The No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks are calling in roster reinforcements, announcing Monday that French forward Alicia Tournebize will join the NCAA basketball team after the holidays.
"Alicia has an incredible skill set and basketball IQ," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said in a news release. "She has great touch around the rim, can shoot it out to the 3-point line and is a shot blocker."
While they've only dropped one game so far this season, the Gamecocks' roster has been running thin due to injuries — including losing star forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending ACL injury in October.
With the continued absence of forward Ashlyn Watkins, who is out this season as she continues to rehab a January ACL tear, South Carolina has suffered additional temporary roster losses this month as injuries forced forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer into concussion protocol.
Though Okot, who is currently averaging a double-double, returned to play last Thursday, Makeer remains out, as the Gamecocks and their traditionally deep bench continue a 2025/26 campaign that's seen just three games played with a healthy 10-player roster.
The midseason signing of Tournebize will add both depth and height to bolster South Carolina, as the 6-foot-7 freshman rivals Chicago Sky forward Kamilla Cardoso as one of Staley's tallest-ever players.
The 18-year-old daughter of French basketball Hall of Famer Isabelle Fijalkowski — one of the inaugural WNBA players for the Cleveland Rockers — is already making a name for herself in Europe, leading the France's youth squad in both scoring and rebounding as they claimed bronze at last summer's 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket.
Tournebize also packs professional experience, coming to Columbia from French club Tango Bourges Basket.
The young star will likely make her NCAA debut as South Carolina kicks off SEC conference play in early 2026.
WNBA and Team USA icon Sue Bird added another accolade to her resume over the weekend, becoming the only US player named to the FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on Sunday.
Bird's 2026 inclusion will see her join past US inductees like South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and legendary UConn sideline leader Geno Auriemma.
A core member of USA Basketball's ongoing Olympic domination, Bird tallied five straight gold medals in her tenure with Team USA, winning every Olympic matchup she played from the 2004 Summer Games in Athens through the 2021 Tokyo tournament.
Along with her Olympic success, Bird also claimed championships at four FIBA World Cups throughout her playing career.
Most recently, USA Basketball appointed the 45-year-old legend as managing director of the nation's women's team, with Bird assuming her new role in May 2025 after retiring from a decorated WNBA career that included four league championships with the Seattle Storm.
This weekend's FIBA announcement is just the latest in Bird's string of recent honors, with the Storm immortalizing the former guard in statue form in August before her September induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
A two-time NCAA champion, Bird also saw her No. 10 UConn jersey retired into the rafters earlier this month in Storrs.
Bird will snag her next well-deserved honor in Berlin, Germany, as she joins six other players and one coach in the FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2026 induction ceremony on April 21st.
No. 4 Texas blew past two top-ranked opponents last week, setting the tone for the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season with back-to-back wins over No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 South Carolina to earn the Players Era Championship trophy on Thanksgiving Day.
Fifth-year senior Rori Harmon was named tournament MVP, putting up a game-leading 26 points and breaking the Longhorns' career assists record in Wednesday's 76-65 defeat of UCLA before hitting the game-winner to lift Texas over the Gamecocks 66-64 in Thursday's title game.
"I just read the vibe and flow of the game," Harmon said afterward. "[Texas head coach Vic Schaefer] called the play at the end of the game, and I've been in this moment before, so it felt good coming out of my hands."
Texas's win added fuel to the burgeoning SEC rivalry, with the teams squaring off five times in the last year — and South Carolina riding a narrow 3-2 advantage.
"I'm not upset at all," Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said postgame. "This is going to help us because there are a lot of things to unpack in it."
"If you can give [Texas] a run for their money in that way, I mean, you're on to something," she continued. "I like our resiliency. We've just got to clean up some things at the end of the game."
How to watch Texas, South Carolina this week
Both Texas and South Carolina have another ranked matchup on this week's NCAA docket, with the No. 4 Longhorns taking on the No. 12 UNC Tar Heels while the No. 2 Gamecocks face the No. 23 Louisville Cardinals.
Both games tip off at 7 PM ET on Thursday, with Texas vs. UNC airing live on ESPN2 while South Carolina vs. Louisville airs on ESPN.
South Carolina basketball head coach Dawn Staley isn't sure about the NBA, as the venerated NCAA sideline leader told media this week that, after taking an interview with the New York Knicks earlier this year, she doesn't see the men's pro league hiring a woman coach anytime soon.
"No, I don't," the 55-year-old responded when asked on Tuesday if she thought there'd be a woman NBA coach in her lifetime. "And I hope I'm wrong."
"If the Knicks have a five-game losing streak, it's not going to be about the losing streak, it's going to be about being a female coach," she explained. "So you as an organization, a franchise, you have to be prepared for and strong enough to ignore those types of instances when you're going to look to hire a female coach."
Earlier this year, Staley — who also interviewed with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021 — admitted that she would have taken the Knicks job if New York offered it to her.
"I would have had to do it. Not just for me. For women. To break [that door] open," Staley told Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and retired WNBA icon Candace Parker on their "Post Moves" podcast in August.
