The Madness Has Begun: March Madness Updates and Predictions

As some of you know, I am a huge women's basketball fan and have been watching since high school. I thought it would be fun to give March Madness Updates and my predictions as we enter the Sweet Sixteen. Below, view the bracket so far and read up on all things women's basketball!

Double overtime in College Park.

Sunday night, No. 4 Maryland and No. 5 Alabama battled to the bitter end. Alabama's Sarah Ashlee Barker made Alabama history with a career-high 43 points and made 3 straight free throws to send the game into double overtime. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the Terps. Maryland won the game with a score of 111-108 and will play No.1 South Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen.

Kentucky's Georgia Amoore says goodbye to the college stage.

With a successful three-point shot by Temira Poindexter in the last seconds of overtime, No. 5 Kansas State University clinches a spot in the Sweet Sixteen over No. 4 University of Kentucky. This marks star guard Georgia Amoore's last ever college basketball game as she has declared for this year's WNBA draft. While it is sad that Kentucky was eliminated, it will be interesting what Kansas State can do against USC, now without Juju Watkins. And it will be exciting to see what Amoore does with her time in the W!

Where does Juju Watkins' injury leave USC?

The hearts of USC were shattered on Sunday night as their star guard, Juju Watkins, was carried off the court with a right knee injury. It was confirmed on Monday that she has suffered a torn ACL and will not be returning to the tournament due to surgery. But is all lost? Luckily, No. 1 USC gained some key players this past offseason, including forward Kiki Iriafen who averaged 18.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the regular season. Iriafen and the rest of the team must step up to fill the hole their star has left. If they can do that, they can take Kansas State and begin to prepare for UConn. But how far can USC go without their star?

Paige Bueckers is your favorite teammate.

As if we couldn't love Paige Bueckers more! For the last three weeks, Bueckers has been waking up before dawn and cooking breakfast for her UConn teammate, freshman Jana El Alfy, who observes Ramadan. During this month-long holiday, El Alfy fasts from sunrise to sunset every day. It must be quite stressful to balance the demands of playing in the tournament and fasting for Ramadan, but with a teammate like Bueckers, it makes it a little bit easier!

When And Where to Watch!

Matchup	Date/Time	TV Channel
North Carolina @ Duke	3/28 @ 2:30pm	ESPN
Maryland @ South Carolina	3/28 @ 5:00pm	ESPN
LSU @ NC State	3/28 @ 7:30pm	ESPN
Ole Miss @ UCLA	3/28 @ 10:00pm	ESPN
Notre Dame @ TCU	3/29 @ 1:00pm	ABC, ESPN+
Tennessee @ Texas	3/29 @ 3:00pm	ABC, ESPN+
Oklahoma @ UConn	3/29 @ 5:30pm	ESPN
Kansas State @ USC	3/29 @ 8:00pm	ESPN

Want to create your own bracket?

Click here to join ESPN's Women's Tournament Second Chance Bracket Challenge!