Women's basketball conference tournaments are underway this week. NCAA Tournament automatic bids will be won, and hosting and seeding implications are plentiful. For some teams, they may be playing their last games when their bubbles burst at the conference tournaments.
Here are the takeaways from Thursday's games:
A bad stretch for the Lady Vols is only getting worse.
In its SEC tournament opener, Tennessee never led, losing 76-64 to No. 11 seed Alabama, despite beating the Crimson Tide by 11 on the road earlier in the season. It is only the second time in 33 seasons that the Lady Vols have lost their first game of the conference tournament. It is also Tennessee's seventh loss in a row, the longest losing streak for the program during the NCAA era.
The Lady Vols were listless for much of the night in Greenville, S.C. They didn't play with much pace, finishing the game with two fast-break points and just 11 points off of turnovers. They didn't attack the rim and scored only 24 points in the paint. They fouled too frequently and didn't make anything difficult for Alabama.
Tennessee will make the NCAA Tournament — five Quad 1 wins and a NET ranking of 21 overcome the fact that the Lady Vols have collected only 16 total victories this season — but any hopes of flipping the switch and making a long March run are dimming with every passing day. This is a team that doesn't seem to believe in each other or in the system and doesn't want to play any additional games. A first-round exit in the Big Dance would be merciful.
Seniors Janiah Barker and Zee Spearman had decent performances in their final SEC tournament, tallying 20 and 13 points, respectively. It wouldn't be surprising if several other Lady Vols were also eying the ends of their Tennessee careers. — Sabreena Merchant
With just under five minutes left in the first quarter, USC star freshman Jazzy Davidson went for a loose ball and collided with Washington's guard Avery Howell.
Davidson, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury on her non-shooting arm, went right to the locker room after the collision.
She returned to the game one minute later, but didn't look like the electrifying Big Ten Freshman of the Year many have come accustomed to seeing, and the Trojans fell to Washington 76-64.
Davidson finished with just eight points in the game, the second time this season that she was held below double figures. Davidson, who was visibly grimacing and holding her shoulder during the game, made just two of her 13 field goals before leaving three minutes into the fourth quarter. USC was trailing by 19 points when Davidson left the game and made a slight comeback, but the Trojans never threatened the Huskies late.
An injured USC star may bring some bad flashbacks to star JuJu Watkins after tearing her ACL in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament. She has not played since that game, but Davidson's injury doesn't seem to be that serious. It's a good sign that Davidson played through the injury, but her health is crucial for USC, which is expecting to hear its name called on Selection Sunday, despite Thursday's loss.
USC had an up-and-down regular season without Watkins, but it picked up two big wins in the last month of the season, at home against Iowa and at Ohio State, to solidify its NCAA Tournament resume. The Trojans entered Thursday as a projected No. 8 seed, according to The Athletic 's bracketology . A loss to Washington, a projected No. 7 seed, shouldn't remove them from the tournament field. — Cameron Teague Robinson
Michigan State had a chance to give itself some breathing room in the hosting conversation, but it dropped the ball in its Big Ten tournament opener. Illinois upset the Spartans 71-69 and will now head back to East Lansing, Mich., to anxiously wait out the days leading up to the top-16 release, which drops on Selection Sunday eve.
In the first two top-16 reveals, the Spartans stood firmly as a No. 14 seed as other Big Ten teams moved around them. Even if the selection committee doesn't view the Spartans' loss to Illinois as particularly damaging, it opens the door for other teams to leapfrog them. North Carolina, the No. 3 seed in the ACC tournament, faces the winner of Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech for a spot in the ACC semifinals. West Virginia, which was likely just barely on the outside of that hosting conversation, will get Arizona State in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.
Meanwhile in the Big Ten, Ohio State — which sat at No. 16 in the second reveal — picked up a win over Indiana on Thursday and has a chance to avenge a regular-season loss to Minnesota on Thursday. If the Buckeyes win, they'd likely face UCLA on Friday. In late December, the Buckeyes made a fourth-quarter run to give the Bruins a close game, ultimately losing by six. If Ohio State secures a win or plays solidly against the Bruins, which were a No. 2 seed in both of the top-16 reveals, that could bolster the Buckeyes' resume.
