Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by injured star JuJu Watkins, scoring 19 points to help Southern California hold off Kansas State 67-61 in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

She's just such an incredible young person, and I think the way the team has responded says a lot about them but also a lot about her and the true amount of chemistry that they have with each other." Watkins suffered a torn ACL in USC's second-round victory over Mississippi State,

Multiple notable high-major teams are headed to the first College Basketball Crown, which begins Monday in Las Vegas. The 16-team bracket includes USC, Nebraska, Villanova, Butler, Arizona State, and Georgetown.

The newest men's college basketball postseason tournament kicks off this week with the College Basketball Crown.

Back in 2002, the then 3-seed Wildcats fell 82-62 to 7-seed Old Dominion. It was a reversal of 1982, when in the first NCAA Tournament, the 4-seed Wildcats beat the 1-seed Monarchs 76-67 to advance to the program’s one and only regional final.

The UCLA Bruins, the other top seed in action on Sunday, are after their first-ever Women's Final Four appearance. However, UCLA faces the tougher matchup against the LSU Tigers, who won the title in 2023 under Kim Mulkey.