Star-studded stands in Cleveland
Jason Sudeikis made it back to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to cheer on the women's game today. He was joined by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts elsewhere in the crowd, the announcers said, even though Hurts wasn't shown on screen.
Cardoso has her third double-double of the tourney
South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso has asserted her dominance, especially in the paint, early and often in Cleveland. The South Carolina senior center already has a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and has made the most of her time on the court.
That marks her third double-double of the tournament and second in a row after putting up 22 points and 11 rebounds against N.C. State on Friday.
South Carolina extends lead early in second half
A 11-0 South Carolina run across the end of the first half and beginning of the second has upped the Gamecocks' lead to nine, their largest of the game at 55-46.
Caitlin Clark reveals which athlete is on her lock screen — and he’s honored
Clark’s phone’s lock screen is Olympic-level.
The 22-year-old point guard and all-time leading scorer in college basketball revealed that she has a photo of Michael Phelps on the lock screen of her phone. The star player made the reveal in an interview posted to the NCAA March Madness women’s basketball X account on Wednesday.
The video shows Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes teammates sharing some behind-the-scenes details.
“This is Michael Phelps swimming ... in the Olympics. It’s pretty tough,” Clark said in the clip.
NCAA athletes are inking deals, but lack of laws is creating chaos
College basketball stars such as Clark and Angel Reese have captivated sports fans everywhere with their skill and determination, but their meteoric rise is also shining a spotlight on the NCAA’s name, image and likeness policy that allows student-athletes to make money from their personal brand.
Ever since a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in 2021 paved the way for athletes to monetize their brand and pursue “education-related benefits,” the federal government has done nothing to provide structure or guardrails for how that would work.
Some 30 states have passed their own name, image and likeness (NIL) laws, while a series of court decisions have raised questions about what universities can and cannot do in the recruitment process.
The resulting vacuum has been filled by “collectives,” or third-party organizations formed by deep-pocketed donors and school supporters who can pool money and offer NIL deals to athletes — in some cases effectively creating a bidding war.
LeBron James rocks with Caitlin Clark
Women's tourney hype reaches 'SNL'
The excitement of women’s college basketball made it to "Saturday Night Live."
Spoofing TNT’s panel of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley, the “SNL” cast said what many people have been thinking: The women’s NCAA Tournament has proved more exciting than the men’s tourney.
Smith and Barkley, played by Devon Walker and Kenan Thompson, respectively, told James Austin Johnson’s Ernie Johnson that they didn’t watch the UConn men’s team beat Alabama on Saturday.
“It’s just hard to get excited when there’s better games on,” Walker’s Smith said. “You mean the NBA?” Johnson replied. “Naw, the women’s tournament,” Walker shot back.
Thompson’s Barkley pointed out the star power in the women’s tournament, namely Iowa ace Caitlin Clark, before reluctantly running down the matchups for the upcoming men’s final: “Him and him, this guy on this guy, half-‘stache on braids. Let’s see, baby face versus baby face, tall white versus tall Asian. Yeah, I think that about covers it.”
South Carolina leads heading into the locker room
It's been a battle on the court, but South Carolina is up at the half, after trailing behind Iowa for most of the first two quarters.
The 49-46 lead has been no easy feat for the Gamecocks. With just seconds to go and a 1 point lead, Raven Johnson stole the ball from Caitlin Clark to shoot a layup that secured South Carolina's lead.
Clark equals total from Final Four outing vs. UConn
Clark took a while to score in the second quarter, but she just hit a quintessential long-range three with less than 1:30 left in the half to get to 21 points for the game — already equaling her total from Friday’s Final Four game against UConn, where she struggled to get going in the first half.
If Friday’s game was any indication, Clark likely has more in store for the rest of the game.
Her tournament high was in the Elite Eight against LSU (41 points) and her season high was 49 points in February against Michigan — both certainly within sights for the senior as she plays her final collegiate game.
South Carolina would have a perfect season if team wins today
If the Gamecocks prevail against the Hawkeyes today, it will be the first women’s Division I basketball team to have a perfect season since 2016.
South Carolina has a record of 37-0 this season going into the NCAA championship game held in Cleveland. If the Gamecocks win, it would have the 10th perfect season in the 41-year history of the women's Division I basketball tournament.
The last team to have a perfect season including postseason games was the UConn Huskies in 2016.
Iowa has had four losses in its season.
There have been nine perfect seasons in Division I of women’s basketball, but only four universities — Baylor, UConn, Tennessee and Texas, according to the NCAA. UConn has had six, and the others had one each.