Last baseball season, torpedo bats (remember those?) stole the show on opening weekend. They were all anyone could talk about.

But time – and technology – marches on. So what do we have dominating the discourse after the first series of games in 2026? ABS challenges, of course!

If the idea is to get the important balls and strikes calls correct, we’re off to a good start. Except for Twins manager Derek Shelton, who was tossed from a game on Sunday, March 29, for arguing an overturned Ball 4.

That incident sparked a memorable call from Orioles TV announcer Kevin Brown, who exclaimed: “He’s arguing with the robots! You can’t defeat the robots!!”

Meanwhile, fantasy baseball managers are waging their own battles with technology as the season gets rolling.

Are my projections on target? Is this guy’s hot start a fact or fluke? Why didn’t the computer give my top waiver pickup?

In the search for just a fraction of the clarity ABS provides, it’s time to recognize how easy it is to overreact to the small samples of the early season.

Our annual Tuffy Awards shine a spotlight on the lesser-known players off to hot starts who will raise fantasy managers’ expectations, and then predictably return to a near-replacement level of production.

The inspiration for the awards is unheralded Chicago Cubs outfielder Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes, who hit three home runs off Dwight Gooden on opening day in 1994. Fantasy teams who grabbed Rhodes off the waiver wire saw him hit .234 with five home runs from that point forward.

So with a mix of caution and skepticism, we begin our quest to uncover this year’s Tuffy.

They might be legit

Not every unexpectedly fast start is necessarily a fluke. There are always a few early-season waiver wire pickups who remain productive all year. Here are a few worth taking seriously.

OF Chase DeLauter, Cleveland Guardians. The No. 16 overall pick in 2022 out of James Madison made his MLB debut during last year’s playoffs. Then in his first official at-bat with the Guardians, he took the Mariners’ Logan Gilbert deep – and seemingly never stopped slugging. After one series, DeLauter led the majors with four home runs.

The 24-year-old has always been a highly regarded prospect, but persistent foot injuries have kept him from playing more than 57 games in any of his three pro seasons. Through it all, he’s consistently posted excellent numbers. It’s time DeLauter takes a big step forward.

3B Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox. There was plenty of skepticism this offseason that Murakami’s outrageous power numbers in Japan would translate to the majors, where he’d see many more power arms. The former Triple Crown winner and Japan Central League MVP seems to have adjusted pretty well though, with three solo homers in his first three games. There are still concerns about his contact rate and propensity to strike out, but he did have as many walks as strikeouts (four) in his opening series.

SP Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels. We all should know better than to get too excited about Angels pitchers, but Soriano thrived in his first opening day start. He averaged 99.1 mph on his fastball – up 1.2 mph from last year’s average – in tossing six scoreless innings against the Astros. He also allowed just two hits and struck out seven.

Near-Tuffys

SP Emerson Hancock, Seattle Mariners. In the final game of opening week, Hancock stopped the Guardians (including DeLauter) cold. Sure, the chilly temperatures may have helped, but he struck out nine and allowed just one walk in six no-hit innings before departing. This performance came out of nowhere after Hancock posted ERAs near 5.00 while bouncing between Seattle and the minors the past two seasons. The former first-round pick should make a few more starts before Bryce Miller is healthy, but it’s hard to see him doing this again.

SP Randy Vasquez, San Diego Padres. In his first two seasons with the Padres, Vasquez averaged fewer than six strikeouts per nine innings with swinging-strike rates below 8.5%. In his first start of 2026, he fanned eight Tigers in six frames with a 14.3% swinging-strike rate. Like Hancock, Vasquez did gain more than a tick on his fastball from last season, but let’s see if it sticks.

SP Eric Lauer, Toronto Blue Jays. After fellow starters Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease combined for 11 ⅓ scoreless innings against the Athletics, Lauer followed with four more of his own before allowing a two-run homer in the fifth. What was most eye-opening though: nine strikeouts in 5 ⅓ innings (part of a major league record 50 strikeouts for Toronto pitchers in the season’s first three games).

Jumping on the Jays bandwagon is easy at this point, but Lauer’s time in the rotation will only last until Trey Yesavage returns from a shoulder strain in a couple weeks.

