The 2025 NCAA Women’s Tournament is in full swing!
[Read more: 2025 Women’s March Madness Schedule: Dates, locations, channels, how to watch]
The Round of 64 tipped off on Friday, with No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina easily advancing and No. 2 seed Duke nearly making history by allowing just 25 points. It was a similar story when the first round concluded Saturday.
No. 1 seed USC blew out No. 16 seed UNC Greensboro and also gave up just 25 points, tied with Duke for second-fewest allowed in women’s tournament history. Meanwhile, No. 2 UConn won by a whopping 69 points. No. 3 Oklahoma also set a tournament record with 72 rebounds in an 81-58 win over No. 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast.
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We got our first upset of the day when No. 10 seed South Dakota State came back to beat No. 7 Oklahoma State. Later, No. 9 seed Mississippi State took down No. 8 seed California.
The other No. 1 seed in action, the Texas Longhorns, took control against No. 16 seed William & Mary after a close first quarter.
Here are all the top moments from Day 2 of the women’s tournament:
Texas imposes its will in a 105-61 win against William & Mary
Madison Booker had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Taylor Jones scored 19 points as No. 1 seed Texas opened the NCAA Tournament with a 105-61 victory over No. 16 William & Mary on Saturday night.
Booker had her double-double by the end of the third quarter for the Longhorns (32-3), who advanced to a second-round matchup with No. 8 Illinois.
Texas is a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year after reaching No. 1 during the regular season for the first time since 2004 and winning a share of the Southeastern Conference championship. The All-American Booker was the league’s player of the year.
Yet the early moments of their tournament were anything but smooth against a quick and spunky opponent making the most of its chance in the spotlight. William & Mary (16-19), which had never made the tournament until this year, quickly tested Texas with an up-tempo attack that had the Longhorns off balance early.
The Tribe were within 23-18 at the end of the first quarter before Texas slowly and steadily enforced its will to take control.
The Longhorns’ considerable size advantage with Jones and Kyla Oldacre in the post, and the 6-1 Booker on the wing, had Texas dominating rebounding and scoring in the paint.
Bryanna Preston finished a fast break with a layup, Oldacre muscled her way over two defenders for a basket and Booker scored twice as Texas opened an 18-point lead and took control from there.
Bella Nascimento led William & Mary with 19 points.
Illinois earns first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years
Genesis Bryant scored 17 points and No. 8 Illinois earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in 25 years Saturday night with a 66-57 win over No. 9 Creighton.
Illinois’ tough defense frustrated Creighton’s outside shooters as the Illini also dominated on the boards. Kendall Bostic added 12 points and 17 rebounds for Illinois (22-9), which advances to the second round on Monday against No. 1 Texas.
Morgan Maly led Creighton (26-6) with 18 points and Lauren Jensen scored 17. But the Bluejays’ top scorers all season — both scored more than 2,000 points in their careers — were mostly contained on a tough shooting night. Creighton shot just 36% against a stifling Illinois defense and was just 6-of-22 on 3-pointers.
Illinois led 51-41 early in the fourth quarter before Creighton pulled within 58-54 on Jensen’s tough layup through the lane with 2:08 to play.
The rally ended when Bryant missed two free throws for the Illini on the next possession, but Berry Wallace grabbed the rebound over two Creighton defenders for an easy putback basket.
Mississippi State pulls off minor upset vs. Cal in tournament return
Madina Okot had 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out late and ninth-seeded Mississippi State beat California 59-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Eniya Russell added 14 points for the Bulldogs (22-11), who are back in March Madness for the first time in two years. They lost in the national title game in 2017 and 2018.
Ugonne Onyiah led the eighth-seeded Golden Bears with 17 points and 15 rebounds despite four fouls. Cal’s only lead was by one point in the first quarter, when the Bears managed just five points. They recovered to play the Bulldogs evenly in the second but trailed 26-19 at halftime.
The Bears (25-9) capped their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference by making the NCAAs for the first time since 2019, when current USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb was in charge.
The Bears committed 24 turnovers and got outscored 32-18 in the paint and 15-0 in bench points.
