The 2025 NCAA Women’s Tournament continued with the final round of the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
On Friday, UCLA, South Carolina, LSU and Duke all advanced to the Elite Eight. On Saturday, TCU, Texas, UConn and USC joined them.
The stars were out all day. Hailey Van Lith led the Horned Frogs with 26 points, while Madison Booker put up 17 points for the Longhorns.
But no one has had a better Saturday than Paige Bueckers.
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The likely No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft was unstoppable in the second half for the Huskies. She set a career high with 40 points, which is also a new UConn single-game record in an NCAA Tournament game. She became the first Huskies player to score 30+ points in three NCAA Tournament games, as well.
UConn is now in the Elite Eight for the 18th time in the last 19 seasons. The Huskies will face No. 1 seed USC for the second time this season. The Trojans won the first matchup 72-70 in December, but they had JuJu Watkins in the lineup at the time.
[Read more: 2025 Women’s March Madness Schedule: Dates, locations, channels, how to watch]
Here are the highlights from Saturday:
USC survives without JuJu Watkins to hold off Kansas State
Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by injured star JuJu Watkins, scoring 19 points to help Southern California hold off Kansas State 67-61 in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
The top-seeded Trojans (31-3) were considered title contenders before Watkins tore her right ACL during a second-round victory over Mississippi State. Now they’ll be underdogs in an Elite Eight rematch on Monday with Paige Bueckers and second-seeded UConn. The Huskies knocked the Trojans out of last year’s March Madness in Watkins’ first season.
Avery Howell, another freshman, scored 18 points for USC, which went on a 12-0 run during the third quarter to take a 46-39 lead, matching its biggest advantage of the day.
Kansas State (28-8) kept pushing, though, and tied it at 51-all early in the fourth on a layup by Ayoka Lee. Rayah Marshall responded with two straight buckets for USC.
A layup by Serena Sundell got the Wildcats within 60-59. Smith responded with a pair of free throws, and USC was solid enough at the foul line to close it out.
Sundell scored 22 points and Lee had 12 for the fifth-seeded Wildcats (28-8), who fell short of the program’s second Elite Eight appearance and first since 1982. They beat Kentucky 80-79 in overtime to reach their first Sweet 16 since 2002.
Smith had 11 points in the opening quarter as the Trojans built a 19-9 lead.
The Wildcats pulled ahead 19-16 after Sundell’s layup and free throw. USC answered with a pair of 3-pointers from Howell and Malia Samuels.
Sundell hit a jumper and two free throws down the stretch to help Kansas State to a 30-28 advantage at the half.
USC arrived at Spokane Arena wearing Nike T-shirts emblazoned with Watkins’ face.
Players passed around a small Watkins bobblehead, complete with her trademark “JuJu Bun” hairstyle, on the sidelines during the game.
A day earlier, coach Lindsay Gottlieb said her team was playing for its inured star: “I think the prevailing feeling is that we can still do something together, and that’s what JuJu wants us to do.”
Watkins was hoping to lead USC to its first national title since it won back to back in 2002 and ’03.
Paige Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points, rescuing UConn from its first-half doldrums and single-handedly turning a tight game against Oklahoma into an 82-59 rout on Saturday that sent the Huskies to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Bueckers had 29 points after halftime for the Huskies, who trailed 36-32 at the break. The likely No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft eclipsed her previous career best of 34 points, set Monday in UConn’s second-round victory over South Dakota State, her final home game at Gampel Pavilion.
The electrifying senior guard matched her career high with six 3-pointers before checking out of the game with 3:06 left and UConn ahead 80-51.
The second-seeded Huskies (34-3), winners of 13 straight, will Southern California in a regional final on Monday.
Ashlynn Shade added 12 points and Sarah Strong had 11 points and 11 rebounds for UConn, which is seeking to extend its record by winning a 12th national title. The Huskies reached their fourth Elite Eight in the past five years, but coach Geno Auriemma’s team hasn’t won it all since 2016.
Payton Verhulst scored 16 points for third-seeded Oklahoma (27-8), which was playing its first Sweet 16 game since 2013. The Sooners have never beaten the Huskies in a series that includes the 2002 national title game.
Bueckers took UConn to the Final Four last season, where it lost to eventual champion South Carolina.
The Sooners jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Huskies’ first points came on Bueckers’ 3-pointer just over three minutes into the game, which touched off an 11-0 UConn run. The Huskies led 17-12 after the opening quarter.
Verhulst hit a deep 3-pointer to put the Sooners back on top, 24-23. She added a jumper and another 3 to extend the lead to 29-23. Verhulst had 13 points in the second quarter.
Reyna Scott’s 3 sent the Sooners into the break with a four-point lead.
Bueckers clearly did not not want her collegiate career to end, scoring eight points early in the third quarter to put the Huskies ahead.
Her fast-break layup stretched the lead to 48-40 and the Huskies controlled the game from there, leading by 59-46 heading into the final quarter.
She added a deep 3 that gave UConn a 62-46 lead and put the game out of reach for Oklahoma.
Bueckers surpassed Tina Charles for fourth place on UConn’s career scoring list.
Top-seeded Texas edges No. 5 seed Tennessee in Sweet 16
Madison Booker scored 17 points and No. 1 seed Texas outlasted fifth-seeded Tennessee 67-59 in a tight battle Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Taylor Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns, who advanced to face TCU in the Elite Eight.
Booker scored seven in the fourth, including four straight with the game tied at 54 with five minutes left. Tennessee pulled back within one on a jumper from Ruby Whitehorn, who led the Vols with 16 points. Zee Spearman added 13.
After pushing the lead back to four, Texas depended on what got it to the regional semifinal: defense.
The Longhorns forced four Tennessee turnovers over the final five minutes, and held the Volunteers to no makes on their final five shots. Booker knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to seal the win.
No. 2 seed TCU advances to first Elite Eight with win over No. 3 seed Notre Dame
Hailey Van Lith scored 12 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter to help second-seeded TCU beat No. 3 seed Notre Dame on Saturday, 71-62, in the Sweet 16 of the women’s tournament.
Sedona Prince added 21 points for the Horned Frogs (34-3), who advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Next up is top-seeded Texas on Monday night.
With the game tied at 52 early in the fourth, Van Lith took over. She scored five of the next six points for TCU to give the team the lead. Every run that the Fighting Irish made, Van Lith and the Horned Frogs had an answer.
Van Lith, who started her career at Louisville before transferring to LSU last season and then TCU this past year, is on her way to a regional final for the fifth time.
Notre Dame (28-6) was trying to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. It got off to a slow start before rallying for a 35-33 halftime lead. Neither team led by more than four points in the second quarter.
Notre Dame looked as if it would blow the game open early in the third quarter, scoring nine straight points. Olivia Miles was a big part of the run. She went behind her back while dribbling up the court in transition before throwing a no-look pass for a layup. Then she hit a 3 before waving her arms in celebration as she made her way down the court.
TCU wasn’t rattled though. Van Lith made a couple of key defensive plays to keep the Horned Frogs in the game, and they trailed 52-50 going into the fourth. TCU made 22 of 24 free throws, including all 16 in the second half.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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