For the next 10 days, Michigan State will have to wait and avoid playing the "what if" game with its loss to Illinois. There are certainly moments that they'll want back. The Spartans shot just 25 percent from beyond the arc, going 1 of 10 from long range through the first three quarters. They assisted on 60 percent of their baskets this season, but tallied just 12 assists on 26 makes against the Illini.
Even so, the Spartans seemed to get the opportunity they wanted late. With less than two seconds left and Michigan State trailing by two, Kennedy Blair — who had already put up a career-best 30 points on 61 percent shooting — got into the paint. But rather than taking the shot or at least going up to initiate contact and draw a foul, she left her feet and kicked it out toward Jalyn Brown. The pass wasn't particularly crisp, and though Brown tried to save it, Blair's final play of a memorable night will be a regrettable turnover.
Illinois, the youngest team in the Big Ten, advances as the No. 10 seed to face Iowa, which they almost beat less than two weeks ago. The Spartans will now watch other conference tournaments and wonder if they've done enough — inclusive of a close loss to an NCAA Tournament-bound team to end its Big Ten tournament run — to remain in hosting contention. — Chantel Jennings
The Sun Devils haven't been dancing since 2019, but coach Molly Miller's squad is determined to change that in her first season at Arizona State.
Despite entering Friday's Big 12 tournament second round with 23 wins, the Sun Devils were still sitting outside of the Field of 68 (in The Athletic 's "next four out" category) with a 0-5 record in Quad 1 games. A date with Iowa State provided an opportunity for Arizona State's first marquee win, and the Sun Devils delivered with a 77-68 victory to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
After conceding 90 points to the Cyclones in the teams' first meeting, Arizona State attempted an aggressive defensive shift the second time around: On every possession, the Sun Devils essentially had three players surrounding Audi Crooks, the nation's second-leading scorer, who had an easy 28 points against Arizona State in February. One defender fronted Crooks, while two helped off their perimeter assignments to shadow her from behind.
Iowa State could barely even get the ball into Crooks in the first half, when the junior center attempted just one field goal. The Sun Devils' rotations were faster than Iowa State's ball movement, and they jumped to a 17-2 lead early, an advantage the Cyclones could never overcome. Arizona State limited Iowa State to 36 percent shooting and forced 14 turnovers. Iowa State had shot that poorly from the field only once all season in a game without Addy Brown.
The Sun Devils are still on the bubble with other Big 12 squads, Utah and Colorado, and could use one more win to solidify their position. But the long-awaited Quad 1 win will do a lot to help their case. — Sabreena Merchant
Clemson and Virginia entered Thursday's ACC tournament second-round game with shaky prospects for the NCAA Tournament. The Athletic recently projected Clemson as a No. 11 seed and Virginia as a No. 10 seed. They're both No. 10 seeds, according to ESPN and Her Hoop Stats.
With a 63-50 win, Clemson not only solidified its NCAA Tournament chances, but it also picked up its 21st win, the most in program history since the 2000-01 season. It's just the third time since 2000 that Clemson has finished with 20 wins or more.
It's a welcome improvement for second-year head coach Shaun Poppie, who won just 14 games last season and now has the Tigers NCAA Tournament-bound for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
As has been the case all season, Clemson used a stellar shooting performance to win. The Tigers shot 50 percent on 3-pointers and were led by guard Mia Moore, who had 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting. The Tigers can likely continue to climb up the NCAA Tournament seeding line if they beat Duke in Friday's ACC tournament quarterfinals. Clemson beat Duke in a 53-51 thriller on Feb 22.
Despite the loss, Virginia should be safe in its NCAA Tournament chances, unless multiple bubble bids are taken during championship week. The Cavaliers were one of the last four bye teams cited by bracketologists, including at The Athletic .
Virginia might be nervous on Selection Sunday, and there's a chance it drops to a No. 11 seed, but it should be NCAA Tournament-bound for the first time under fourth-year coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. — Cameron Teague Robinson
This article originally appeared in The Athletic .
USC Trojans, Virginia Cavaliers, Clemson Tigers, Washington Huskies, Women's College Basketball
2026 The Athletic Media Company