2B David Hamilton, Milwaukee Brewers. One glance at the half-week stolen base leaders reveals Hamilton ahead of everyone with three. (On pace to top 70!) But Hamilton had just four at-bats and eight plate appearances in the Brewers’ opening series while platooning with Luis Rengifo at third base. If you need speed only, he swiped a total of 55 over the past two seasons in part-time duty with the Red Sox. But he won’t give you anything else.

3B Ben Williamson, Tampa Bay Rays. Also getting off to a hot start with his new team, Williamson went 5-for-9 and scored four runs in his first three games. Known primarily for his glove, he’s part of a platoon at third and will only see part-time at-bats until Gavin Lux returns from the IL Williamson has just one home run in 286 career at-bats through Sunday.

And the 2026 Tuffy Award goes to …

OF Joey Wiemer, Washington Nationals. It’s hard to be any better than Wiemer was in going 6-for-6 with a couple of walks and two home runs to start the season. The 27-year-old journeyman is playing for his fourth major league team in four seasons. On a rebuilding Nationals squad, it’s no surprise he went undrafted in just about every fantasy league after hitting .150 this spring.

Wiemer’s roster rate will skyrocket this week after he homered on opening day and followed it up with three-run blast on Sunday. But those heroics came against a pair of left-handed Cubs starters. He isn’t going to take away playing time from a true young talent like Daylen Lile in right field or a defensive whiz like Jacob Young in center.  

Wiemer is a nice story, but one we’ve seen many times before at this time of year.

The Chicago Bulls are waiving guard Jaden Ivey for conduct detrimental to the team, the organization announced Monday, March 30.

Since being shut down for the season Thursday, March 26 because of lingering knee issues, Ivey, 24, has gone live on his Instagram on three separate occasions to rant about his religious beliefs and other issues. Several comments he made in reply to fans have since gone viral, including referring to Catholicism as a “false religion” and telling a fan that “God does not hear your prayer if you are a sinner.”

But the final straw for the Bulls appears to have come on Monday morning, when Ivey again took to social media – this time targeting the LGBTQ community, Pride Month and the NBA’s advocacy efforts in a 45-minute-long rant.

“… the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month,’ to celebrate unrighteousness,” Ivey said on his livestream.

Ivey has spoken in the past about dealing with depression.

A former fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Bulls acquired Ivey from the Detroit Pistons at the trade deadline on Feb. 3 in exchange for Kevin Huerter. He appeared in four games for Chicago and has been sidelined since Feb. 11 with left patellofemoral pain syndrome, a common and sometimes chronic pain behind or around the kneecap more widely known as runner’s knee.

Ivey averaged career-lows in points (8.5), rebounds (2.5) and assists (1.8) across 37 games played this year and played just 30 games in 2024-25 due to a broken left fibula. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in October that forced him to miss the Pistons’ first 15 games of the season.

Ivey, in his fourth NBA season, was set to be a restricted free agent this summer after he and Detroit could not finalize an agreement on a contract extension last offseason.

Max Verstappen has made no secret how little he’s enjoying driving during the new Formula 1 season.

After finishing eighth in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, March 29, the four-time F1 champion let his discontent spill out, telling reporters he was “not even frustrated any more, I’m beyond that.”

Verstappen has been a consistent critic of the overhauled car designs for this season that he says aren’t fun to drive because they place more emphasis on electrical power than driver skill.

Taking that a step further in an interview with BBC Sport, the Red Bull driver was asked if it might cause him to walk away from the sport at the end of the season. Verstappen’s response: “That’s what I’m saying. I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock.”

Enduring a disappointing start to the new season in which he has failed to finish higher than sixth place in any race, Verstappen elaborated on his current mindset.

“Privately I’m very happy,” he told BBC Sport. “And then you just think about is it worth it? Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you’re not enjoying your sport?”

Verstappen’s contract with Red Bull runs until 2028, but there are reports that he does have an escape clause that allows him to walk away if he’s not in the top two in the standings at a certain point in the season.

After the Japanese Grand Prix, he sits in ninth place − 60 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

It’s party time in Storrs, Connecticut.

March Madness is alive and well for UConn as both the men’s and women’s programs have advanced to the Final Four, an achievement that definitely earns the university its nickname as the “Basketball Capital of the World” after a perfect day on Sunday, March 29.

