The 2025 NCAA Women’s Tournament continued Friday with the first day of Sweet 16 action.
[Read more: 2025 Women’s March Madness Schedule: Dates, locations, channels, how to watch]
Duke started the day with a vintage defensive performance, as the second-seeded Blue Devils stifled third-seeded North Carolina. After that, No. 1 seed South Carolina continued its title defense as the Gamecocks came back to hold off upset-minded Maryland.
After that, third-seeded Louisiana State is off to its third straight Elite Eight appearance after going through No. 2 seed North Carolina State to get there.
The top seed in the NCAA women’s tournament, UCLA, caps the night with its matchup against Ole Miss as the Bruins try to return to the Elite 8 for the first time since 2018.
Here are all the biggest moments from Day 1 Sweet 16:
LSU and NC State delivered another back-and-forth thriller Friday. The Wolfpack led 40-36 at halftime, but the Tigers came back in the second half to head to the Elite Eight for the third straight year. NC State led by three with two minutes to go, and then LSU responded with a 10-0 run.
Aneesah Morrow led the way with 30 points and 19 rebounds, her 30th double-double of the season.
In the first half, the Tigers were up by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, but the Wolfpack battled back to take their first lead of the game in the second quarter. Zamareya Jones came off the bench to pace NC State with 11 points.
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 23 points, including a go-ahead layup with 2:22 left, and Chloe Kitts added 15 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 1 seed South Carolina beat fourth-seeded Maryland 71-67 on Friday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The defending national champion Gamecocks went back-and-forth with the Terrapins all game before finally doing enough in the final few minutes to put it away.
South Carolina will face Duke in the Elite Eight on Sunday. The Blue Devils beat Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina 47-38 earlier Friday.
Dawn Staley’s team trailed 60-59 with 3:25 left before holding Maryland without a point over the next three minutes. Fulwiley’s layup began the 7-0 run that gave the Gamecocks (33-3) just enough of a cushion.
Kitts added three free throws during the spurt and Fulwiley scored on a coast-to-coast drive.
The Gamecocks were up 66-60 with 25 seconds left when Saylor Poffenbarger ended Maryland’s scoring drought with a 3-pointer.
But the Terps couldn’t get closer as the Gamecocks made five of six free throws down the stretch, including two by Fulwiley with 10.9 seconds left that made it 71-65.
Kaylene Smikle scored 17 points to lead Maryland (25-8) before fouling out.
Neither team could get into an offensive flow in the first three quarters. South Carolina trailed 43-39 late in the third before closing out the period with a 13-7 run that was capped by a spectacular transition basket by Fulwiley, who went behind her back and then hit a pull-up shot.
The two teams had met once previously in the NCAA Tournament, an 86-75 win for South Carolina in the Elite Eight in 2023.
South Carolina avoided becoming the first defending champion to lose this early in the tournament since Louisville knocked off Brittney Griner and Baylor in 2013 in the Sweet 16.
Oluchi Okananwa recorded her third double-double of the season to lead ACC Tournament champion Duke past North Carolina 47-38 Friday and into the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils will make their 12th Elite Eight appearance in program history and will play either No. 1 seed and defending champion South Carolina or fourth-seeded Maryland, who were scheduled to play later Friday in Birmingham.
Okananwa scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half along with 10 rebounds off the bench for Duke, which got 26 points from its bench compared to North Carolina’s six. Ashlon Jackson finished with 10 points, and Toby Fournier, Duke’s leading scorer this season who missed the second round with an illness, was held to three points.
Fifth-year senior Alyssa Ustby had nine points on 3 of 10 shooting for the Tar Heels, who fell short in their attempt to advance to their first Elite 8 since 2014.
Neither team shot the ball well. Duke shot 31% after missing its first nine field goals. North Carolina went 28% from the field.
Part of it could have been because of familiarity. The teams played each other for the second time this season less than a month ago. North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said this week that there’s an added level of comfort going against a team they just played.
But this was also two of the top defenses in the country going at it, forcing turnovers, errant shots and desperate heaves late in the shot clock at the start of the game.
It was the first ever meeting in the NCAA tournament between the two teams, who have played each other 111 times. North Carolina still holds a slight 56-55 edge.
Reporting by The Associated Press
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