March Madness: UCLA women to play Sacramento State; USC makes it

The UCLA women’s basketball team will look to continue its promising season when the fourth-seeded Bruins play No. 13 Sacramento State in the first round of the Greenville 1 Regional of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

After its stunning win over Stanford, the 17th-ranked Bruins fell to Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament final on March 5, dashing its hopes of an automatic bid. UCLA (25-9) returns to the 68-team tournament after failing to make it last season.

For the first time since 2014, USC (21-9) will also be playing in the NCAA tournament. The eighth-seeded Trojans will face No. 9 South Dakota State in Seattle on Friday in USC’s first March Madness foray under coach Lindsay Gottlieb. Like UCLA, USC upset Stanford earlier this season, but lost to Oregon State in the Pac-12 tournament.

Here’s a rundown of the matchups for the First Four and the first round of the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball tournament:

This is a developing story. We’ll have more on UCLA and USC making the NCAA women’s basketball tournament soon.