The undefeated women were the first one to punch their tickets, taking down Notre Dame to advance to their third straight Final Four. Later in the day, the men pulled off a miraculous comeback against top overall seed Duke, hitting a last-second 3-pointer for their third Final Four in the past four years.

It’s a magnificent achievement UConn knows plenty about, but how often has it happened? Here is the complete history of schools having men’s and women’s basketball in the Final Four at the same time.

How many times have men’s, women’s basketball made Final Four in same year?

The 2026 UConn teams make it the 15th time it’s happened. The Huskies are responsible for most of them, as this will be the sixth time they will experience it.

Men’s, women’s basketball teams in Final Four at same time history

• Georgia (1983)
• Duke (1999)
• Texas (2003)
• UConn (2004)
• Michigan State (2005)
• LSU (2006)
• UConn (2009)
• UConn (2011)
• Louisville (2013)
• UConn (2014)
• Syracuse (2016)
• South Carolina (2017)
• NC State (2024)
• UConn (2024)
• UConn (2026)

Have men’s, women’s basketball teams won championship same season?

Not only is UConn in the Final Four, the two teams will try to be the fourth one to each win it all.

To no surprise, it’s the only school to ever do it. The Huskies had double champions in 2004, 2011 and 2014.

CHICAGO – Dusty May had just called his star player immature in the nicest way possible, and Yaxel Lendeborg briefly leaned into the microphone inside the United Center to respond. Except the moderator didn’t notice, and the winning news conference moved on.

So, what did the oldest player left in the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament plan to say back to his coach?

“I was going to make a joke,” Lendeborg told USA TODAY Sports a few minutes later. “(May) told me at the beginning, ‘This isn’t going to be like a daddy day care.’”

The goofy 6-foot-8 late bloomer teammates have dubbed, “Dominican LeBron,” then let out another hearty laugh, basking in a Final Four berth Michigan wrapped up with plenty of time to celebrate by destroying No. 6 seed Tennessee, 95-62, in the Elite Eight on Sunday, March 29.

Lendeborg was the engine behind the blowout, igniting a 21-0 run with a ridiculous up-and-under 3-point play in the first half that left the Vols in the dust. He finished with 27 points to earn Midwest Region MVP honors, and cemented his status as perhaps the most irresistible character in Indianapolis next week. 

The Pennsauken, New Jersey, product went viral all season for TikTok livestreams with his teammates in their hotel rooms, went viral again when video of him trash talking Purdue at a bar got out and went viral once more when he initially giggled at a question last month asking if Duke’s Cameron Boozer was as good as advertised. 

Just this week, Lendeborg was filmed jamming to Katy Perry during warmups in Chicago and told reporters after the Sweet 16, when asked about a killer crossover to leave his defender on the floor, he was insulted that Alabama was using a freshman to guard him. 

That went viral, too. 

“We’ve challenged Yax to think about how he’s perceived,” May said. “You hate to be like that because he’s so authentic and he has such a big heart and you want that to shine.”

The story is a well-told one after the season Lendeborg has put together, and it will be told many more times in the lead-up to Michigan’s heavyweight bout against fellow No. 1 seed Arizona on Saturday night with a spot in the national championship game on the line. 

Six years ago, Lendeborg had barely played high school basketball, growing up outside Philadelphia in Pennsauken, New Jersey, because of bad grades. He instead had an affinity for all-day, all-night sessions playing video games and almost flunked out until his mother had something of an intervention. 

Then came three years of junior college, a two-year stop at UAB and finally he got to Michigan after eschewing the chance to be a first-round pick in last year’s NBA draft. He tried to keep his real emotions buried as the final minutes of Sunday’s game ticked away, to just be the class clown he was before the fame. 

He waved his arms along with the videoboard at the United Center as the “Wacky Wavy Tube Man” promotion played during a timeout. He figured out how to be taller than every player on Michigan during the celebratory team photo and posed making a funny face. He took photos holding the Midwest Region trophy like a baby and cuddled with it on the floor. He didn’t cry until somebody suggested he take a photo holding the trophy with his mom.

“It kind of ruined everything I had going on,” Lendeborg said. “It feels like I’m in a movie right now.”

