Charlie CremeNov 30, 2025, 09:08 PM ETCloseCharlie Creme projects the women’s NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN.com.
Washington State Cougars vs. LSU Tigers: Game Highlights (1:16)Washington State Cougars vs. LSU Tigers: Game Highlights (1:16)
Feast Week did not disappoint. The inaugural Players Era Women’s Championship was billed as a Final Four-caliber event — and it delivered. After handing third-ranked and previously unbeaten UCLA its first loss on Wednesday, No. 4 Texas did the same to No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday to emerge as the top team in Las Vegas.
Players Era was the highlight of a 10-day span of holiday tournaments and games, but events from Puerto Rico and Cancún to Florida and Texas helped create one of the best stretches on the women’s basketball calendar this season.
Many of the games will have far-reaching implications into March and could be the difference between being in or out of the NCAA tournament field.
The SEC schedule has the Longhorns and Gamecocks slated to play only once during the regular season (Jan. 15 in Columbia). So their matchup in Thursday’s championship game of the Players Era event was a bonus. And it did not disappoint.
Two of the best teams in the country played like it and solidified their status as favorites for No. 1 NCAA tournament seeds. Rori Harmon’s pullup jumper with 0.7 seconds left won it for Texas, which is now firmly established as the No. 2 team in the country behind UConn Huskies after beating two top-five teams in Las Vegas (the Longhorns beat No. 3 UCLA Bruins on Wednesday).
Madison Booker came alive for the Longhorns in the fourth quarter, scoring 8 of her 16 points, as Texas came back from an eight-point deficit late in the third period.
South Carolina, led by Joyce Edwards’ 16 points, will now slot in at No. 3 overall in Bracketology, which will be fully updated on Tuesday.
Despite playing without All-American Lauren Betts, who sat out after sustaining an arm injury in Wednesday’s game, UCLA cruised past Duke. The win gives the Bruins a third victory over a team in the top 20 of the NET. UCLA scored 13 of the game’s first 15 points and was never threatened. The win keeps the Bruins slotted as a No. 1 seed, but now behind UConn, Texas and South Carolina on the top line after falling to the Longhorns on Wednesday.
Duke falls to 3-5 with the loss and will not be in the NCAA tournament field in the next Bracketology on Tuesday. An already challenging nonconference schedule for the Blue Devils gets tougher with a visit from LSU in the ACC/SEC Challenge next week.
This was the first real test for Texas, which entered the game with an average margin of victory of 53.6 points. UCLA entered the matchup ranked third in the AP poll and as the No. 2 team in the latest Bracketology — ahead of Texas in both instances — and already has wins over Oklahoma and North Carolina on its résumé. Texas will certainly overtake the Bruins in both rankings following this win, which gives the Longhorns breathing room in their bid for a No. 1 seed.
UCLA will stay on the top line for now, but its margin for error isn’t as great — and Thursday’s consolation game will determine whether the Bruins stay there.
With LSU’s scoring barrage and Texas’ big wins in Las Vegas, the Cyclones’ dominance this season has flown under the radar. They also hadn’t been tested. Beating previously undefeated Indiana (7-1) solidified Iowa State’s fast start.
The obvious headline from Sunday’s Coconut Hoops Blue Heron Division championship game is Audi Crooks scoring 47 points — she entered the game averaging 24.9 points on 73.3% shooting. But the Cyclones now set their sights on being undefeated heading into Big 12 play, which opens Dec. 21. Iowa poses the biggest threat to ending the win streak; the Cyclones (9-0) host the Hawkeyes (8-0) on Dec. 10.
The Sooners made 15 3-pointers themselves and outrebounded Florida State 51-38. Oklahoma freshman Aaliyah Chavez scored 29 points and made seven 3-pointers for the second time this season; she also did it against Kansas City on Nov. 12.
Sahara Williams posted 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Raegan Beers also registered a double-double with 14 and 11 for the 7-1 Sooners, whose only loss was to UCLA.
Oklahoma, a No. 2 seed in the latest Bracketology, has two more nonconference games against currently ranked foes: versus NC State on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge and against Oklahoma State on Dec. 13. — Michael Voepel
The Tigers extended their 100-point game streak to eight in a row to start this season as they won the Paradise Jam Reef Division championship Saturday in the U.S. Virgin Islands. LSU is a No. 2 seed in the latest Bracketology and has yet to be challenged.
That might change Thursday, when the Tigers play at Duke in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Blue Devils are 3-5 and have fallen out of the rankings, but three of their losses were to ranked teams. Duke, which is allowing 63.6 points per game this season, might stop LSU’s 100-point streak.
