SEATTLE — Ohio State and UConn’s meeting in Seattle was a collision of two teams that had been battered and beaten down by the regular season. But in the postseason, they found new life.

One had history on its side. The other, a little March magic and a nightmare-inducing defense.

The Huskies had been to 16 straight Elite Eights and 14 Final Fours in a row. Ohio State has been to just one Final Four and three Elite Eights. The last came in 1993, one year after coach Kevin McGuff had graduated from college.

March Madness is chaotic, but it’s also poetic. And Ohio State’s 73-61 win over UConn had equal parts of both.

Chaotic because of the Buckeyes’ intense pressure defense. They forced 25 turnovers, snagged 13 steals and had 23 points off the UConn miscues, including 14 on the fast break.

Poetic because, despite their historical differences, UConn and Ohio State took similar paths to the Sweet 16.

The 11-time national champion Huskies always have monumental expectations. This season was no different. But before it even started, Paige Bueckers and Ice Brady were sidelined with injuries. Caroline Ducharme, Dorka Juhász and Azzi Fudd followed. Then came five losses — not exactly a collapse, but unprecedented for a team that’s lost only 26 times in the last decade.

Ohio State came into the season ranked No. 14 in the country, but after winning 19 straight, the Buckeyes jumped up to No. 2, officially raising expectations. Then Madison Greene’s season ended with a knee injury, and Jacy Sheldon was sidelined after just five games. Rebeka Mikulasikova, who was in the midst of her best season yet, also got banged up.

But when March came around, both teams found themselves in better spots. UConn relished the return of Fudd, and Ducharme and Juhász were finally healthy. Sheldon was back for Ohio State and, though limited, Mikulasikova was also available.

After going through hell and back, both teams had a chance at the Elite Eight. On Saturday in Seattle, UConn jumped out to a 17-9 lead, before Ohio State climbed back to control the pace and trajectory of the game.

Eighteen of UConn’s 25 turnovers came in the first half. The Huskies knew the press was coming, and they prepared for it in practice. But in person, it was panic-inducing, and their offense shut down.

“They were all over the floor,” Juhász said. “I think we were just — nobody wanted the ball. Nobody was trying to get open and break that press.”

The press, plus a 23-point performance from Buckeyes freshman Cotie McMahon, made the difference in the game, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. After 16 years of appearances, the most successful team in the country would not be in the Elite Eight.

.@OhioStateWBB's @cotiemcmahon23 1st half.🥶

⚡️18 PTS
⚡️3 REB
⚡️2 AST

📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/K8ieep4ow5

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 25, 2023

What does it mean?

It means the better team — Ohio State — won. It means an incredible streak was broken. But as far as the future of UConn’s women’s basketball is concerned, the loss means virtually nothing. Next year, the Huskies will be contenders once more.

And as Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff pointed out in the postgame press conference, Paige Bueckers, one of the top players in the country, was sitting on the bench. Next year she will be on the court.

“The problem with streaks is the longer they go, you’re closer to it ending than you are to the beginning of it,” Auriemma said. “And it’s just a matter of time. It’s not if it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of time when it’s going to happen. And it was going to happen sooner rather than later.”

Sooner came in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena with Sue Bird, one of the greatest Huskies of all time, in attendance. Her streak of 20 seasons in the WNBA just ended, too, in retirement. And with the end of UConn’s 16 straight Elite Eight appearances came the end of Ohio State’s 30 seasons without one. One streak ended with tears, another with smiles.

UConn’s streak ending doesn’t mean the end of UConn basketball as we know it. The Huskies will still get top recruits, including two top-20 incoming freshmen next season and another top-5 recruit in 2024. They will still play in Final Fours, still win titles. But other teams are joining the party. UConn’s loss offers a reminder of how special the program’s run truly was — something even the coach of the team that took them down can understand.

“They certainly have had incredible success that no one will ever match again as a program,” McGuff said. “But they have a really good team this year. They just started getting healthy at the right time. So I think we beat one of the best teams in the country today.”

Chaos, poetry, joy and anguish. One team moving on, one team going home. Two streaks broken. All at the same time.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun!

Every week on Sports Are Fun! presented by Amazon Business, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, the Sports Are Fun! team is joined on the couch by hit women's soccer-focused social media and podcast duo Alanna Locast and Shannon Fay of SoccerGrlProbs to talk — what else? — the state of head coach Emma Hayes's ever-evolving USWNT.

Firstly, they get to work hashing out the US national team's 3-0 win over China PR — and which USWNT player they think has a shot to make the 2027 World Cup roster.

"We're going to start with women's national team winning 3-0 against China on Saturday," O'Hara introduces. "They won with goals from Cat Macario, Sam Coffey, and Lindsey Heaps — not
Horan, I'm starting to get that right."

"It's not a major tournament year, so this is just a friendly," she continues. "I'm curious if anybody has initial thoughts from this game?"

"It's very fun to see the unpredictability watching them play," says Locast. "We've seen the style that the US plays and you expect where certain players are going to be. I'm watching, and the creativity and just how unpredictable they are, I would not want to mark those three forwards."

"I agree," says O'Hara. "It's very clear that Emma is laying the foundation in a way that everybody understands what their total shape should look like at any point during the game, not just where they specifically should be. Which I think is a really important part of the evolution of the team."