As it stands, Staley remains open to using her NBA interview experiences to help any future woman coach — or men's team — navigate the pitfalls of breaking that glass ceiling.
"It's not just about hiring the first female NBA coach," explained the South Carolina boss. "[There will be] questions that you don't have to answer if you're a male coach."
"I've got all the information," Staley offered. "Come see me, because I'll [prepare you] for the interview."
The South Carolina Gamecocks are officially without their star Chloe Kitts, with the university announcing Monday that the forward will miss the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season after sustaining an ACL tear to her right knee.
"We hate this for Chloe, who has worked incredibly hard to become the best version of herself on the court this season," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said in a team statement.
"While this isn't how I hoped my senior season would go, I'm trusting God's timing and purpose," Kitts wrote in a social media post on Monday. "I'll continue to lead, support, and push my team from the sidelines. We have big things ahead!"
A starter for the the Gamecocks since the 2023/24 NCAA season, Kitts helped South Carolina bring home a national championship in 2024.
Last season, the then-junior earned an All-America honorable mention for a season in which she averaged 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game — both career highs.
Kitts was particularly potent in the 2025 postseason, snagging the MVP title at both the SEC tournament and in South Carolina's NCAA regional en route to a national runner-up finish for the Gamecocks.
Though South Carolina is now gearing up for the 2025/26 NCAA season without their leader in the paint, the Gamecocks are perhaps uniquely capable of overcoming a big-name loss like Kitts, with the team boasting a full 10-player rotation and one of the deepest collegiate benches in recent years.
"[Kitts's] teammates are capable of stepping up, and I know that her competitive fire and tenacity will be felt from the sidelines as she pours what she can into them to ensure our team's success," said Staley.
UConn’s big NCAA championship win over South Carolina on Sunday weighed in as ESPN’s third most-watched title match in women’s March Madness history, with an average viewership of 8.6 million fans and a peak of 9.9 million.
Also making a viewership mark last weekend were Friday's Final Four tilts. Both the 4.2 million fans who tuned into UConn's win over UCLA and the 3.7 million who saw South Carolina take down Texas helped those games claim spots in the sport's Top 10 most watched across ESPN platforms.
The 2025 grand finale fell short of the Caitlin Clark-fueled 2023 and 2024 championship games. However, Sunday’s matchup towered over the 2022 edition with an impressive 75% viewership increase.
The 2025 championship more than doubled the 2021's 4.1 million viewers. This demonstrates a sharp continued uptick in the sport's widespread popularity.
With the 2024/25 NCAA women's basketball tournament scoring massive viewership numbers from tip-off through trophy-lifting, it's not entirely surprising that this season's edition registered as the second most-watched women's March Madness on record, boasting an impressive 8.5 billion minutes of content consumed.
Auriemma, Staley push for new March Madness media deal
Both 2025 NCAA championship-contending head coaches subsequently voiced support for securing a new media rights deal. They seek one that separates women's basketball from its current package alongside 39 other collegiate championships.
"For years and years and years we’ve been packaged with all the other Olympic sports, so to speak, in one big chunk. Can we completely separate ourselves and say, 'What are we worth to you?,'" UConn manager Geno Auriemma said on Sunday.
Although a separate deal is a tough ask given that the current contract runs through 2032, South Carolina boss Dawn Staley echoed Auriemma's sentiment. She advocated for a standalone deal similar to the one that's brought lucrative success to the men's tournament.
"I don't know if [new WBCA president Jose Fernandez] can get that, [but opening] up negotiations for a new television deal would be nice," said Staley.
"We need our own television deal so we can understand what our worth is."
The No. 2-seed UConn Huskies are atop college basketball once again, winning a record-extending 12th NCAA championship in a 82-59 blowout victory over No. 1-seed South Carolina on Sunday.
The title ends a nine-year drought for the dynasty program — the longest stretch without hoisting the trophy since the Huskies' first-ever national championship in 1995.
Trio of Huskies fuel UConn's championship grab
After dominating overall No. 1-seed UCLA 85-51 on Final Four Friday, UConn earned a season finale face-off against the defending champion Gamecocks, who punched their spot in Sunday's championship showdown by taking down No. 1-seed Texas 74-57 — South Carolina's third win over their SEC rival this season.
The big day, however, belonged to the Huskies, as UConn’s "Big Three" of star senior Paige Bueckers, standout guard Azzi Fudd, and freshman phenom Sarah Strong posted a combined 65 points to outscore South Carolina.
Fudd and Strong led the game's stat sheet by scoring 24 points each, helping Fudd snag the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor — and earning Strong a new NCAA record.
After finishing March Madness with 114 total points across UConn's six-game run, the newly crowned 2024/25 Freshman of the Year broke the NCAA tournament's freshman scoring record, as Strong surpassed 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings, who posted 111 points in Tennessee's 1998 championship run.
As for graduating superstar Bueckers, her 17 points made her the Huskies' all-time NCAA tournament scoring leader, while Sunday's title cements her legacy, capping her college career by adding her name to the litany of UConn greats in the Storrs rafters.
