NCAA Women's Tournament 2025 highlights: UCLA cruises; South Carolina, LSU survive

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. 

Third-seeded Louisiana State is also 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, looked the part on Friday night. The Bruins had little trouble with No. 5 seed Ole Miss.

Here are all the biggest moments from Day 1 Sweet 16:

Lauren Betts carries UCLA to 76-62 win over Ole Miss?

Lauren Betts was so dominant inside that she barely missed, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting to lead UCLA past Mississippi 76-62 on Friday night and sending the Bruins to the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

The 6-foot-7 Betts added 10 rebounds and three blocks for the No. 1 overall seed, which will face LSU on Sunday for a chance to advance to the Final Four. 

Kiki Rice added 13 points and seven assists and was the only other player in double figures for the Bruins (32-2).

Tameiya Sadler scored 14 points for the fifth-seeded Rebels (22-10), who had reached the Elite Eight five times, but not since 2007.

Betts had a similar line — 30 points and 14 rebounds — in the Bruins' second-round 84-67 victory over Richmond.

Betts' layup put the Bruins ahead 19-10 in the opening quarter, but Ole Miss closed within 21-19 on KK Deans' jumper.

Deans' fast-break layup at the end of the first half got the Rebels within 30-29 at the break.

The Bruins opened the second half with an 8-0 run and went up 45-33 on Londynn Jones' 3-pointer.

Gabriela Jaquez was all alone on a fast-break layup that put UCLA up 63-46 in the final quarter, and Ole Miss never threatened after that.

UCLA’s only two losses this season came against JuJu Watkins and Southern California before the Bruins got their revenge in the Big Ten Tournament final, beating USC 72-67.

Betts scored 16 of UCLA's 30 first-half points, the second time this season that she's scored more than half of the Bruins' points in a half.

She has 93 blocks this season, averaging nearly three a game, and was named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year.

LSU comes back to top NC State in thriller, moves on to another Elite Eight

Aneesah Morrow had 30 points and 19 rebounds, Kailyn Gilbert had a critical block that set up Mikaylah Williams' go-ahead layup with 1:07 remaining, and No. 3 seed LSU rallied past second-seeded NC State 80-73 in a tense women’s NCAA Tournament regional semifinal on Friday.

The Wolfpack led 69-64 with 4:29 left before LSU began to surge, led by Williams, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. After Gilbert blocked a layup attempt by NC State’s Zoe Brooks, Williams converted on the other end to make it 74-73 — part of a game-closing 10-0 run for the Tigers (31-5).

LSU, which won the national title two years ago for coach Kim Mulkey, reached the Elite Eight for the third consecutive season and will face top-seeded UCLA.

Sa’Myah Smith had 21 points and 11 rebounds for LSU, and Williams finished with 17 points and eight boards.

Brooks led NC State (28-7) with 21 points. Coach Wes Moore's Wolfpack fell short in their bid to reach a second straight Final Four.

The game featured seven lead changes and four ties, and LSU’s 21-10 advantage in the first quarter was the biggest lead for either team. Morrow had 10 points in the first period.

NC State surged back ahead to take a 40-36 halftime lead, and Morrow again dominated in the third quarter, scoring 11 of her team's 21 points in the period to put LSU ahead 57-53.

NC State opened the fourth quarter with an 8-1 run. The Wolfpack held LSU without a field goal until Morrow made a layup with just over seven minutes to play.

Morrow, the nation's top rebounder, had her 30th double-double of the season. Her effort on the boards helped the Tigers outrebound the Wolfpack 52-36, including an 18-10 advantage on the offensive glass.

The 6-foot-1 forward is one of two women in NCAA history with more than 100 double-doubles. She’s also the only player in the country with more than 600 points and 450 rebounds this season.

South Carolina survives scare from Maryland to advance to fifth straight Elite Eight

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.

Duke takes down rival UNC for a trip to the Elite Eight

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 No. 1 seed and defending champion South Carolina.

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 Eight 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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