SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Marta Suarez began her collegiate career at Tennessee, spent two seasons at California and chose to take one last shot at a tournament run with TCU this season.
After a 33-point, 10-rebound effort, she got what she came for — a trip to the Elite Eight.
Suarez and Olivia Miles were nearly unstoppable, and TCU overwhelmed 10th-seeded Virginia with a third-quarter burst that turned a nip-and-tuck game into a convincing win, 79-69 over the Cavaliers on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament.
TCU (32-5), making its second straight appearance in a regional final, will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on Monday for a trip to the Final Four.
Suarez’s career-best scoring night — and her 12th double-double of the season — was complemented by fellow senior and All-American Miles, who finished with her own gaudy stat line of 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
A few weeks from now, both will likely be WNBA draft picks, but for now, their decision to come to TCU has paid off.
“I’m feeling very grateful and very blessed,” said Suarez, a stretch forward from Spain who has proven adept at creating mismatches inside and on the perimeter. “But also, at the same time, it’s like, ‘Next game.’ It’s a pretty quick turnaround. I’m excited to get the win, but I’m ready to get going on the next one.”
TCU coach Mark Campbell has built his program into a national power through the transfer portal. In the past three seasons, TCU has brought in 18 transfers — none as impactful as the combination of Suarez and Miles, who scored 61 of the team’s 79 points on Saturday.
“Olivia, there’s maybe five players on the planet that can do what she does, men or women,” Campbell said. “And then Marta is a unicorn in her own way. She is a stretch-4 that’s powerful and strong and can post and then she has guard skills and can shoot 3s. It’s been really fun to figure out how to create a two-man game with these two players.
“I’m just thankful I get another 40 minutes to go to battle with them.”
The Horned Frogs opened the second half with a 17-4 run to pull ahead for good. The Cavaliers pressed aggressively and cut the lead to six points with 27.1 seconds to go, but TCU closed it out.
Cumulatively this season, the Horned Frogs have outscored opponents by more than 200 points in the third quarter.
“The third quarter has been great to us all year,” Campbell said. “I think we settled into a rhythm. Every third quarter this group comes out and hoops and that was the separator.”
Paris Clark scored 20 points and Kymora Johnson had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Virginia (22-12), the lone double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16.
The Cavaliers’ journey began in the First Four and continued with a road win over No. 2 seed Iowa in the second round. And Virginia looked like it hadn’t run out of magic when it took a 36-35 lead into at halftime behind 10 points each from Clark and Johnson.
Suarez had 18 points in the first half for the Frogs and Miles had 12, but the rest of the team scored only five.
Ultimately, TCU’s size — Virginia was out-rebounded 38-27 — and the one-two punch of Suarez and Miles were too much to overcome.
“I thought we had some really good moments in that game,” Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “But the third quarter got away from us. ... We came up short, but that doesn’t take away from our season or the growth we’ve had with our program.”
TCU’s matchup against South Carolina will be the second in the past two seasons. South Carolina beat TCU 85-52 in December 2024.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
TCU forward Marta Suárez prepares to shoot from the corner during the first half against Virginia in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons and hailed it as a development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday.
The test likely indicates Kim is intent on enlarging and modernizing an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the United States mainland.
The report on Sunday from Korean Central News Agency came days after Kim delivered a speech at North Korea's Parliament pledging to irreversibly cement his country’s status as a nuclear power and accusing the U.S. of global “state terrorism and aggression,” in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East.
Kim watched the ground jet test of the newly upgraded engine using a composite carbon fiber material, according to KCNA, which reported the engine's maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September.
A push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating U.S. defenses, observers say.
KCNA did not report exactly when or where the test occurred.
The test was conducted as part of the country's five-year military escalation program. The plan's objectives include upgrading “strategic strike means,” KCNA reported.
The reference is understood to mean nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the continental U.S.
Kim said the latest engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” KCNA reported.
In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to reach the U.S. mainland, including missiles with solid propellants that make detection prior to liftoff more difficult. The country's older liquid-fuel missiles must be fueled before liftoffs and cannot last long.
Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring its warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry. But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea has pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim's high-stakes diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In a ruling Workers' Party congress in February, Kim left open the door for dialogue with Trump but urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.
This undated photo provided on March 29, 2026 by the North Korean government, shows what it says a solid-fuel engine test at an undisclosed place in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attend an official meeting ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko shake hands during their meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)
FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, claps hands as he was re-elected to the top post of the ruling Workers' Party, during the party's Congress in Pyongyang, on Feb. 22, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
