finding all the girls’s March Insanity bracket right here.
Ladies’s basketball wishes faces of long term to be Black. Input JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo
It’s comprehensible why JuJu Watkins, the front-runner for nationwide freshman of the yr, sparks response each time she’s at the flooring. The 6-foot-2 rookie from the Watts group of Los Angeles, has a silky easy jumper, a veteran’s poise and a mixture of talent, energy and frame regulate hardly noticed.
With Caitlin Clark headed to the 2024 WNBA draft, the place she’s projected No. 1 general, Watkins, the country’s moment main scorer this season in the back of Clark, is located to turn into the face of ladies’s basketball. She’ll be joined through Notre Dame level guard Hannah Hidalgo, the opposite favourite for freshman of the yr.
No longer misplaced on any of the powerbrokers within the sport: Either one of those gamers are Black. And in a sport constructed through Black girls, it issues that the faces of the longer term appear to be the faces of the previous. Learn Lindsay Schnell’s complete characteristic right here.
LSU’s Angel Reese on Baltimore bridge cave in: ‘I am praying for Baltimore’
Surprising because it used to be for any person to peer the Francis Scott Key Bridge cave in, it used to be in particular so for Angel Reese. The LSU megastar is a Baltimore local, and stated her aunt used to pressure at the Key bridge on a daily basis to get to paintings.
“And we pressure over it to get to her space,” Reese stated Friday. “So I am not certain the path she’s taking presently or if she’s been ready to visit paintings since then, however my prayers are to everybody that hasn’t been discovered but and those which might be discovered and are nonetheless affected by accidents.”
The bridge collapsed early Tuesday after it used to be struck through a shipment send that had misplaced energy. The send used to be ready to radio forward, permitting site visitors onto the bridge to be stopped, however 8 structures plunged into the river. Two had been rescued however six died. 4 of the employees stay lacking.
“I am praying for Baltimore presently, and I’m hoping the entirety will get resolved,” Reese stated. — Nancy Armour
No. 2 UCLA not on time in attending to Candy 16
The UCLA Bruins’ frame clocks are truly going to be tousled. UCLA, the No. 2 seed within the Albany 2 regional, used to be already going to need to handle a three-hour time exchange. Then the Bruins’ flight used to be not on time, inflicting them to get to Albany, N.Y., greater than two hours later than scheduled Thursday. UCLA used to be first up for media interviews Friday morning, too.
“I have were given some crimson eyes and the ones types of issues,” stated trainer Cori Shut, whose crew faces No. 3 LSU on Saturday. “However the truth is that we are enjoying within the Candy 16. We’ve got were given a possibility to do wonderful issues. So I am not going to let two and a part hours get in the best way of that.
“I simply suppose it is a truth, and if you are occupied with issues which might be from your regulate, as Trainer Picket will say, it is going to adversely impact the issues which might be beneath your regulate,” she stated, regarding mythical UCLA trainer John Picket. “That is a part of sports activities and existence, and the more difficult extra in combination crew wins, and I am not going to let one thing like shuttle get in the best way.”
Her gamers agreed.
“Just a bit adversity,” Lauren Betts stated. “We’ll be effective.” — Nancy Armour
Reseeding the Candy 16 within the girls’s NCAA event
There wasn’t a lot insanity within the first two rounds of the ladies’s event. Does a loss of disenchanted motion imply chaos is coming within the subsequent 4 days? One can most effective hope — until you’re rooting for the entire top-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks. If that’s the case, you’re most definitely crossing your hands that the entirety will move chalk. We will argue at a distinct time if that’s amusing or no longer. For now, let’s re-seed the event in accordance with which groups are left. — Lindsay Schnell