The ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC crowned their NCAA women’s basketball conference tournament champions yesterday
The GIST: What a Sunday! Eight women’s squads booked March Madness tickets in this weekend’s jaw-dropping conference tourney finals, even as injuries continued piling up.
- With the Big 12, Big East, and 22 other women’s conferences wrapping up this week, plus some men’s tournaments starting tomorrow, it’s already one of the wildest Marches on record — and there’s still six days until Selection Sunday.
Bad blood in the SEC final: After three quarters of chippy, aggressive play between No. 1–seed South Carolina and defending national champ No. 2–seed LSU, tensions boiled over late in the fourth: A rough foul led to an intense scuffle that saw nearly all bench players ejected, plus a one-game suspension for the aforementioned Cardoso, who’ll miss South Carolina’s first March Madness game.
- All fights aside, LSU gave the Gamecocks a major run for their money — South Carolina emerged with the 79–72 dub to book their eighth SEC tourney ’ship in 10 seasons, but their performance demonstrated some vulnerabilities — a tough look entering the NCAA tourney.
No. 2–seed Iowa survives the Big Ten: The Midwest was upset central this weekend, with big losses for No. 1–seed Ohio State and No. 3–seed Indiana shocking the hoops world. No. 5–seed Nebraska almost made it a trifecta, but Iowa’s Caitlin Clark turned on the jets to secure her Hawkeyes’ third straight championship with yesterday’s 94–89 overtime win. Phew.
Trojans show No. 1–seed Stanford who’s boss: No. 2–seed USC freshman guard JuJu Watkins didn’t score 51 points this time, but the Trojans still doubled down on their February 2nd dub over Stanford to win the last-ever Pac-12 tournament with yesterday’s 74–61 rout. Even more, USC simultaneously hurt Stanford’s shot at a national No. 1–seed while strengthening their own case.
No. 4–seed Notre Dame takes tough ACC: The Fighting Irish downed No. 5–seed Louisville, No. 1–seed Virginia Tech, and No. 2–seed NC State on their brutal path to the ’ship, making yesterday’s confetti shower all the more satisfying. Irish freshman phenom Hannah Hidalgo led all scorers in the title match with 22 points, but ND’s iron-clad zone defense sealed the 55–51 dub over NC State.