Mississippi State will play JuJu Watkins and top-seeded USC in the second round on Monday at Galen Center. The Bulldogs last made the Sweet 16 in 2019.
JuJu Watkins fights through injuries in USC‘s 71-25 rout
JuJu Watkins scored 22 points and top-seeded Southern California led all the way in routing 16th-seeded UNC Greensboro 71-25 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Watkins appeared to hurt her left hand early in the second quarter, occasionally shaking out her fingers. Then in the third, the star sophomore came up limping on her left leg and winced. She hit a 3-pointer and sat for the final 3:39 before returning briefly in the fourth.
The Spartans came out confidently, holding the Trojans to 12 points in the first quarter after missing their first five shots and trailing 8-0.
UNCG closed within two early in the second quarter before USC blew the game open. The Trojans outscored the Spartans 16-3 while limiting them to three free throws. The Trojans’ pressure defense forced eight turnovers and the Spartans were 0-of-11 from the field and 0-of-5 from 3-point range. USC led 28-11 at halftime.
Kiki Iriafen added 13 points and 13 rebounds for USC. Nya Smith led the Spartans with seven points and Khalis Cain had six.
The Spartans (25-7) were making just their second-ever appearance in March Madness and first in 27 years. They were the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion. UNCG set a slew of season lows, including points, field goals made (7-of-54), field goal percentage (13) and 3-point percentage (22).
The Trojans (29-3) advanced to the second round to play ninth-seeded Mississippi State on Monday at Galen Center.
Madison Mathiowetz scored all 15 of her points in the second half as 10th-seeded South Dakota State erased a double-digit deficit to top No. 7 seed Oklahoma State 74-68 on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Brooklyn Meyer had 19 points and eight rebounds, Paige Meyer had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Haleigh Timmer added 11 points for South Dakota State (30-3).
Stailee Heard had 20 points and Anna Gret Asi had 16 points for Oklahoma State (25-7).
Oklahoma State took its first double-digit lead on a basket by Alexia Smith with 7:38 left in the third quarter. Paige Meyer scored nine points as the Jackrabbits scored 17 of the next 24 points.
A three-point play by Meyer gave South Dakota State the 44-43 lead with 2:57 left in the quarter. South Dakota State took a two-point advantage into the fourth quarter on a driving layup by Mathiowetz to beat the third-quarter buzzer.
South Dakota State will play UConn in the second round on Monday with a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.
No. 2 seed UConn dominates No. 15 seed Arkansas State by 69 points
Azzi Fudd had 21 of her 27 points in the first half as second-seeded UConn rolled to a 103-34 win over Arkansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Freshman Sarah Strong added 20 points and 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in her NCAA Tournament debut. Most of those came in the first half when UConn jumped out to a 66-16 advantage at the half, playing nearly flawless basketball.
The Huskies had runs of 22-0, 12-0 and 13-0 in the first half as UConn won its 31st consecutive first-round game.
UConn (32-3) scored 34 points in the first quarter, making all 11 of its two-point shots. Many of those were layups coming off the press.
Arkansas State (21-11), which likes to apply pressure itself, had no answer for the Huskies. Crislyn Rose led the Red Wolves with seven points. The team shot 17% from the field (12-for-70), including going 7-for-40 from behind the arc.
UConn will take on 10th-seeded South Dakota State in Storrs on Monday.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
No. 6 seed Iowa routs No. 11 Murray State in first round
Freshman Ava Heiden scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and sixth-seeded Iowa rolled past No. 11 seed Murray State, 92-57, on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Lucy Olsen had 12 points and a career-high 12 assists for the Hawkeyes (23-10). They scored a season-high in points in the first tournament win for first-year Iowa coach Jan Jensen, a longtime assistant who was promoted after Lisa Bluder retired.
Murray State’s Katelyn Young, who averaged 22.2 points heading into the NCAA Tournament, left the game early in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. She finished with six points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Racers, who entered the game averaging a nation-leading 87.8 points per game, shot just 30.6% from the field and posted their lowest point total of the season.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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