Skylar Jones leaves Louisville as Women’s NCAA Tournament begins

Louisville will make its March Madness journey without reserve guard Skylar Jones.

Cardinals coach Jeff Walz announced on Friday, March 20, that Jones, a junior, is no longer with the team and will not play in any games for them in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Her bio page has been scrubbed from Louisville’s athletics site.

“She will not be participating,” Walz said. “She’s no longer with the team, so we’ve just parted ways. It’s best for both parties.”

REQUIRED READING: March Madness games today: Ranking the 16-game Women’s NCAA Tournament schedule for Friday

A Chicago native, Jones transferred to Louisville last season after spending the first two years of her collegiate career at Arizona. She became a key piece of the Cardinals’ backcourt rotation, featuring in every game for the Cardinals and ranking seventh on the team with 16.6 minutes played per game.

Jones also averaged 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game. She had a handful of impressive scoring performances, putting up 21 points in a win over Colorado, 17 in an overtime victory at North Carolina State, 20 in a win over Ball State and 13 in a loss to Connecticut. Jones scored in the double figures 15 times this season.

Her playing time had diminished recently, as she played just five minutes in the regular season finale against Notre Dame, seven minutes in an ACC Tournament win over North Carolina and four minutes in the ACC title game loss to Duke.

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Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

UConn’s Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong are among the top players set to tipoff March Madness. Here’s the best players in women’s college basketball:

It’s hard to believe Sarah Strong could top her record-breaking freshman season, but she’s one-upped herself. Strong has career highs in points (18.5), assists (4.1), steals (3.4), field goal percentage (60.1%) and free throw percentage (87.3%). She leads UConn in nearly every statical category, including points, rebounds, steals and blocks. Expect Strong to have a strong showing in the NCAA Tournament. She set the freshmen points record in an NCAA Tournament (114) last season.

UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts’ stats are slightly down from last season, but she’s no less dominant. She leads UCLA in points (16.4), rebounds (8.6) and blocks (1.9) per game and has 11 double-doubles. Her efforts earned her Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors, becoming the first player in Big Ten history to earn both in the same season.

Texas Longhorns forward Madison Booker has reached new heights this season earning first-team All-SEC after recording career highs in points (18.9), steals (2.3) and field goal percentage (51.6%), which she raised from 46.1% last season. Booker leads the Longhorns in scoring and has been in double-digits for all but two games this season. She’s only a junior, but she’s already climbed to No. 6 on Texas’ all-time scoring list with 1,873 points career points entering March Madness.

UConn Huskies senior guard Azzi is shooting lights out from the 3-point line. She’s averaging a career-high 44.6% from beyond the arc and her 104 3-pointers rank second in the nation. Her field goal percentage (48.9%) also marks a career-high. Fudd has also helped anchor UConn’s top-ranked scoring defense. She’s one of three Huskies to have at least 85 steals this season, joining Sarah Strong (111) and KK Arnold (93). Fudd is also flirting with the 50-40-90 stat line — 50% from the field, 40% from the 3-point line and 90% from the free throw line.

Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes was named the SEC Player of the Year after leading Vanderbilt to its first 27-win regular season in program history. Blakes leads the nation in scoring averaging 27.0 points per game, including 12 games of 30 or more points. Ten of those 12 games came in conference play. Blakes has recorded double-digit points in every game this season and is currently riding a 50 game double-digit scoring streak, the longest active streak in the SEC and third longest in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Blakes is the second Vanderbilt star to win SEC Player of the Year and the first sophomore since South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson in 2016.

Olivia Miles’ transfer from Notre Dame to TCU has been seamless if you look at her stat line. Miles is the centerpiece of the Horned Frogs’ offense and has upped her scoring average from 15.4 points last season to a career-high 19.6 points. Miles tops the nation with five triple doubles and has done so efficiently, with career highs in field goal percentage (48.7) and free throw percentage (84.4%).

Iowa State Cyclones center Audi Crooks ended the regular season with a bang, dropping 41 points and 13 rebounds against Kansas State — shooting an efficient 16-of-19 from the field. That marked Crooks’ fourth 40-point game of the season and 12th double-double. Crooks has scored in double digits every game this season, extending her streak to 97 straight career games — the longest active streak in the nation. She became the fastest player in Big 12 history to reach 2,000 points on Jan. 28 and picked up an unanimous first-team All-Big 12 nod.

Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge has arrived! The sophomore guard is in midst of a breakout season. She upped her points per game from 15.4 last season to 22.8, which ranks seventh in the nation. Her field-goal percentage also increased by nearly eight points to 49.0%. She’s scored double-digit points in every game this season and became the 40th Buckeye to surpass 1,000 career points on Feb. 8 against Oregon. She’s only the fifth Ohio State player to record 700 points in a season.

South Carolina Gamecocks forward Joyce Edwards has taken a large step this season. The 6-foot-3 forward slid into the starting lineup after senior forward Chloe Kitts was ruled out for the season with an ACL injury in her right knee. Edwards has powered South Carolina to the fourth-best scoring offense in the nation (86.3 points per game). She’s averaging a team-high 19.6 points in 34 starts, up from 12.7 points and one start her freshman year. Her stat line is rounded out by 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo has been a walking highlight reel. Hidalgo turned in career highs in points, steals, rebounds, field-goal percentage and made ACC history by winning both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons. Hidalgo set an NCAA record with 16 steals in a game and scored a school-record 44 points in Notre Dame’s 85-58 win over Akron on Nov. 12. She leads the nation in total steals (173), which set a single-season ACC record.

“I think if you go back to the past month, it’s really not going to change much,” Walz said of his guard rotation without Jones. “We have plenty of players. I mean, at this time of year, look what Siena men did with five (players). You’re just putting your best ones out there. Unless they’re in foul trouble or they’re about to just keel over and die because they’re exhausted, you keep playing them. It’s not like you’re saving them for the next game.”

Louisville has had one of the best scoring benches in the country this season, led by ACC Sixth Player of the Year Imari Berry who averages 11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

The No. 3-seed Cardinals face 14-seed Vermont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Marh 21 at noon ET on ESPN.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Louisville women’s basketball loses key player as March Madness begins

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Skylar Jones leaves Louisville as Women’s NCAA Tournament begins

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Players to watch in 2026 women’s NCAA basketball tournament

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