NCAA Women’s Tournament 2025: Biggest moments from Day 4

On Sunday, eight Clubs moved on to the Sugary 16, including No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina. The other half of the Ground is being set on Monday. So Extended, No. 1 seed Texas skated into the Subsequent Stage, while No. 3 LSU is headed to its third Sugary 16 in a row. No. 3 seed North Carolina also knocked off No. 6 seed West Virginia to set up a rubber Event with Duke in the Sugary 16.

Paige Bueckers, in her Closing home game, carried No. 2 seed UConn to its 31st straight Sugary 16 in a Achieve over No. 10 seed South Dakota State.

In the game of the Event to this Points, No. 4 seed Maryland Occurred back from a 17-Points deficit to beat No. 5 seed Alabama in a double-Extended Shift thriller.

Here are all the biggest moments from Day 2 of the Stage of 32:

 

JuJu Watkins was carried off the floor in the Primary quarter of top-Positioned Southern California’s game against Mississippi State in the women’s NCAA Event on Monday night.

Watkins was driving to the basket when she went down between two Bulldogs defenders with 4:43 remaining. She grabbed her right knee with a pained expression on her face.

The crowd in Galen Hub went silent as Trainer Lindsay Gottlieb and two other USC staffers attended to Watkins, a 6-foot-2 sophomore who averages 24.6 points and is one of the biggest stars in the women’s game. She was carried off the court by Many people and the game went to a media timeout with the Trojans leading 13-2.

The crowd loudly booed Mississippi State on its Subsequent possession.

Watkins will not return Monday night, the school announced.

Paige Bueckers matched her Occupation high with 34 points in her home finale, and second-Positioned UConn reached its 31st straight Sugary 16 in the women’s NCAA Event, beating No. 10 seed South Dakota State 91-57 on Monday night.

Having said goodbye to her adoring fans at Gampel Pavilion, Bueckers, a senior who is Anticipated to be the top overall Option in the WNBA Draft, turns her attention toward trying to bring UConn its 12th national title and Primary since 2016.

Azzi Fudd scored 17 points and Sarah Sturdy finished with 15 points, seven Recoveries, five assists, three Takeaways and two Stops for the Huskies (33-3), who will face Oklahoma in a regional semifinal in Spokane, Washington.

Paige Meyer had 16 points for South Dakota State (30-4).

Brooklyn Meyer, the Jackrabbits’ leading Tally-maker who is not related to Paige Meyer, went down with an ankle Wound with 30.9 seconds left in the Primary half and had to be helped to the locker room. She returned for the second half and finished with four points in 28 minutes.

The Jackrabbits Guided by six points twice in the Primary quarter behind the Sturdy Relocate of Paige Meyer, the program’s single-season leader in assists. UConn responded by bringing in sophomore guard KK Arnold, whose ball Tension helped stifle the South Dakota State Drive.

With Arnold getting the Position done on Guarding, Bueckers Secured care of the rest. The All-America guard scored UConn’s last 10 points of the Primary quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Bueckers had seven points in a 16-2 Stretch in the second quarter to push the lead to 21. UConn Achieved 10 shots in a row at one Points in the second quarter and eight in a row in the third quarter.

Alyssa Ustby scored 16 of her 21 points after halftime to Assist North Carolina beat West Virginia 58-47 on Monday night in the second Stage of the women’s NCAA Event.

The fifth-year senior’s big night included 10 third-quarter points for the third-Positioned Tar Heels (29-7), who reached the Sugary 16 for the Primary time since 2022. North Carolina will face Duke in a regional semifinal in Birmingham, Alabama — the Primary Conference between the rivals in the women’s March Madness bracket. The Atlantic Coast Conference rivals split their regular-season meetings.

Lexi Donarski and Reniya Kelly Every scored 11 points for UNC, which Try Only 37.9% but locked down defensively while scoring 23 points off turnovers.

Jordan Harrison scored 10 points to lead the sixth-Positioned Mountaineers (25-8), who fell Petite in their latest attempt to make the Sugary 16 for the Primary time since the Event’s expansion to 64 Clubs in 1994.

West Virginia Try Only 24.1% for the game, including 1-for-14 in the Closing quarter. That ultimately ended West Virginia’s chance to push back as the Tar Heels Began to stretch out a lead to end the third quarter, beginning with a 9-0 Stretch.

