The women's college basketball regular season is winding down on the final Sunday before conference tournaments.
Here is everything you may have missed:
No. 7 Iowa stuns No. 2 Indiana at the buzzer
Down by two, Iowa had just 1.5 seconds if it hoped to knock off No. 2 Indiana.
As fate would have it, that’s all the time Caitlin Clark needed. Clark hit a dagger three-pointer to overcome the Hoosiers, 86-85.
Iowa led for most of the game but saw the lead change hands in the back-and-fourth final quarter. It looked like the Hoosiers were going to run away with it after Mackenzie Holmes iced two free-throws in the final seconds.
Clark led all scorers with 34 points. She flirted with her 10th career triple-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Kate Martin contributed 19 points and three 3-pointers.
OH MY GOD!! THE BUZZER BEATER 3 BY CC!!!!@CaitlinClark22 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/IEAohn8ZbF
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 26, 2023
Much like the final shot, the Hawkeyes took advantage from beyond the arc shooting 39%, a +12 over the Hoosiers.
Iowa broke Indiana's 14-game winning streak handing the Hoosiers their first loss since Dec. 29.
The Big Ten conference tournament doesn’t start until Wednesday, but it certainly felt like a tournament title game in front of a rowdy Hawkeyes’ sold-out crowd. These two could very likely meet again next Sunday in the tournament championship.
SCOREBOARD: Keep up with every women's basketball gameNo. 10 Notre Dame survives Louisville to claim ACC title
Once again, Notre Dame faced a tough battle against Louisville this month. And once again, the Irish prevailed.
Notre Dame finished off the Cardinals 78-76 on Sunday.
The Irish took a blow late in the second quarter when Olivia Miles went down with a knee injury. Louisville held a 33-24 lead at the break and held it for most of the second half, that is until Notre Dame stormed back.
The Irish outscored the Cardinals by 12 in the second half. Sonia Citron led the effort with season-high 27 points, nine in the fourth quarter. KK Bransford (14 points) and Cassandre Prosper (11 points) came up huge off the bench, especially in the second half combining for 19 second-half points.
The offensive production didn’t grind to a halt after the ACC assist leader went down. The Irish shot 59% and 50% from the arc without Miles.
Miles remains a question mark as she’ll be evaluated further. But Notre Dame locked in two certainties as ACC regular season championships and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
No. 22 North Carolina downs rival No. 11 Duke
Duke had a lot riding on this game at home to rival North Carolina. If the Blue Devils won they’d secure the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament and would have shared the regular-season title with Notre Dame.
The Tar Heels spoiled all of that. North Carolina swooped in to take control late in the fourth quarter after Duke led for over 27 minutes of play, finishing off the Devils 45-41.
It was a low-scoring affair, with neither team shooting above 35% from the field or 30% from the arc. Both also committed over 20 turnovers each — 21 from UNC and Duke with 25.
Deja Kelly, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Utsby all led North Carolina with nine points a piece. Only one player, Duke’s Elizabeth Balgon, scored in double figures with 12 points.
The Tar Heels extended their series lead 54-51 over Duke in this storied rivalry.
TOP-16: Breaking down the final committee rankings before selections
South Carolina completes undefeated regular season
South Carolina finishes the regular season undefeated at 29-0. The Gamecocks got their 29th win over Georgia 73-63 at home.
After the first quarter, it looked like it might be another close one for South Carolina after escaping Ole Miss last week, but the Gamecocks turned up their signature defense holding the Bulldogs to just eight points in the second. From there, South Carolina never relented.
Aliyah Boston scored a game-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks on her senior day. Off the bench, Kamila Cardoso added a double-double of her own with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gamecocks’ physicality overwhelmed Georgia. South Carolina outdid the Bulldogs 47-25 in total rebounds and 18-3 offensive, 17-0 in second-chance points, and 42-24 in paint points.
South Carolina honored its 2019 recruiting class that includes Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and others. These seniors won the program’s second national championship. They’ve won 35 straight games, only losing eight total as Gamecocks.
Our first #1 Class - 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙨 - who hung together no matter what came at them. Ahead of Senior Day, we asked them to reflect on their four years together.@aa_boston ...every word from the heart 😢 pic.twitter.com/OqRFLMb9SN
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) February 25, 2023
Wisconsin upsets No. 12 Michigan
Wisconsin pulled off its biggest win of the season upsetting Michigan 78-70. The victory marked the Badgers' first ranked win since 2021 and just their 11th of the season.
It was a close game until the Badgers created some distance in the fourth quarter taking their largest lead of 11 midway through the final quarter. The Wolverines cut the deficit to four in the last two minutes, but the Badgers pristine free-throw shooting sealed the game.
Wisconsin shot 89% from the stripe (the Badgers average 76%) making 12 of 14 free throws in crunch time.
Julie Pospisilova scored a game-high 25 points adding six rebounds and five assists. Matyson Wilke notched 14 points on 50% shooting from three.
The Wolverines have lost three of their last four games. Michigan dropped to last place in the top-16 committee rankings, and an upset of this magnitude will surely ding the Wolverines’ resume come Selection Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Badgers finish out the regular season on a high note with a three-game win streak after enduring multiple losing streaks including a seven-game skid lasting from Nov. 20 to Jan. 1.