The ending has been emotional. Lendeborg recently wrote a story for The Players Tribune titled, “How my mom saved my life,” and its meaning runs even deeper than basketball during this March Madness run. Yissel Raposo has cancer and scheduled her chemotherapy treatments around her son’s potential NCAA Tournament run.

That he’s now fulfilling this dream only because of her is not lost on anyone, and Raposo held her cell phone aloft with one hand and wiped tears from her eyes with the other as Lendeborg climbed a ladder and snipped a portion of the net. 

“I would work and she would be stuck with him and every day they were together,” Lendeborg’s father, Okary, told USA TODAY Sports through a translator. “That just became his role model.”

“I always believed in Yaxel. I always told him you have the potential, you have talent,” Raposo said.

Only when Lendeborg arrived on campus this past summer, May encountered a player who didn’t have great practice habits, who still wasn’t taking basketball seriously enough all the time. 

But May also said he made a conscious decision to not judge Lendeborg, to coach him as the player he was in order to unleash the player he is today, storming down the court like a freight train years in the making. 

“As humans we have personality flaws that we can get better at,” May explained. 

It was a nice way of saying Lendeborg needed to grow up. So, rather than make a joke, Lendeborg just nodded and let the next question come.

SACRAMENTO, CA — UCLA women’s basketball is still dancing in the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament, literally.

After No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 3 Duke 70-58 in the Elite Eight on Sunday, seniors Lauren Betts, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez gave an encore performance of their choreographed dance in front of family and friends. There’s a lot to celebrate — UCLA is headed back to the Final Four for the second consecutive season.

“We did (the viral dance) in the locker room today, too,” said Lauren Betts, who finished with a 23-point, 10 rebound double-double. “I didn’t realize they were going to play (Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching”) on the court in front of everybody … then Gabs of course comes running over.”

Like the song name, fans get to keep watching UCLA as their March Madness run continues. And although the dance break marked a moment of pure jubilation for the Bruins, Betts experienced the opposite side of the spectrum just hours prior. “I was just pretty mad. I just didn’t like how that first half happened,” she said.

“This is the Elite Eight and my senior season is on the line,” Betts said.

The matchup between UCLA and Duke at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday was a tale of two halves. The Blue Devils led by as many as 10 points in the first half and the Bruins entered the locker room trailing for only the second time all season. UCLA completely flipped the script in the third quarter and went on to outscore Duke 39-19 in the second half to complete the comeback victory and keep their season alive.

But the Bruins didn’t need head coach Cori Close to muster up a motivational halftime speech to rally the troops. UCLA — made up of eight seniors, including all five of their starters — had already “taken care of things” and discussed adjustments long before Close stepped into the locker room. Experience was on their side.

“We could have gone into that locker room and just kept our head down and gotten mad at each other and been pissed off, but we want to win,” Betts, the Sacramento Regional 2’s most outstanding player, said. “I spoke to all the girls and held people accountable and I think I just came out with the mentality I’m just not going to lose. And so whether that’s me scoring or blocking shots or just getting extra rebounds, I was willing to do whatever the team needed.”

Senior forward Angela Dugalic, who was named to the Sacramento Regional 2 All-Tournament Team, said the team’s defensive effort was the first topic of conversation.

“We try to anchor ourselves on defense and we knew that wasn’t a great depiction of how we want to play defense, so I think that we just needed to adjust,” said Dugalic, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench. “I even told the guards I need you guys to get through the screen so we can properly help you guys and get back to our player. And then they had some things to say to us as well.”

Close has leaned on her team’s veteran leadership all season and trusts their instincts to get back to the fundamentals, although she joked she’d much rather have her players “listen to me before we went out and follow the game plan from the beginning.” Close said her main role at halftime was to bring a sense of calmness.

“I was going into the locker room talking to myself going, they’ve got this, be solid, stay really steady for them,” Close recalled. “When you have a mature group and when your culture is pretty intact in terms of the values, it’s better for me to be quick to listen and slow to speak so usually when I speak, I will have better things to say.”

UCLA will face the winner of No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Michigan at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3.

Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

LAS VEGAS − There’s a new leader of “The Realm” on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Vegas Golden Knights announced the firing of coach Bruce Cassidy March 29, replacing their 2023 Stanley Cup-winning skipper with head coaching veteran John Tortorella.

“Bruce will forever be remembered with the utmost regard by our organization for what was accomplished here,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said in a news release.

The dismissal comes with eight games left in the regular season for the Golden Knights, who sit in third in the Pacific Division. Vegas has lost six of its last seven games and only won five games since the league returned from the Olympic break.

The Golden Knights are on track to hit their lowest points percentage in the team’s nine-year history. They have only missed the playoffs once, in the 2021-22 season, leading to the ouster of then head coach Peter DeBoer and Cassidy’s installation.

The Strip dwellers lost to the Washington Capitals 5-4 in a shootout the night before the announcement.

“With the stretch run of the 2025-26 regular season upon us, we believe that a change is necessary for us to return to the level of play that is expected of our club,” McCrimmon said.

Tortorella’s 770 career wins rank second among U.S.-born coaches. He won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 but has not coached in the playoffs since 2020, when his Columbus Blue Jackets were bounced from the first round.

His last NHL tenure ended abruptly, having been fired in 2025 by the Philadelphia Flyers with nine games left in the season. However, the team was already out of the playoff picture by the time he was relieved of his post on Broad Street.

Tortorella’s debut could come on March 30, when the Golden Knights host the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Golden Knights for further comment and to Tortorella through his Tortorella Family Foundation.

HOUSTON — The Illinois men’s basketball team was in the airport in Champaign, Illinois, preparing to board a flight to Houston for the NCAA Tournament regional, when Illini freshman forward David Mirkovic made a prescient purchase.

Mirkovic’s teammate, Keaton Wagler, sent him a link to an artificially generated photo of Mirkovic wearing a black cowboy hat. It was meant as a joke, but Mirkovic found a similar looking hat on Amazon and ordered it for $34. It was delivered to the Illini’s hotel in Houston on Friday, the day before Illinois played Iowa in the Elite Eight.

Mirkovic only intended to wear the hat if the Illini won. They did, 71-59, and after the team celebrated in the locker room by spraying each other with water guns – a program tradition that began two years ago in the NCAA Tournament – Mirkovic proudly donned his new headwear.

Asked if he felt like a cowboy, the Montenegro native paused and replied, “I don’t know. What does it mean, being a cowboy?”

He paused and reconsidered: “Yeah, why not. We’re in Texas.”

Mirkovic scored nine points and had a team-high 12 rebounds in Illinois’ Elite Eight win, coming just one point shy of his second consecutive double-double. He was still named to the South Regional All-Tournament team and his performance helped Illinois advance to the Final Four, where it will play either Duke or Connecticut.

None of Mirkovic’s Illini teammates joined him in buying cowboy hats, but he retained hope that he could start a new NCAA Tournament tradition.

“Maybe for next season,” he said, smiling.

SACARMENTO, CA — The Oklahoma women’s basketball team upset South Carolina in the regular season, but the Gamecocks got the last laugh in the Sweet 16. 

No. 1-seeded South Carolina defeated No. 4 Oklahoma 94-68 in a wire-to-wire victory in the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday, punching the Gamecocks’ ticket to their sixth consecutive Elite Eight appearance. 

The win was a total team effort for South Carolina, who had three players finish in double digits. Ta’Niya Latson led the way with a game-high 28 points in the first Sweet 16 appearance of her career, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the 3-point line. Raven Johnson finished with 18 points, Tessa Johnson added 14 points and Agot Makeer had 10 points off the bench.

The Gamecocks shot 51% from the field and 10-of-14 (71%) from the 3-point line, marking the team’s best performance from beyond the arc all season. 

Oklahoma freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez had 21 points in the losing effort.

USA TODAY Sports is providing live updates and highlights from Saturday’s matchup. Here’s all the highlights and score updates from South Carolina vs. Oklahoma’s Sweet 16 battle:

Madina Okot hits rebound milestone

South Carolina center Madina Okot has passed A’ja Wilson for second all-time on South Carolina’s single-season total rebounds list. Her 12 rebounds so far bring her total to 394, three more than Wilson. Okot’s inside presence has been a key factor in the Gamecocks’ dominant performance over Oklahoma and its star center Raegan Beers, who has eight rebounds. 

Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston holds the South Carolina women’s basketball single-season rebounding record of 447, set during the 2021-22 season. − Dylan Clearfield 

End of Q3: South Carolina 68, Oklahoma 49

South Carolina led by as many as 25 points and the Gamecocks carry a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. Three South Carolina players are in double digits, led by 18 points each from Raven Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson. Tessa Johnson scored 11 of her 14 points in the third quarter.

Oklahoma started to find its offensive rhythm in the frame, but couldn’t put together stops to slow down South Carolina. Aaliyah Chavez has a team-high 14 points for the Sooners.

Tessa Johnson heats up in third quarter

The first half belonged to South Carolina guards Ta’Niya Latson and Raven Johnson, but the third quarter has belonged to Tessa Johnson, who scored nine of her 12 points in the first five minutes of the frame. Tessa Johnson is shooting 5-of-6 from the field including 2-of-2 from the 3-point line. South Carolina has a 62-38 lead over Oklahoma with 5:07 remaining.

Halftime: South Carolina 47, Oklahoma 28

South Carolina has a 19-point lead over Oklahoma heading into halftime. It may the first Sweet 16 appearance of Ta’Niya Latson’s career, but you would never be able to tell. Latson has a game-high 18 points.

Raven Johnson is on pace for a career night with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field including 2-of-3 from 3. Her career-high is 22 points against Louisiana State earlier this month on March 7.

South Carolina has held Oklahoma to 33% from the field and 2-of-9 from the 3-point line. No Oklahoma player has reached double digits in scoring.

Chloe Kitts wears Tessa Johnson hoodie

Gamecocks senior Chloe Kitts, who is out with an injury, made a subtle but meaningful statement on the sideline during South Carolina’s warmups, wearing a hoodie that reads “Who can guard Tessa?” What started as a viral line from LSU coach Kim Mulkey has quickly turned into a full-blown movement centered around Tessa Johnson. First appearing on a T-shirt, and now a cream hoodie, the outfit is small gesture that speaks volumes, turning an inside joke into a symbol of team unity. 

The Gamecocks, though, might need a new shirt after this game: “Who Can Guard Raven?” Raven Johnson already has 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. − Erin Kirby

South Carolina winning rebound battle vs. Oklahoma

Oklahoma entered the game at second in the nation in rebounds per game (48.7). But midway through the second quarter, South Carolina is winning the rebound battle 18-12. Senior center Madina Okot leads the charge with seven boards. The Gamecocks rank 10th nationally in rebounds per game (42.3). − Dylan Clearfield

South Carolina goes on 5-0 run

South Carolina opened the second quarter against Oklahoma on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to a game-high 15 points.

End of Q1: South Carolina 23, Oklahoma 13

South Carolina got off to a hot start and led by as many 12 points in the first quarter. They have a double-digit lead heading into the second quarter. 

Raven Johnson (9) and Ta’Niya Latson (8) combined for 17 of South Carolina’s 23 first-quarter points. South Carolina is outrebounding Oklahoma 17-7. Madina Okot is already up to seven rebounds. 

Aaliyah Chavez leads Oklahoma with seven points. The Sooners struggled to find their rhythm in the first quarter. They shot 32% from the field and 1-of-5 from the 3-point line. 

South Carolina goes on 10-0 run

The Sweet 16 battle between South Carolina and Oklahoma is underway at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Ta’Niya Latson got South Carolina on the board with a fading jumper and knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Gamecocks a 5-0 lead. A Raven Johnson layup and three made free throws from Latson stretched South Carolina’s lead to 10-0 with 7:22 left in the first quarter.

Oklahoma missed their first five field goals to open the game.

What time is South Carolina vs. Oklahoma Sweet 16 game?

The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks will face off against the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet 16 round of the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 28 in Sacramento, California. 

