The Sweet 16 started with a seven-point South Carolina win over North Carolina, and ended with a game-winning layup from a freshman to propel Michigan past South Dakota. As for the action in between, it was just as exciting.

The Elite Eight is set, and it took some serious star power to get there. Here are eight players who stood out in the Sweet 16.

South Carolina 69, North Carolina 61

Aliyah Boston

Aliyah Boston finished with 28 points and 22 rebounds against North Carolina. I really don’t need to say much more. Those stats speak for themselves. She was also 12-for-13 from the free-throw line, and 12 of her rebounds came on the offensive end. The Gamecocks can shoot more freely knowing they have Boston to clean up the boards. It also means extra possessions, and in close games, those are crucial.

Stanford 72, Maryland 66

Haley Jones

I’m hard pressed to choose a player to highlight from Stanford, because everyone on the floor is performing at a high level. But Haley Jones excelled a little more than the rest on Friday, mostly because of the way she read Maryland’s defense and forced the Terrapins to change their game plan.

Starting out NOTHING BUT NET for @haleyjoness19 👌👌👌 ! #MarchMadness x @StanfordWBB pic.twitter.com/rmTKc8QGJ6

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 26, 2022

Texas 66, Ohio State 63

Rori Harmon

This pick might be controversial given that Rori Harmon didn’t perform the way we are used to seeing on offense, but the freshman impressed me with the way she was able to make an impact in other ways. Harmon’s ability to play relentless defense exhausts an opposing offense, and she made Ohio State’s guards work on every possession.

What’s more, despite her struggles, Harmon stepped up in key moments. Her jumper with 1:16 left gave the Longhorns a three-point lead. Then the guard played her patented defense, helping Texas stop Ohio State from getting a solid look. Finally, she sealed the game at the free-throw line, making two with 11 seconds left.

Creighton 76, Iowa State 68

Morgan Maly

I can’t say enough about Morgan Maly. It takes a certain kind of player to consistently deliver off the bench, and Maly is that player. Against Iowa State, she shot 70 percent from the field and poured in 21 points in just 24 minutes. That means she was averaging .88 of a point every minute. The sophomore guard also scored 14 of Creighton’s 17 points in the second quarter, keeping the Bluejays even with Iowa State going into the half. She recorded her seven remaining points in the third as her team began to build a lead.

NC State 66, Notre Dame 63

Raina Perez

It couldn’t be anyone else. The senior guard was vital to the NC State defense, securing four steals. One, of course, sticks out from the rest. With 21 seconds left, trailing Notre Dame by one, Perez was patient with her on-ball defense, waiting until Dara Mabrey made a mistake. When the Notre Dame senior guard left the ball vulnerable at the start of a spin move, Perez tapped the ball away and went to the other end for the go-ahead layup. Perez then secured a defensive rebound and hit two free throws to secure the victory.

One for the storybooks.#GoPack pic.twitter.com/RH2PIXJN9s

— #3 NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) March 27, 2022

Louisville 76, Tennessee 64

Emily Engstler

Emily Engstler has been phenomenal through the first three games of the tournament, but her performance in Louisville’s win over Tennessee on Saturday was her best yet. Engstler’s impact was summed up in a 20-second stretch during the first quarter.

The forward blocked a driving Vols player, grabbed a defensive rebound and then made a heads-up outlet pass to Kiana Smith as she was streaking up the court. It set up Hailey Van Lith for an open 3-point attempt, and when the sophomore was off the mark, Engstler slid into an open space. After Louisville got the offensive rebound, she fired a 3-pointer of her own, which went down for three of her 20 points. The senior also had 10 rebounds and three blocks in the win.

Off the inbound?!?😱

📺ESPN2#GoCards x #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IddCxMuRv9

— Louisville WBB (@UofLWBB) March 26, 2022

UConn 75, Indiana 58

Olivia Nelson-Ododa

After UConn escaped upset-minded UCF, I wrote that the Huskies needed to get contributions from more than just a few players. In the win over Indiana, they certainly did. And atop the list of impact players is Olivia Nelson-Ododa. The forward was an efficient 5-for-9 from the floor for 10 points, but more importantly, Nelson-Ododa grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds. She helped UConn out-rebound the Hoosiers 39-27 and had five offensive boards, giving the Huskies extra possessions. Defensively, Nelson-Ododa was a wall in the paint, forcing Indiana to take off-balance and contested shots.

Michigan 52, South Dakota 49

Laila Phelia

Against Villanova, Laila Phelia was quiet, but the freshman more than made up for it Saturday against South Dakota. With the game tied at 48 with 23 seconds left in regulation, Phelia used her strength to drive and finish a contested layup. It was the play of the game for the Wolverines, but the guard was solid throughout the contest. She finished with 14 points, going 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.

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.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.