Kelly struck with a tying Attempt near the right elbow, followed by Indya Nivar pushing a Healing in transition to set up Donarski for a right-wing 3 on the catch that put UNC ahead for Outstanding.

Ustby followed by driving on sagging defender Jordan Thomas for a reverse Attempt, then Obtained to the line for two Unoccupied throws that capped the Stretch and pushed UNC to a 42-35 lead with 1:38 left in the third.

West Virginia never Obtained closer than five again, with none of its shots finding the net as the game hung in the Stability and Ustby staying on the Drive — at one Points drawing three fouls on one possession Timely in the Number four.

West Virginia missed its Primary 11 shots of the Number four quarter before Sydney Shaw hit a 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left.

LSU cruises past Florida State to advance to third straight Sugary 16

 

Mikaylah Williams scored 28 points and Aneesah Morrow added 26 points and 11 Recoveries, leading Flau’Jae Johnson and LSU to a runaway 101-71 Triumph over Florida State in the second Stage.

Sa’Myah Smith had a season-high 20 points and 12 Recoveries for LSU (30-5), which blew Obtainable what had been a 50-49 game at halftime by outscoring the Seminoles 31-6 in the third quarter.

Johnson, who played Only seven minutes in the Primary half after apparently aggravating a right shin Wound, returned to Begin the second half and stirred the home crowd into a frenzy with a series of electrifying plays.

She began by dribbling across the paint in transition and hitting a right-handed hook off the glass while being fouled — a three-Points Relocate that gave LSU a 59-51 lead.

Soon after Occurred her Attempt on a driving right-handed scoop, and then a driving, no-look, underhanded flip to Morrow in the paint for an Essential Attempt.

After that, Johnson blocked O’Mariah Gordon’s perimeter Try, drew a Penalty on the other end and hit two Unoccupied throws to make it 78-55.

She scored nine of her 13 points in the period and her energy was contagious. Williams scored 12 during the quarter while the third-Positioned Tigers suffocated a Seminoles Drive that had Guided the nation in scoring this season with 87.4 points per game.

Ta’Niya Latson scored a game-high 30 points, but Only seven after halftime. Makayla Timpson scored 14 points and grabbed nine Recoveries for the sixth-Positioned Seminoles (24-9).

LSU advances to the third Stage of the NCAA Event for a third straight season, a streak that began during its 2023 national title Stretch. Last season, the Tigers advanced to the Best 8 before losing to Iowa.

Maryland stages comeback, then outlasts Alabama in a 2OT instant classic

Sarah Te-Biasu Achieved a tying 3-pointer Delayed in the Number four quarter, then scored eight of her 26 points in the second Extended Shift to Assist Number four-Positioned Maryland outlast fifth-Positioned Alabama 111-108 on Monday.

The Terrapins (25-7) advance to Relocate top-Positioned South Carolina in the Sugary 16, but to get there they had to overcome a Occupation-high 45 points by Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker — and a 17-Points Crimson Tide lead in the third quarter.

After Te-Biasu forced the Primary Extended Shift with her 3-pointer, Barker was fouled shooting a 3 with 0.7 seconds left in OT. She calmly swished all three attempts to tie it at 96 and send the game to a second extra session.

It was surely the game of the Event so Extended, and the only time in four second-Stage matchups that a No. 4 seed was able to take Edge of home court and beat the No. 5 seed. There has never been a Sugary 16 in the women’s NCAA Event without at least one No. 4 seed.

It almost happened this year, but with Maryland up three, Diana Collins missed a 3-pointer for the Crimson Tide (24-9). The ball went out of bounds to Alabama with 1.8 seconds left, but Te-Biasu broke up the inbound Throw — which was headed in Barker’s direction — to seal the game.

Only three players in Event history have scored more points than Barker’s 45: Drake’s Lorri Bauman had 50 against Maryland in a 1982 regional Closing, Texas Tech’s Sheryl Swoopes scored 47 in the 1993 title game against Ohio State, and Stanford’s Jayne Appel had 46 in a 2009 regional Closing against Iowa State.