"It's fun to watch. The player pool is so deep now," echos Fay. "I know she wants to have an idea on the team by June, so what's going to happen? I don't know."

Along with the recently USWNT friendlies, the Sports Are Fun! crew also tackles NCAA softball's Women's College World Series, US stars dominated the French Open, the recent Grand Slam Track event, and so much more.

'Sports Are Fun!' intern BJ digs up a spicy Pride month throwback

Before the Sports Are Fun! regulars get into all things USWNT, however, intern BJ gifts everyone a very special throwback social media clip in honor of LGBTQ+ Pride month.

"You guys, I want to say happy Pride month," BJ says to the group. "Specifically happy Pride month to Kelley, because a listener DM'd me yesterday and shared a fun little memory of Abby Wambach and Sydney Leroux on the US national team a couple years ago..."

"This wasn't a couple years ago!" says O'Hara, squirming. "This was 10 years ago."

"You know what? I was being generous," quipped BJ. "But it's y'all checking a coach of another team."

"Wooow, Kelley," laughs Diaz.

"For those who are listening, it's a series of gifs of Abby, Kelley, and Sydney Leroux. And the coach walks by and they're like, 'She's kind of hot,'" BJ says as the crew cracks up. "They're full, like, dogs are barking."

"Oh my God," laughs O'Hara. "I've seen this before pop up on the socials. And I didn't remember this happening, but then when it came up again, obviously this did happen. And I do think that is what we were saying. I'd need to call Abby to confirm."

"You don't need to call anyone, because your lips are saying exactly those words," says Locast.

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

The world No. 1 USWNT is gearing up to take on No. 40 Jamaica on Tuesday night, capping the two-friendly international break with a match spotlighting both the past and future of the program.

After opening the stretch with a 3-0 Saturday win over No. 17 China PR in St. Paul, Minnesota, major roster rotations are expected in St. Louis, Missouri, on Tuesday as US head coach Emma Hayes continues evaluating fresh and familiar on-field combos.

"I want to make sure that, whether you start, whether you come into the game [off the bench], it shouldn't alter our level," Hayes told media this week. "If anything, we should keep finding other levels in us."

Plenty of young firepower will feature on Tuesday's pitch, but the clash will also celebrate a recently retired USWNT great.

Two-time World Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, and St. Louis product Becky Sauerbrunn will take center stage, with Energizer Park even doling out bobbleheads in the standout center back's likeness.

"I've got a locker room — not just the senior players, but less experienced players — that talk about [Sauerbrunn] in the highest esteem, both as a leader and as a human being," said Hayes of the longtime USWNT captain. "I don't think you could want anything more than that in life, to have people talk about you like that."

How to watch the USWNT vs. Jamaica friendly on Tuesday

The USWNT will take on the Reggae Girlz at 8 PM ET on Tuesday in St. Louis, Missouri, with live coverage on TNT.

The WNBA Commissioner's Cup is back with its 2025 edition, as the annual in-season tournament raises both stakes and incentives across the league.

Winning percentage, point differential, and head-to-head records all factor in as both Eastern and Western Conference teams battle it out for a shot at the competition's $500,000 prize pool.

Launched in 2021, the Commissioner’s Cup runs concurrently with the regular season, drawing on in-conference matchups to build a team's overall Cup record.

The 2025 competition opened on June 1st, tipping off three straight weeks of conference play that will culminate in a July 1st championship final between the Eastern and Western Conference winners.

Last season's final foreshadowed the eventual WNBA Finals, as the Minnesota Lynx topped New York to lift the 2024 Commissioner's Cup before the Liberty enacted revenge by taking the 2024 Championship a few months later.

Hoping to lift both trophies this season, New York started the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup party with a 48-point statement win over the Connecticut Sun last Sunday.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

Every WNBA game on Tuesday will have Cup stakes, starting with the Washington Mystics' visit to the Indiana Fever at 7 PM ET on NBATV.

Then at 8 PM ET, the Minnesota Lynx will host the Phoenix Mercury, airing on ESPN3, before the Dallas Wings close out Tuesday's slate in Seattle against the Storm at 9:30 PM ET on ESPN.

With injuries mounting across the WNBA, several teams have started stocking up on recently waived free agents, bolstering their depleted rosters with hardship signings as they head into a busy stretch of the 2025 regular season.

With both guard Kahleah Copper and forward Alyssa Thomas sidelined, the Phoenix Mercury signed former Atlanta Dream guard and 2023 first-round draft pick Haley Jones to a rest-of-season hardship contract on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Fever picked up ex-LA Sparks guard and 2021 first-rounder Aari McDonald on Sunday, with Indiana looking to boost their backcourt depth in light of injuries to guards Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Sydney Colson.

These hardship signings come in clutch to keep benches stocked and WNBA teams in action.

However, the longevity of these early-season additions remains uncertain as teams attempt to balance league-maximum 12-player lineups with restrictive salary caps.

Hardship contracts allow teams to temporarily expand the salary cap, but when injured players return, so do tough roster calls — much to the dismay of front office decision-makers.

"More bodies would be good," Fever president Kelly Krauskopf told reporters with a wry laugh ahead of McDonald's signing.

Roster limitations will likely be a key issue when CBA negotiations rev up, with this week's emergency signings only adding fuel to the fire.