Former WSU standout Charlisse Leger-Walker returns as member of UCLA, still...
<p><p>As the UCLA players warmed up Thursday afternoon on the Arena floor, Charlisse Leger-Walker looked ready to play in the Sweet 16.</p></p><p><p>Her moves were...
View ArticleHow Ole Miss’ Jaemyn Brakefield is using NIL to strengthen bond with ‘little...
<p><p>ATLANTA – Playing in the NCAA Tournament is one of the main reasons Jaemyn Brakefield returned to Ole Miss. The fifth-year senior and four-year player for the Rebels is second on the...
View ArticleUConn coach Geno Auriemma says NCAA women's regional format 'ruined...
<p><p>UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma is ready for the Sweet 16, but he seems downright eager to take on the NCAA hierarchy after the season...
View ArticleSpokane regional preview: USC embraces 'fight on' motto after...
<p><p>JuJu Watkins was nowhere to be found Friday afternoon at the Arena.</p></p><p><p>And yet the USC star was everywhere – on social media and every other kind,...
View ArticleSon of a UNC grad, Alabama's Jarin Stevenson ready to play role in...
<p><p>NEWARK, N.J. – Jarin Stevenson broke plenty of basketball-loving hearts in his home state of North Carolina when he graduated from Pittsboro’s Seaforth High School a year early to...
View ArticleSpokane regional: LSU powers past NC State 80-73 to make third straight Elite...
<p><p>For those at the Arena who haven’t seen much SEC women’s basketball, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow put on a monster display Friday of what life is like in one of the toughest conferences in...
View ArticleUConn star Paige Bueckers to enter 2025 WNBA Draft after NCAA Tournament
<p><p>Connecticut star guard Paige Bueckers, long considered the presumptive No. 1 pick in next month’s WNBA draft, will indeed enter that draft after the NCAA Tournament, a program...
View ArticleSpokane regional: 'Generational' Lauren Betts leads top-seeded UCLA...
<p><p>The best player on the nation’s top team, Lauren Betts was in a class of her own during Friday’s Sweet 16 game.</p></p><p><p>UCLA’s All-American center had no...
View ArticleTCU tops Notre Dame as Hailey Van Lith impresses to reach fifth career Elite...
<p><p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – TCU’s historic season survived a nail-biting 71-62 win over No. 3 seed Notre Dame on Saturday.</p></p><p><p>The win sends the Horned Frogs...
View ArticleSpokane regional: UCLA, LSU anticipate physical matchup in Elite Eight
<p><p>It sounds cliche, but it’s going to take extraordinary effort to contain a generational player Sunday.</p></p><p><p>And it doesn’t just apply to 6-foot-7 UCLA...
View ArticleCommentary: Two veteran coaches moved with the times — and kept winning big
<p><p>INDIANAPOLIS – As his players did most of the talking, crowing about the merits of “Tennessee basketball,” Rick Barnes mainly just sat there. In quiet reflection, Barnes, the...
View ArticleSpokane regional: Paige Bueckers goes for career-high 40 points as UConn...
<p><p>Thinking of stealing a win from the UConn women?</p></p><p><p>Then don’t get your pockets picked.</p></p><p><p>That’s what happened to...
View ArticleDuke, Cooper Flagg shut down Alabama as 2nd top seed advances to Final Four
<p><p>With less than seven minutes separating Duke from the Final Four berth it’s been chasing all season, Jon Scheyer huddled his team and took a deep...
View ArticleSpokane regional: Without JuJu Watkins, USC leans on freshman to beat Kansas...
<p><p>The USC Trojans were playing without their first-team All-American guard. And their other star player was having an off game.</p></p><p><p>But a pair of...
View ArticleSouth Carolina women power past Duke to advance to fifth straight Final Four
<p><p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It’s never about if, but how for Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks.</p></p><p><p>Yet again in Birmingham, South Carolina’s “how” was the same in...
View ArticleSpokane regional: No. 1 seed USC finds itself playing underdog against...
<p><p>On Monday night, Spokane basketball fans will get the Elite Eight matchup they dreamed of when the NCAA brackets were revealed two weeks...
View ArticleSpokane regional: UCLA marches past LSU 72-65, earns first trip to Final Four
<p><p>It could be argued that UCLA prevailed Sunday afternoon with its best player on the bench.</p></p><p><p>It could also be debated that UCLA secured its first...
View ArticleVince Grippi: Hooptown USA puts basketball reputation on display at...
<p><p>It’s often dicey to give yourself a nickname.</p></p><p><p>Ask George “T-Bone” Costanza. Or Star-Lord.</p></p><p><p>But when former...
View ArticleHouston locks down Tennessee to secure Kelvin Sampson's third career...
<p><p>In a battle of two of college basketball’s best defenses, Houston put together one of the most impressive defensive performances in NCAA Tournament history in a 69-50 win over...
View ArticleNCAA Tournament winners and losers: Top seeds dominate, SEC cashes in, Flagg...
<p><p>The SEC set records with 14 bids to March Madness and seven teams in the Sweet 16. It also obliterated the mark that matters more than any other: dollars...
View ArticleTexas tops TCU to advance to first Final Four since 2003
<p><p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Texas coach Vic Schaefer first met Madison Booker when Booker was a middle schooler. Even then, he could tell that the future Longhorns wing would be a special...
View ArticleSpokane regional: Paige Bueckers scores 31 points to lead UConn past USC 78-64
<p><p>UConn is more than Paige Bueckers.</p></p><p><p>USC knew that much going into Monday night’s Elite Eight game at the Arena. But what to do about...
View ArticleVince Grippi: USC fights to the end, but loss of JuJu Watkins proves too much...
<p><p>When the NCAA women’s basketball bracket was unveiled two weeks ago, this was the Elite Eight game everyone wanted to see.</p></p><p><p>The Spokane 4...
View ArticleA Final Four of titans is the last hope to save a forgettable March Madness
<p><p>The national pastime of complaining while being spoiled has enjoyed a revival this men’s March Madness, and now it’s left to the second Final Four with all No. 1 seeds to stem the...
View ArticleFinal Four showdown that pits Florida vs. Auburn turns close friends into foes
<p><p>GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Todd Golden would rather face anyone but Auburn in the Final Four.</p></p><p><p>Tigers coach Bruce Pearl knows the...
View Article