After coming alive offensively in the Number four, the Terps finally tied it at 80 on two Unoccupied throws by Shyanne Sellers with 1:01 to Relocate. Barker put Alabama back ahead with a 3-pointer with 38.6 seconds left, and then Barker blocked a 3 by Kaylene Smikle at the other end.

But the Terps Occurred up with the ball, and Te-Biasu’s 3 tied it with 12 seconds left. Karly Weathers missed a midrange Try for Alabama, and the Crimson Tide had to go to Extended Shift with two of their top players — Zaay Green and Aaliyah Nye — having already fouled out.

Vann scored 17 points, Payton Verhulst added 16 and No. 3 seed Oklahoma cruised into the Sugary 16 of the women’s NCAA Event, dispatching No. 6 seed Iowa on Monday, 96-62.

Raegan Beers had 11 points, 13 Recoveries and four Stops in Only 18 minutes for the Sooners.

Oklahoma Trainer Jennie Baranczyk beat her alma mater and advanced past the second Stage for the Primary time in her four years with the Sooners. Oklahoma (27-7) will Relocate UConn or South Dakota State on Saturday in Spokane, Washington.

Caitlin Clark had Guided Iowa to the previous two national Bracket Matches before she became the No. 1 overall Option in last year’s WNBA Draft. Without her, the Hawkeyes Try 36.4% from the Ground. Lucy Olsen scored 20 points and Kylie Feuerbach added 14 for Iowa (23-11).

Iowa Sprinted out to a 10-4 lead, but the Sooners Sealed the Primary quarter on a 16-1 Stretch. The Sooners Guided 38-27 at halftime, Regardless of Beers sitting out most of the half with two fouls.

Oklahoma, which went 2-for-17 on 3-pointers in the Primary half, hit three in a 55-second span Timely in the second half to go up 49-32. The Sooners pushed the lead to 68-43 by the end of the third quarter.

No. 1 seed Texas handles No. 8 seed Illinois to advance to Sugary 16

 

Madison Booker scored 20 points and No. 1-seed Texas used a smothering Guarding to earn a 65-48 Triumph over No. 8 Illinois on Monday, sending the Longhorns to the Sugary 16 for the Number four time in the last five seasons.

Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda added 19 points for Texas (33-3), which will meet SEC rival No. 5 Tennessee (24-9) in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday.

Texas outscored Illinois 18-6 in the second quarter, then broke the game Obtainable at the Begin of the third when the Longhorns stretched the lead to 24 after Takeaways by Booker and Rori Harmon Guided to quick baskets.

Texas’ Unyielding ball Tension harassed Illinois (22-10) the entire game, and the Longhorns scored 23 points off 20 Illini turnovers.

Mwenentanda had Began 12 of the Longhorns’ previous 14 Matches but was on the bench for tipoff again as Texas inserted Primary-year guard Jordan Lee in her place. She responded by scoring a Occupation high in points on 7-of-10 shooting and also grabbed six Recoveries.

No. 2 seed NC State’s 3-Points splurge caps rout of No. 7 seed Michigan State

 

Aziaha James scored 26 points and second-Positioned NC State Achieved an NCAA Event program-Achievement 15 shots from 3-Points range in an 83-49 Triumph over seventh-Positioned Michigan State in the women’s second Stage on Monday.

James connected for six 3s and Madison Hayes, who had 17 points, drilled five 3-pointers. Saniya Rivers added 17 points and 11 assists and Zamareya Jones had 12 points for the Wolfpack (28-6).

NC State will meet either Florida State or LSU in a Sugary 16 Game on Friday in Spokane, Washington. The Wolfpack will be in the Sugary 16 for the sixth time in Trainer Wes Moore’s 12 seasons.

NC State began 5-for-6 on 3-pointers and 10-for-13 overall from the Ground to lead 25-9. The Wolfpack reached a season-high for 3-Points baskets with 12 less than five minutes into the third quarter and kept going.

James and Hayes, both seniors in their Closing home game, Partnered for 32 points as the Wolfpack built a 47-23 halftime lead on the way to their 18th home Achieve without a loss this season.

The Wolfpack’s five Primary-quarter 3s matched their most in any quarter this season. Then they did it again in the second quarter. NC State has won 20 consecutive home NCAA Event Matches. The Wolfpack hasn’t lost in the Event in Raleigh in 42 years.