• Date: Saturday, March 28
• Time: 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT)
• Location: Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, CA)

South Carolina vs. Oklahoma: TV, streaming

• Stream: ESPN Unlimited

South Carolina starting lineup

Head coach: Dawn Staley

•  00 Ta’Niya Latson | G 5-8 –  Senior
•  5  Tessa Johnson | G 6-0 – Junior
•  8  Joyce Edwards | F 6-3 – Sophomore
• 11 Madina Okot | C 6-6 –  Senior
• 25 Raven Johnson | G 5-9 –  Senior

Oklahoma Sooners starting lineup

Head coach: Jennie Baranczyk

• 2 Aaliyah Chavez | G 5-10 – Freshman
• 3 Zya Vann | G 5-9 – Sophomore
• 6 Sahara Williams | F 5-11 – Junior
• 12 Payton Verhulst | G 6-1 –  Senior
• 15 Raegan Beers | C 6-4 – Senior

A’ja Wilson compliments Raven Johnson

South Carolina alum A’ja Wilson said senior guard Raven Johnson “doesn’t get talked about enough” during a recent interview with ESPN’s Sean Hurd.

“We’re talking about somebody that can count on her hand how many times she’s lost,” Wilson said. “To see her just weather storms – like when people would talk about her – she’s showing up the next season, like, heard you. That type of stuff is what really is amazing to me when it comes to Ray. I’m so grateful to watch her grow. I’m grateful to see her thrive.”

South Carolina takes the court

It’s almost showtime at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Who won South Carolina-Oklahoma regular season matchup?

South Carolina women’s basketball is out for revenge.

Oklahoma handed South Carolina its second loss of the season on Jan. 22, when freshman Aaliyah Chavez led the Sooners to a 94-82 overtime victory in Norman, Oklahoma. Chavez scored 15 of her game-high 26 points in overtime, including four 3-pointers to seal the Sooners third-ever win against an AP top 2 opponent.

South Carolina can get the last laugh on Saturday in the Sweet 16 round of the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks has surpassed the 100-point mark in the first two games of the tournament against No. 16 Southern and No. 9 USC. Joyce Edwards is averaging a near double-double, averaging 25 points and nine rebounds through two games. 

Meanwhile, Oklahoma blew out No. 13 Idaho 89-69 and survived a close 77-71 win over No. 5 Michigan State in the second round. Raegan Beers had 18 points and 14 rebounds in Oklahoma’s second-round win.

South Carolina Gamecocks roster

Oklahoma Sooners roster

Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

The Milwaukee Bucks have officially been eliminated from NBA playoff contention for the 2025-26 season.

The franchise had not missed the playoffs since the 2015-16 season but will now instead land in the NBA draft lottery.

Center Myles Turner and the Bucks fell to 29-44 on the season after losing 127-95 to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Milwaukee is 11th in the Eastern Conference standings as of Saturday afternoon.

“It’s been disappointing, obviously,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “Since I’ve been here, I haven’t had a healthy stretch and it’s been your key guys. It’s been (Giannis Antetokounmpo). It’s been (former Bucks guard Damian Lillard). And you hope you can play through that, but we just haven’t had the ability.”

The Bucks waived Lillard before the season, and the team has been playing chunks of this season without Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo has not played since March 15, and the team has won just one of its last six games in the absence of its star player.

Rivers added that he believes his team is playing at a deficit with “only one quote-unquote star” while “every other team has two and three.”

The team made additions to the roster, acquiring Turner in the offseason, in an attempt to produce a winner, but the team continued to be plagued by injuries this season.

“We needed health,” Rivers said. “We were thin. We knew that before the season started, and it just didn’t go our way. All the talk and all that stuff probably didn’t help, either.”

“The talk” was presumably alluding to Antetokounmpo’s future with the franchise. The team officially out of the playoff picture will only fuel more speculation about Antetokounmpo’s future with the team.

Bucks co-owner and governor Wes Edens told ESPN that the Bucks will likely pursue one of just two outcomes regarding Antetokounmpo this offseason: either the team will sign the star to another extension, or he will be traded. Antetokounmpo is eligible for a contract extension on Oct. 1.

Rivers has tried to see the silver linings this season, starting with some of the younger players on the roster, including Ryan Rollins, Pete Nance and Ousmane Dieng.

Rivers also credited Bobby Portis for his effort in a leadership role this season.

“He’s been a pro throughout this year,” Rivers said. “We had a great talk today about it before the game. I’m just so proud of him as a leader. He tries to do the right stuff.”