The men's tournament began the second round as the women's tournament concluded the first round on Saturday.
While the day lacked in upsets, it delivered with starpower. On the women's side, Caitlin Clark made her tourney debut and nearly recorded a triple-double. On the other side of the bracket, UConn's Paige Bueckers made her triumphant return to the tournament after two years away due to injury. Freshmen phenoms JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo also made their tourney debuts with monster performances.
Takeaways from the first round of the women's tourney
Yahoo Sports Staff
Final: Creighton 86, Oregon 73
The No. 3 Bluejays needed two overtimes to survive a valiant upset bid by No. 11 Oregon, but they will move on to the Sweet 16 to face No. 2 Tennessee!
Yahoo Sports Staff
Creighton is winning the 2nd OT 15-2. Bluejays lead 86-73 with 35 seconds left.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Bluejays have come out of the 2nd OT on 🔥🔥🔥 to take a 79-71 lead.
It's an 8-0 run to start the OT period. 1:44 to go.
The nightcap in the men's tournament has remained close throughout. Creighton responded to this run and has re-taken the lead, 47-46 at the under-12 timeout.
The Vols hang on after a furious second-half comeback by the Longhorns had things up in the air in the final seconds. As is usually the case, Dalton Knecht leads the way for Tennessee with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Texas' Hunter hits a 3 with 4.2 seconds left! The Longhorns still trail by 2.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Texas' Max Abmas had a tough look from 3 but it hits off the rim and Tennessee secures the rebound.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Aidoo hits both free throws. Vols up 3.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Texas is sending Tennessee to the line. The Longhorns are down 1 with 24.3 left.
This isn't good news for UCLA, which is a favorite non-No. 1 seed to make a run to the Final Four. The Bruins went 2-2 in early February when Betts missed four games for personal reasons. Should she miss more time, it could be good news for No. 1 seed Iowa in the Albany 2 regional. Betts, a 6-7 sophomore center, gave UCLA the advantage with a serious mismatch in the post.
Lauren Betts is OUT for UCLA today against Cal Baptist after tweaking something earlier in practice this week, according to a team spokesman. She's day to day.
The Illini are in complete control as that one heads to halftime. They're up 50-26 and three different Illinois players have 10+ points at the break.
Cassandra Negley
Feels like a redemptive first-round win for Gonzaga. The Zags came into the tournament off that single-possession loss in the WCC championship game to Portland, a squad they crushed weeks earlier by 50. Maybe that will end up being a wake-up call.
Gonzaga shot near 50%, but most impressive is the 12 steals in this win against UC Irvine. That's tied for the second-most of their season. They had 14 against Santa Clara.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Final: Gonzaga 75, UC Irvine 56
The Zags struggled early in this one but there was no doubt in the end as they blew out the Anteaters. Yvonne Ejim led Gonzaga with 25 points and 14 rebounds.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Final: No. 11 NC State 79, No. 14 Oakland 73
No. 14 seed Oakland and folk hero Jack Gohlke put up a heck of a fight, but 11 seed NC State dominated overtime to move onto the Sweet 16! DJ Burns led the Wolfpack with 24 points, 11 rebounds.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Wolfpack headed to the FT line up 77-70 with 17 seconds to go. It's about done here.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Jayden Taylor's 3 puts NC State up 75-70. Wolfpack can taste the Sweet 16. 31 seconds to play.
The Bluejays won this one with ease, taking a seven-point lead in the first quarter and never looking back. Lauren Jensen and Emma Ronsiek led Creighton with 25 and 23 points, respectively.
Lewis Hamilton has accused Max Verstappen of not acting like a world champion after the Dutchman told his critics to “turn the volume down” if they do not like his language. Verstappen, who is likely to serve a 10-place grid penalty at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix for exceeding his permitted engine parts, has faced a backlash after he turned the airwaves blue in Hungary last weekend.
Manchester United’s academy staff have been left “shocked”, “upset” and in some cases “angry” at the news that several respected, long-serving coaches could lose their jobs in the cost-cutting drive at Old Trafford.
Manchester United’s search for a right-back may have taken a positive turn following the breakdown of talks between West Ham United and Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui.
THE INDEPENDENT DEBATE: The comments came after the BBC published its annual report including its top paid stars, featuring Gary Lineker, Zoe Ball and Huw Edwards
A new sports competition plans to encourage athletes to use performance enhancing drugs. William Hosie chats with the Enhanced Games poster boy, ex-top swimmer James Magnusen
The 20-year-old tennis star will become the first U.S. tennis player and youngest American flagbearer in Olympic history during the 2024 opening ceremony
A member of coaching staff on the Canadian women’s football team has been handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence after using a drone to spy on a New Zealand training session.