March Madness 2023 Women’s Sweet 16 Highlights: Miami leads Villanova

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament continues Friday with the start of the Sweet 16.

Jasmyne Roberts scored a team-high 26 points in the day’s opener as No. 8 Miami beat No. 4 Villanova.

Next, LSU takes on Utah in Greenville Regional 2 at 5 p.m. ET, while Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes take on Colorado at 7:30 p.m. ET in Seattle Regional 4.

Closing out the night, the Ole Miss Rebels, fresh off their upset win over No. 1 Stanford, take on Louisville at 10 p.m. ET.

Follow all the highlights here.

Miami (FL) 70, Villanova 65

Burning heat

The Villanova Wildcats started strong when Lucy Olsen threw a base pass to Christina Dalcee, who capitalized to make it 6-4.

mad madness

The Wildcats’ all-time leading scorer, Maddy Siegrist, began to warm up early in the game, leading Villanova with nine points in the first quarter.

Canes are synonymous with business

But the Canes, who toppled a top-seeded Indiana team to go to the Sweet 16, had no intention of turning around. Jasmyne Roberts opened up at the net and increased the Canes’ lead to 23-17.

Stolen

Back-to-back buckets from Siegrist and Bella Runyan, who raced to the basket after a steal, helped the Wildcats cut Miami’s lead in the second quarter.

Hold your head

The Canes held their lead firmly through the first half, going into the half at 46-33, thanks to smooth shots like this from Ja’Leah Williams.

New record

Siegrist’s dominating performance brought Villanova back into the game, trailing 57-50 late in the third quarter. She broke the record for the longest streak of 20 consecutive games in Division I basketball this century.

Wild comeback!

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats came back from 21 points to take a 60-59 lead with five minutes left in the game.

The rods pass through

Despite the Wildcat’s late push, the Canes held on to their advantage as Roberts landed another clutch bucket in the final minute of the game to regain the lead, 66-65.

Miami Victory!

The Canes clinched their ticket to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history with a thrilling 70-65 win.

LSU vs. Utah

Looking at you, LSU

The Tigers took the lead in the opening minutes of the game, going 7-0 to establish an early lead.

Stay tuned for updates!

Colorado vs. Iowa

Ole Miss vs. Louisville

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