Month: March 2023

The 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament continued Friday with two powerhouse Final Four matchups. Here are the top plays!

Colorado Rockies’ Kyle Freeland showed off his athleticism with an unreal throw to get San Diego Padres’ Austin Nola out at first in the bottom of the fifth.

Caitlin Clark continued to showcase why she is one the most electrifying scorers in all of college basketball.

The Iowa superstar added to her long list of accolades in the first quarter of the Hawkeyes’ Final Four tilt against South Carolina on Friday.

Clark, who racked up 19 points and six assists in the first half, became the sixth player in Division I women’s basketball to score 1,000 points in a single season. Her newest achievement comes days after she became the first Division I player in NCAA history to record 900+ points and 300+ assists in a single season. No other player in men’s or women’s D-I NCAA basketball history has reached the feat.

The 2023 Naismith Player of the Year also became the first player in women’s NCAA tournament history to record a 40-point triple-double in Iowa’s 97-83 victory against Louisville in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Baccellieri: Two Talented Stars. Two Different Styles. One Seismic Matchup.

Caitlin Clark with a first half to remember ‼️

19 PTS
6 AST
7-12 FG pic.twitter.com/QmPXOCeeXk

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 1, 2023

The 21-year-old is hoping to lift Iowa to its first appearance in the national championship game on Sunday with a win against the Gamecocks.

Charlie Blackmon hit a two-run home run to put the Colorado Rockies up 4-0 over the San Diego Padres.

Charlotte Flair joined Ryan Satin backstage to discuss her upcoming SmackDown Women’s Championship Match at WrestleMania 39 with Rhea Ripley and reflect on the path that brought her to the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns came face-to-face one last time on Friday Night SmackDown before they will lock horns in the Universal Title Match at WrestleMania 39.

Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore etched her name into college basketball’s history books during Friday evening’s Final Four game against LSU when she set the record for the most three-pointers ever made in a single NCAA tournament.

Amoore connected on her 23rd triple of the 2023 Big Dance during the third quarter of the contest against the Tigers, becoming the first men’s or women’s player ever to reach 23 or more made three-point field goals in a single tournament. The junior guard didn’t have to do much for the history-making shot as she calmly lined up a wide open jumper and cooly stared as the ball snapped through the net.

The shot that broke the single-tournament record for most 3’s by the 🐐 @georgia_amoore#WFinalFour x 🎥 ESPN / @HokiesWBB pic.twitter.com/JWmPZYjYrf

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 1, 2023

Amoore, who has shot 38.4% from beyond the arc on 9.3 three-point attempts per game this season, wasn’t done after securing her place in history. She drained another deep ball early in the fourth quarter to add to her record tally and extend the Hokies’ lead at the time.

Amoore may have notched her place in history, but it wasn’t enough for Virginia Tech to stay afloat against LSU. The Tigers used a 29-point outburst in the fourth quarter to close out a 79–72 win and claim the first spot in Sunday’s national championship game.

Amoore ended the game with 17 points on 4-for-15 shooting from beyond the arc.

Alexis Morris and Angel Reese made sure that LSU’s record-setting season would continue one more game, as the dynamic duo combined for 51 points to power the No. 3 Tigers to a 79—72 over No. 1 Virginia Tech on Friday night at American Airlines Arena.

In a game of massive runs, Morris finished with 27 points and two assists while Reese notched her 33rd double-double performance of the season, recording 24 points and 12 rebounds in the Tigers’ win.

LSU trailed 59–50 heading into the fourth quarter. However, a flurry of big shots and precise rebounding helped the Tigers outscore the Hokies, 29–13, in the final period. Reese and Morris combined to score 20 of the Tigers’ 29 fourth-quarter points.

However, Reese credited the Tigers’ defense as the key factor in LSU being able to pull out the win. LSU forced Virginia Tech to make 18 turnovers in the game and held the Hokies scoreless for a nearly six-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, ultimately limiting the ACC program to 40.4% shooting from the floor.

“We had to play defense and come together and believe in each other,” Reese told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game.

Rosenberg: Angel Reese’s Dominance Was By Design at LSU

With limited scoring opportunities for Virginia Tech, Morris channeled her “Lex-Luthor” mode on offense, converting on timely buckets when the Tigers needed them most. 

“I know my team needed a spark and I had to trust in myself and my teammates and that’s why we are playing in the national championship on Sunday,” Morris told Rowe.

With the win, LSU punched its ticket to this year’s title game, allowing the program to play for a national championship for the first time in school history. The Tigers will play the winner of the Iowa and South Carolina matchup in the women’s national championship game at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.