Chalk talk: Star power, top teams and No. 5 seeds headline the women's March Madness Sweet 16

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Chalk talk: Star power, top teams and No. 5 seeds headline the women's March Madness Sweet 16

2025-03-25 22:59 Last Updated At：23:36

There is plenty of star power left in women's March Madness with Paige Bueckers, Hannah Hidalgo and Lauren Betts still playing even if JuJu Watkins won't be.

Watkins hurt her right knee in the first quarter of Southern California's win over Mississippi State on Monday night. She was carried off the court and the school announced later that she was out for the rest of the tournament.

While the stars are shining on the game's biggest stage, the smaller schools are not. There weren't any major upsets or Cinderella stories heading into the second week of the women's NCAA Tournament. For the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, no team seeded 11th or lower advanced out the first round.

Of the 16 teams remaining, 15 are members of Power Four conferences, with UConn being the other. Two of the four regionals will be held in Spokane, Washington, and the other two in Birmingham, Alabama.

As usually is the case, the top 12 women's teams in the NCAA Tournament all advanced to the Sweet 16, which begins Friday. Bueckers, Hidalgo and Betts have led the way.

Bueckers, who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, played her final game at home and put on a show, tying her career high with 34 points. Hidalgo has helped Notre Dame regain its dominant form after the Fighting Irish slumped at the end of the regular season and conference tournament.

Betts has been dominant for UCLA in its first two games, averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds.

South Carolina still has a chance to become the first team to repeat in the women's tournament since UConn won four in a row from 2013-16. The Gamecocks are doing it with a team effort — and a chip on their shoulder.

They felt they should have been the overall top seed in the tournament — but weren't. Then Indiana implied the Gamecocks were vulnerable this year without that dominant post player they have had in the previous championship runs.

Well, they're back in the Sweet 16 with depth and a balanced attack. The Gamecocks' reserves scored an NCAA-record 66 points in their opening win over Tennessee Tech.

Joining the top teams are a trio of 5-seeds — Kansas State, Tennessee and Mississippi. Alabama almost joined them as the fourth No. 5 to advance, but the Crimson Tide lost Monday in double overtime to Maryland.

“This was a heavyweight fight,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “No team deserved to lose this game tonight.”

The three No. 5 seeds all did it on the road, making history along the way. It was the first time since the NCAA changed the format, with the top four seeds each hosting the first two rounds of the tournament. Until this year, never had three No. 5 seeds advanced when playing on an opponent's home court. Three 5-seeds did advance in 2021, but that year the entire tournament was played in Texas because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Tennessee is a Sweet 16 regular, Kansas State is making its first appearance in the second weekend since 2002. Second-seeded TCU is appearing in the Sweet 16 for the first time. It has a rematch with Notre Dame waiting for it in Birmingham. The Horned Frogs beat the Irish in the Cayman Islands during a Thanksgiving tournament.

The SEC leads the way among conferences with the number of teams to reach the Sweet 16:

—SEC (6). South Carolina, Texas, LSU, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma.

—ACC (4). Notre Dame, Duke, NC State, North Carolina.

—Big Ten (3). UCLA, USC, Maryland.

—Big 12 (2): Kansas State, TCU.

—Big East (1): UConn.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.