The women playing in the NCAA Tournament have no time for the haters. You know, the people who fire off ignorant tweets about how the women’s tournament isn’t as exciting as the men’s, or who write about how it’s lacking upsets.

The only thing that was lacking in the first two rounds was any sense of calm, because the first 52 games were pandemonium.

Eight double-digit seeds won in the first two rounds, and two 10-seeds — Creighton and South Dakota advanced to the Sweet 16.

If you need more proof that there’s parity in women’s basketball, look no further than No. 14 Jackson State, who went wire to wire with No. 3 LSU, or No. 12 Belmont, who nearly knocked off No. 4 Tennessee. And if that’s still not enough, turn your attention to No. 11 Princeton, who lost by one-point to No. 3 Indiana at Assembly Hall.

I don’t think we need to create a competition between the men’s and the women’s tournaments — I eat up every second of both events — but it never hurts to present the facts.

The men’s tournament saw nine double-digit seeds win in the first two rounds — just one more than the women’s — and had the same number of double-digit seeds make the Sweet 16 (two) as the women’s tournament.

Another thing to keep in mind: The first men’s national title took place 43 years before the first women’s tournament. So while men’s basketball was growing, women still spent over four decades fighting for their right to play.

Then, there is the argument that the same teams always win the women’s tournament. Well, UConn has won 11 times, and Tennessee has won eight. Stanford and Baylor are next on the list of repeats, with three each. After that, no team has won more than two. One the men’s side, UCLA has 11 titles, Kentucky has eight and six other programs have three or more.

Those are the facts. I’ll let you decide how to interpret them.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s get back to appreciating the women’s NCAA Tournament for what it is: madness. Starting with the two biggest upsets of the week.

No. 10 Creighton 64, No. 2 Iowa 62

The Bluejays came into Carver Hawkeye Arena and absolutely stunned Iowa. Creighton was able to limit Caitlin Clark — a near impossible feat — to a season-low 15 points.

Coach Jim Flanery’s game plan was relatively simple, but also genius. The Bluejays rotated defenders and had a different player match up with Clark every few minutes. This ensured a constant supply of fresh legs. It also meant that Clark had to adapt to different styles — speed, strength, athleticism, peskiness — every time she had a new player on her. As a result, the National Player of the Year candidate was forced to adjust to the defense, rather than it adjusting to her, which has been the case all season.

Then there was Lauren Jensen, the Creighton sophomore and Iowa transfer who hit the game-winning 3-pointer. The guard says there is no bad blood between the programs, but it still takes a sky-high level of poise to come in as an underdog, against your former team, in their home gym, and do what she did. Jensen finished with a team-high 19 points.

Lauren Jensen gives the Jays the lead! #MarchMadness x @CreightonWBB pic.twitter.com/cFfuJXftTX

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 20, 2022

No. 10 South Dakota 61, No. 2 Baylor 47

The Coyotes earned their first Sweet 16 appearance with an upset of No. 2 Baylor, while also ending the Bears’ streak of 12-straight third-round NCAA Tournament appearances.

South Dakota ranks eighth in the country in scoring defense, giving up 53.1 points per game. The Coyotes used that to their advantage and held Baylor — the 16th scoring offense in the country at 76.5 points per game — to its lowest point total of the season. South Dakota also forced 19 turnovers, which turned into 20 points on the other end.

Offensively, the Coyotes went 8-for-16 from 3-point range and had three double-digit scorers. Seniors Hannah Sjerven, Chloe Lamb and Liv Korngable had 16, 15 and 11 points, respectively.

All of that adds up to a historic upset for South Dakota.

No. 4 Tennessee 70, No. 12 Belmont 67

This was the perfect recipe for an upset. Belmont, coming off a first-round win over No. 5 Oregon, averages 8.6 3-pointers per game. Tennessee, according to Her Hoop Stats, ranks 333rd out of 356 teams in opponents’ 3-point makes.

Offensive rebounds kept this one close, as the Bruins had 18 offensive boards and 23 second-chance points. But Tennessee was able to escape and advance to the Sweet 16 thanks to a Sara Puckett 3-pointer with 18 seconds left and Belmont’s missed chances at the free-throw line. The Bruins were 5-for-10 at the line, including two misses with 25 seconds left when they were up 66-64.

THE FRESHMAN!

ICE. WATER.

📺 ESPN
📲 https://t.co/6yMKYQ1tMK pic.twitter.com/ABODs9pL1C

— Lady Vol Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) March 22, 2022

No. 3 Indiana 56, No. 11 Princeton 55

Indiana, up 10 points at halftime, scored just six points in the third quarter. The Tigers took advantage, and with 38 seconds left, the game was tied at 52.

Grace Berger, IU’s leading scorer, sliced through the Princeton defense for a layup with 29 seconds left. Then, the Hoosiers forced a turnover to seal the victory. Princeton got its last possession down four with one second left. IU came out in a zone, making sure not to foul, and Abby Meyers hit a 3-pointer to bring Princeton within one, but it was too late.

The clutch gene. @grace_berger34’s got it. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/Pfe1yBG6tt

— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) March 22, 2022

No. 5 Notre Dame 108, No. 4 Oklahoma 64

This was not a double-digit upset, and certainly not a close game, but Notre Dame’s beatdown of Oklahoma is exciting for a different reason. The Fighting Irish put on an offensive clinic. They shot 53.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Dara Mabrey had 29 points, including seven 3s, tying her with sister Marina Mabrey for the most 3s made by a Notre Dame player in an NCAA Tournament game.

The win also marked the first time a team in either the men’s or women’s tournament has beaten a lower-seeded team by 40 points or more.

No. 1 Stanford 91, No. 9 Kansas 65

Senior Lexie Hull propelled Stanford past Kansas thanks to a career-high 36 points. With the victory, Hull and twin sister Lacie get to play the Cardinal’s next-round game against Maryland in their hometown of Spokane, Wash.

The Hulls won two state championships at Central Valley High School and were 102-6 during their four years there.

Eden Laase is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. She previously ran her own high school sports website in Michigan after covering college hockey and interning at Sports Illustrated. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.