On Saturday, Flau’jae Johnson finished with 16 points, Jada Richard added 14 and five Tigers scored 12 each. LSU also dominated the boards 52-15 and held the Cougars to just three points in the fourth quarter. It’s unclear how LSU will match up with teams of similar ability, but there’s no doubt the Tigers are very talented. — Michael Voepel
Georgia was among the “Next Four Out” in the latest Bracketology on Tuesday. They could be inching closer to the right side of the bubble after winning this matchup of unbeaten teams Saturday at the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida.
Georgia, now 8-0, didn’t make the NCAA tournament the past two seasons and hasn’t advanced out of the early rounds since 2013. But transfer guard Dani Carnegie, the ACC Sixth Player of the Year last season with Georgia Tech, has been a welcome addition for Georgia. She leads the Lady Dogs in scoring this season and had 23 points Friday.
Kansas dropped to 6-1 despite a career-high 40 points from junior guard S’Mya Nichols. The Jayhawks were a No. 10 seed in the latest Bracketology. — Michael Voepel
The Horned Frogs were a No. 2 seed in Charlie Creme’s latest Bracketology, and Thursday’s victory over the Atlantic 10 favorite Spiders at the Cancun Challenge will help that position. TCU moved to 7-0. This victory and a 69-59 win at then-No. 10 NC State on Nov. 16 are the top two results on the Frogs’ nonconference schedule.
TCU is favored in its next five games and should be undefeated heading into its Big 12 opener on Dec. 20 vs. Kansas State. Marta Suarez, a transfer who previously played for Tennessee and Cal, is having a strong final season at TCU. She has led the Frogs in scoring in five of their seven games and went 6-of-10 from behind the arc in each of the past two games.
Richmond (5-2) started the season ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll. But the Spiders have lost their two games against ranked teams: against Texas on Nov. 7 and Thursday’s game vs. TCU. — Michael Voepel
Ohio State handed West Virginia its first loss of the season thanks to a strong fourth quarter. It gave Ohio State the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo championship, Goombay Division, in Nassau, Bahamas. It’s a big win for Ohio State, which has now won three consecutive games after a tough 100-68 loss to No. 1 UConn on Nov. 16, and should help propel the Buckeyes, who were already on the rise as a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.
This loss will sting for West Virginia, which led by eight with less than four minutes left and won the rebounding battle 38-28. Most things lined up for a West Virginia win. But the Mountaineers committed 25 turnovers to Ohio State’s 17 — West Virginia is typically on the right side of turnover margin — and shot 4-of-17 from 3-point range.
Ohio State guards Jaloni Cambridge, the team’s leading scorer this season, and her sister, Kennedy Cambridge, both fouled out in the last 4½ minutes. Two other Ohio State players, Kylee Kitts and Bryn Martin, also fouled out of the game. Yet the Buckeyes still managed to outscore the Mountaineers 28-20 in the final period.
Ohio State guard Ava Watson made two free throws with three seconds left to give the Buckeyes an 83-80 lead. West Virginia still had a chance to tie the score as guard Sydney Shaw was fouled on a 3-point attempt with six-tenths of a second left. She missed the first attempt, made the second and intentionally missed the third to try to get a rebound and putback for the Mountaineers. But Ohio State grabbed the ball and the victory.
Jaloni Cambridge led Ohio State (5-1) with 22 points. Guard Gia Cooke’s 24 points led West Virginia. — Michael Voepel
The Crimson Tide moved to 7-0 as they won the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship, Junkanoo Division, in Nassau, Bahamas.
Alabama — which also won a game that could have significant bubble implications in March — lost its top three scorers from last season, all of whom were selected in the WNBA draft. The Tide’s top returning scorer, junior forward Essence Cody, leads them in scoring this season. Wednesday against the Gophers, she had 18 points. So did senior guard Jessica Timmons, who missed last season after suffering a knee injury in the 2024 SEC tournament.
Auburn has opened Larry Vickers’ coaching tenure with the Tigers with eight straight wins, and this one was by far the biggest. Cal had just moved into the field in the latest Bracketology as a No. 10 seed, and Auburn was among the First Four Out. If these two remain bubble teams come March, this could prove to be a difference-making win for the Tigers, who were led by senior guard A’riel Jackson’s 17 points.
Another one of these matchups awaits Auburn on Sunday when the Tigers host Oregon. The Bears will fall entirely out of NCAA tournament contention for now if they drop a game at Missouri next Thursday in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
The Buffaloes just moved back into the NCAA field in the latest Bracketology as the second-to-last team in. They immediately fall back out after this loss in the Hawaii North Shore Showcase. It’s an extremely damaging defeat since Colorado doesn’t have another potential résumé-building nonconference game on the schedule.