The final weekend of women’s college basketball’s regular season is here.
That means it is the final weekend for teams to make up ground for conference tournament seeding and make a late effort to strengthen their case for the NCAA Tournament.
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On Sunday, Clemson beat No. 9 Duke, who was previously undefeated in ACC play, by way of a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining. That lifted the Tigers up from teetering as one of the last four teams projected in the tournament to a 10-seed with a bye, according to ESPN’s bracketology.
Virginia had a similar experience, beating No. 8 Louisville on Sunday and rising from one of the last teams in the tournament to a 10-seed.
Colorado has been on the wrong side of the bubble for much of the season. The Buffaloes were projected an at-large team in late November, then went more than two months on the other side of the line.
But Colorado has won eight of its past 10 games, including victories against ranked TCU and Texas Tech squads. In that time, the Buffaloes rose back up into Next Four Out conversations, then the Next Four Out, and now they’re listed as one of the Last Four In.
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There are plenty of other programs on the bubble looking to make moves, but the list is shrinking, and time is running short in the fight for these final March Madness spots. Who will take them?
A first for UCLA
UCLA has been a program on the rise. It has made six Sweet 16 appearances in the past nine postseasons, and last year took its biggest leap, making the Final Four for the first time and finishing with an all-time best 34-2 record.
But this season, the Bruins did something else for the first time. With its win against Wisconsin on Sunday, No. 2 UCLA claimed a Big Ten regular season title – its first outright conference title in program history.
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The Bruins are 27-1 and projected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they have a realistic shot for back-to-back Final Four appearances.
Senior center Lauren Betts is leading the team in points (16.7), rebounds (8.6) and blocks (2.0) and is the projected No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. Behind her is a three-headed attack with guards Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens, who combine to average 42.6 points a game.
Head coach Cori Close has taken the UCLA program to new heights, and she’s doing it again in her 15th season with the Bruins.
Geno Auriemma makes history
UConn coach Geno Auriemma has had no shortage of history-making moments during his career as one of the sport’s top coaches of all time, and that continued this week.
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When the AP Poll was released and the Huskies were ranked No. 1, Auriemma officially broke the record for most appearances by a coach in the Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25. He now has 655 appearances in the poll.
Before this week, Auriemma was tied with former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.
The Huskies are 29-0 and were the unanimous No. 1 team, receiving all 31 votes. Their total winning streak is at 45 games, dating back to last season. Auriemma has made 24 Final Fours and won 12 national titles at UConn, and he has it in contention to bump up those numbers this March.
Games to watch
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Saturday
No. 14 Maryland at No. 8 Michigan, 1:30 p.m. CT, FOX
Sunday
No. 4 Texas at No. 24 Alabama, 11 a.m. CT, SEC Network
No. 12 Duke at No. 21 North Carolina, 11 a.m. CT, ESPN
No. 13 Ohio State at No. 15 Michigan State, 11 a.m. CT, BTN
No. 3 South Carolina at No. 16 Kentucky, 1 p.m. CT, SECN+
No. 18 Baylor at No. 11 TCU, 3 p.m. CT, ESPN
