The Sweet 16 is here! And some of the sport’s most storied franchises square off on Friday, with UConn taking on North Carolina and Notre Dame taking on Vanderbilt. In the late games, No. 1 seed UCLA faces Minnesota, before Duke’s offensive attack stacks up against LSU’s high-powered scorers.
Here’s ESPN’s guide to all of Friday’s action, live now on ESPN. Be sure to come back to After Game Tip for live updates and post-game analysis.
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2:30 PM ET, ESPN
How the Fighting Irish can advance to the Elite Eight: Notre Dame is on the move and will be a challenge for any opponent. But that was not the case at the beginning of this season. The Irish went 3–6 in January – after losing at Cal on January 29, they were 13–8 overall and 5–5 in the ACC. Then, their season began to turn around on February 1 after a win at Stanford. Since then the Irish have lost only twice: 81–70 at Virginia on February 8 and 65–63 at Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals on March 7. hannah hidalgo Has been a rock for the Irish. Cassandre ProsperBetter chemistry of progress and transfer iyana moore (from Vanderbilt) and vanessa de jesus (from Duke) has helped the Irish become perhaps the best team in the country since midseason. –Michael Voepel
How can the Commodores advance to the Elite Eight: Vanderbilt had not advanced beyond the second round of the tournament since 2009. The Commodores will face Hannah Hidalgo and Notre Dame. Mikayla Blakes is the nation’s leading scorer, but Hidalgo is the nation’s third-best scorer. He is also a dangerous defender. The Commodores are averaging only 13.1 turnovers per game, but they will have to be even more careful with the ball. Vanderbilt shot well from 3-point range in the first round of the tournament, hitting 11 shots from distance. Blake hit more 3-pointers than Illinois. Vanderbilt averages 26.3 3-point attempts per game and converts 36.3% of them. — Kendra Andrews
5:00 pm ET, ESPN
How the Tar Heels can advance to the Elite Eight: Returning to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year, the Tar Heels must improve significantly if their first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008 is possible. They allowed Maryland 21 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 16 times. North Carolina won’t be able to rely on UConn to make the kind of open shots that Maryland did. One thing that worked: reversing the strategy of shooting 40 3-pointers in the first round against Western Illinois. North Carolina took only 11 3s against Maryland, making four of them, and instead regularly took the ball to the basket, scoring 44 points in the paint. Moving the ball better and getting more open looks from the perimeter will be areas of focus. — Charlie Cream
How the Huskies can advance to the Sweet 16: If the Huskies keep playing like this, they will have no problem advancing to the Elite Eight. This is no disrespect to North Carolina, but the Huskies are that good. Geno Auriemma will want to make sure his team doesn’t become complacent after this early success or start feeling the pressure of a 40-0 season as the Huskies move deeper into the tournament. No coach in the country is better equipped to guide players through those dynamics than Auriemma. And having a group that has been through the NCAA Tournament extensively before – and emerged as champions – should only help. –Alexa Filippo
7:30 pm ET, ESPN
How the Gophers can advance to the Elite Eight: The last time the Gophers made the Sweet 16, they were led by future WNBA No. 1 draft pick Janelle McCarville under center. The year before that, McCarville and point guard Lindsey Whalen led Minnesota to the 2004 Final Four. After retiring from a Hall of Fame playing career in the WNBA, Whalen tried her hand at being the head coach of the Gophers from 2018 to 2023. But Minnesota did not make the NCAA Tournament under Whalen and he was replaced by Don Plitzuwitz for the 2023–24 season. Plitzuweit led the Gophers to the WBIT championship last season. They must defeat No. 1 seed UCLA to advance to the NCAA Tournament this year. –Michael Voepel
How the Bruins can advance to the Elite Eight: In the first two games of this tournament, the Bruins have shown how effective they can be in spread, and they can rely on their Final Four experience for flexibility. On Monday night, the Bruins survived a 9-0 run by the Cowgirls in the third quarter, never allowing them to reach single digits in that period. As UCLA continues in the tournament, the Bruins cannot afford teams a chance to get back into the game. — Sara Barshop
10:00 pm ET, ESPN
How the Blue Devils can advance to the Elite Eight: The Duke will defend himself – that’s for sure. The biggest concern of the Baylor game was seeing the Blue Devils’ best player, toby fournierIn bad trouble. Fournier had 15 points, but played only 22 minutes and ultimately fouled out after picking up her third foul early in the third quarter. Fournier also missed the ACC Championship Game and the regular season finale against North Carolina. From here the degree of difficulty increases, and Duke cannot afford to be without Fournier for long to advance. –Andrea Adelson
How the Tigers can advance to the Elite Eight: How about a carbon copy of their first two NCAA Tournament appearances? When LSU is on, the Tigers are one of the best teams in the country due to their ability to score both in the paint and from 3. It almost became an afterthought against Texas Tech, but LSU went 7 of 18 from 3-point range in the game. The inside game is where it’s at, and through two tournament games so far, LSU is shooting 72% in the paint — the best mark through two games by any team in the last six NCAA tournaments, according to ESPN Research. flaujay johnson And Mikayla Williams There are elite players, and when they are playing at the top of their game at the same time, that is a tough combination to stop. Every player who saw game action Sunday scored. If the Tigers can avoid some of the mistakes that have cost them wins in the past, they will put themselves in a position to advance in this tournament. –Andrea Adelson
