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NCAA Women’s Tournament: LSU catches fire, USC looks vulnerable

Mar 25, 2025 | 9:54 AM

(Photo credit: Chelsea Reinhardt)

By Chris Marler

The faces may be different, and so are most of the names on the back of the jerseys. 

The name on the front though? That looked the exact same. And the scoreboard, style, and emphatic wins looked very familiar to the team wearing those uniforms in 2023 when the Tigers won the national title. 

LSU looks like 2023 LSU

The Tigers led No. 6 seed Florida State by one point at halftime. It was a high scoring first 20 minutes that read 50-49 on the scoreboard at the break. It was a one point game and back and forth the entire first half. 

The audio from Kim Mulkey’s halftime speech hasn’t leaked anywhere, but goodness, it must have been a doozie. The Tigers came out and went on a 31-6 run in the third quarter. They ended up winning by 30. 

LSU had three starters over 20 points, and none of them were named Flau’Jae Johnson. Aneesah Morrow had yet another double double, and Mikaylah Williams shot 83 percent from the floor and was 3-for-3 from deep. 

USC looks vulnerable 

Usually the NCAA Women’s tournament is much more chalky than the men’s tournament, especially in the first few rounds. In the last 31 years, 119 of the total 124 No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Sweet 16. All four No. 1 seeds advanced to the second weekend in this year’s tournament as well. However, two teams that share the same seed and school acronym look vulnerable after their second round games. 

South Carolina won by 60 in their first game against a 26 win Tennessee Tech team. However in round two, they found themselves in a dogfight with Indiana. They trailed 12-9 in the first quarter and were trailing by one at the half. The Gamecocks were able to put the clamps down and win by 11, but they’ll need to be much better the rest of the way if they want to hoist a second straight national title trophy. 

The Gamecocks started 4-for-20 from the field and had over five turnovers halfway through the second quarter. They finished the game shooting over 57 percent from the field and Chloe Kitts scored ten points in the second half to continue her phenomenal postseason. 

The west coast version of USC may be in much more trouble than the one near the Atlantic Ocean. Star forward JuJu Watkins tore her ACL just five minutes into the game. The Trojans responded well and beat No. 9 seed Mississippi State 96-59. However, replacing the best player in America will not be easy. Neither will be replacing her 24.6 points, 7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. 

The Trojans will face No. 5 Kansas State but are staring down a potential Elite Eight matchup with UConn and all-everything guard Paige Bueckers. 

Alabama and Maryland play the game of the year 

Alabama and Maryland played in an absolute thriller and what was potentially the game of the year in Women’s College Basketball. The Tide and Terps went to double overtime before Maryland was able to ultimately close the game out with a three point win 111-108. 

It was the highest scoring NCAA women’s tournament game in history and the highest since 1995 in a game that also involved Alabama, oddly enough. Maryland trailed by 17 points halfway through the third quarter and were down 11 in the fourth. They were able to overcome both deficits and hold off Sarah Ashlee Barker’s school record 45 points for Alabama. 

Check out more of our SEC coverage.