The Candy 16 is right here! And among the sport’s most storied franchises are up on Friday, with UConn taking up North Carolina and Notre Dame dealing with off in opposition to Vanderbilt. Within the late video games, No. 1 seed UCLA takes on Minnesota earlier than Duke’s vaunted offense goes up in opposition to LSU’s high-powered scorers.
Right here is ESPN’s information to all of Friday’s motion, which is dwell now on ESPN. Make sure to come again after the video games tip for dwell updates and postgame evaluation.
Bounce to salaries: Game previews
2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
How the Preventing Irish can advance to the Elite Eight: Notre Dame is rolling and can be a problem for any foe. However that wasn’t the case earlier this season. The Irish went 3-6 in January — after falling at Cal on Jan. 29, they have been 13-8 general and 5-5 within the ACC. Then, their season began to show round Feb. 1 after a victory at Stanford. The Irish have misplaced simply twice since then: 81-70 at Virginia on Feb. 8 and 65-63 to Duke on March 7 within the ACC event semifinals. Hannah Hidalgo has been the rock for the Irish. Cassandre Prosper‘s progress and the improved chemistry of transfers Iyana Moore (from Vanderbilt) and Vanessa de Jesus (from Duke) have helped the Irish develop into maybe probably the most improved group within the nation since midseason. — Michael Voepel
How the Commodores can advance to the Elite Eight: Vanderbilt hadn’t made it previous the second spherical of the event since 2009. The Commodores will face Hannah Hidalgo and Notre Dame. Mikayla Blakes is the nation’s main scorer, however Hidalgo is the third-best scorer within the nation. She can be a pesky defender. The Commodores common simply 13.1 turnovers per recreation, however they must be much more cautious with the ball. Vanderbilt shot effectively from 3-point vary within the first spherical of the event, flattening 11 photographs from distance. Blakes hit extra 3-pointers than Illinois. Vanderbilt averages 26.3 3-point makes an attempt per recreation and converts 36.3% of them. — Kendra Andrews
5:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
How the Tar Heels can advance to the Elite Eight: Again within the Candy 16 for the second 12 months in row, the Tar Heels could have a lot to enhance upon if their first journey to the Elite Eight since 2008 is feasible. They allowed 21 Maryland offensive rebounds and turned over the ball 16 occasions. North Carolina won’t be able to depend on UConn lacking the sort of open photographs Maryland did. One factor that labored: reversing the technique of taking pictures 40 3-pointers within the first spherical in opposition to Western Illinois. North Carolina launched solely 11 3s in opposition to Maryland, making 4, and as a substitute routinely took the ball to the basket, scoring 44 factors within the paint. Shifting the ball higher and getting extra open seems from the perimeter can be an space to concentrate on. — Charlie Creme
How the Huskies can advance to the Candy 16: If the Huskies maintain taking part in this manner, they may don’t have any points advancing to the Elite Eight. That is no disrespect to North Carolina, however the Huskies are simply that good. Geno Auriemma will wish to be certain that his group would not get complacent after this early success or that it begins to really feel the strain of a 40-0 season because the Huskies get deeper into the event. No coach within the nation is healthier outfitted to navigate gamers by these dynamics than Auriemma. And having a bunch that has largely been by the NCAA event earlier than — to not point out emerged as champions — ought to solely assist. — Alexa Philippou
7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
How the Gophers can advance to the Elite Eight: The final time the Gophers made the Candy 16, they have been powered by future WNBA No. 1 draft decide Janel McCarville at middle. The 12 months earlier than that, McCarville and level guard Lindsay Whalen led Minnesota to the 2004 Closing 4. Whalen tried her hand at being the Gophers head coach from 2018 to 2023, after she retired from a Corridor of Fame taking part in profession within the WNBA. However Minnesota did not make the NCAA event below Whalen, and she or he was changed by Daybreak Plitzuweit for the 2023-24 season. Plitzuweit led the Gophers to the WBIT championship final season. To get additional within the NCAA event this 12 months, they must beat No. 1 seed UCLA. — Michael Voepel
How the Bruins can advance to the Elite Eight: Within the first two video games of this event, the Bruins have proven how dominant they are often in stretches, and so they can lean on their Closing 4 expertise for resilience. On Monday evening, the Bruins survived the Cowgirls’ 9-0 run within the third quarter, by no means letting them get inside single digits in that span. As UCLA continues within the event, the Bruins cannot give groups an opportunity to get again into the sport. — Sarah Barshop
10:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
How the Blue Devils can advance to the Elite Eight: Duke will pack its protection — that is a given. The largest concern off the Baylor recreation was seeing the Blue Devils’ greatest participant, Toby Fournier, in foul bother. Fournier had 15 factors however performed solely 22 minutes after selecting up her third foul early within the third quarter earlier than finally fouling out. Fournier additionally fouled out of the ACC championship recreation and the regular-season finale in opposition to North Carolina. The diploma of problem will increase from right here, and Duke can’t afford to be with out Fournier for lengthy stretches transferring ahead. — Andrea Adelson
How the Tigers can advance to the Elite Eight: How a few carbon copy of their first two NCAA event performances? When LSU is on, the Tigers are top-of-the-line groups within the nation due to their skill to attain each within the paint and from 3. It turned nearly an afterthought in opposition to Texas Tech, however LSU went 7-of-18 from 3-point vary within the recreation. The within recreation is the place it’s at, and to date in two event video games, LSU is taking pictures 72% within the paint — the most effective mark by two video games by any group previously six NCAA tournaments, based on ESPN Analysis. Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams are elite gamers, and when they’re taking part in on the high of their recreation on the identical time, that may be a arduous mixture to cease. Each participant who noticed recreation motion Sunday scored. If the Tigers can keep away from among the errors which have value them wins previously, they may put themselves in place to maintain going on this event. — Andrea Adelson