"It's been a story of resilience, of gratitude, of overcoming adversity and just responding to life's challenges," said Bueckers after her last game as a Husky.
"This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I've been a part of since that very first one," echoed head coach Geno Auriemma.
All in all, UConn overcame years of close calls, injury woes, and buzzer-beating heartbreak to restore their March Madness dynasty. With Fudd returning next season alongside Strong, the Huskies' future looks brighter than ever.
Final Four teams eye 2026 return
On the other side of the championship coin, the Gamecocks never quite hit their stride on Sunday, falling one game short of a back-to-back title after snagging a spot in their third championship game in four years.
"We lost to a very, very good basketball team," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the defeat. "They beat our ass, but they didn't make us like it. There's a difference."
Though Sunday’s loss stings, South Carolina's youthful core means the Gamecocks — like the young squads from Final Four teams UCLA and Texas — will be back, packing both March Madness experience and a hefty dose of vengeance next year.
"I hope they're crying," Staley said of her returning players. "I hope they're boo-hoo-ing because from crying they have emotion about losing, makes you work hard in the offseason."
It's a sentiment echoed by the 2024/25 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, UCLA star Lauren Betts.
"We have the same team coming next year," Betts said of the Bruins' underclass core after Friday's Final Four loss. "I hope this fuels us, and I hope that we come out angry after this."
After faltering in their own Final Four matchup on Friday, Texas head coach Vic Schaefer offered a similar silver lining.
"It won't be easier tonight or tomorrow, but it will be easier knowing them three are around," Schaefer said of Longhorn underclassmen Madison Booker, Bree Hall, and Jordan Lee. "They are competitors. And again, they’re kids that invest in their craft."
The Final Four squads unable to seal the deal this season will rue an opportunity lost, but with another year of development, expect the same names to dominate the news cycle next March.
As South Carolina women's basketball returns to the Final Four, the 2024 NCAA champions’ March Madness journey hasn’t exactly mirrored last year’s dominance. But their resilience has kept them very much in contention.
The Gamecocks bounced back from third-quarter deficits in their last two tournament games, relying on tight defense and smart positional rotations to wear opponents down.
“It is that type of year, that for us, there’s not any blowouts,” head coach Dawn Staley said after her team’s Elite Eight win over Duke. “We have to grind for every single win that we can get.”
South Carolina taps into depth after WNBA departures
After losing center Kamilla Cardoso to the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Gamecocks harnessed their depth, relying on strict minute restrictions to disrupt game flow and launch second-half runs.
Sophomore standout MiLaysia Fulwiley has popped off the bench, complementing leading scorer Joyce Edwards and inside show-runner Chloe Kitts.
One of the team’s key veteran leaders, senior Te-Hina PaoPao has been a grounding force as the only player averaging 25+ minutes per game.
Defense is key to Gamecocks victory
For the Gamecocks to become back-to-back champs, they’ll have to lean hard on their time-honored calling card: defense.
"Look, I mean, at this point it's not going to look pretty. Okay? It's not," Staley said after South Carolina narrowly escaped Sweet 16 opponent Duke. "There are stretches in each game that is not going to look pretty… Some of it's not going to look as smoothly as us coaches and players envision or how you practice, but you certainly have to get down and play the kind of game that's presented in front of you, and we'll do that."
“If we’re not scoring a whole lot of points, then we gotta up our defense,” she continued. “If we’re scoring a lot of points, we gotta up our defense.”
Former Tennessee basketball coach Kellie Harper is on the move to Missouri, with the school naming Harper as the program's fifth-ever head coach on Tuesday.
"I am incredibly honored to be the next head coach at Mizzou," Harper said in the school's announcement. "Missouri is a special place, and I know firsthand the passion and pride that surrounds this program... The foundation is in place for success — and I can't wait to get started."
Harper replaces previous Tigers boss Robin Pingeton, who resigned last month after 15 seasons. She subsequently stepped away after the team finished last in the SEC for two consecutive seasons.
In her five seasons leading the Vols, Harper earned a 108-52 overall record. She parted ways with Tennessee after last year’s second-round NCAA tournament flameout.
Even so, Harper's 53-24 overall conference record at Tennessee trailed only four-time NCAA title-winning coach Kim Mulkey (LSU) and three-time national champion leader Dawn Staley (South Carolina) in SEC winning percentage.
"Kellie is a proven winner and dynamic leader who understands the 'Will to Win' necessary to succeed at the sport's highest level," said Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch.
Harper brings exceptional resume to Missouri
Harper earned three straight NCAA championships as a player under legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. Then, she began building a playoff-heavy resume as a coach.
In her 20 years leading DI teams, Harper led them to 16 postseason berths, including nine trips to March Madness. She remains one of just two NCAA coaches to ever take four different programs to the tournament.
Before taking the Vols to back-to-back Sweet Sixteens in 2022 and 2023, Harper's first trip to thaat NCAA tournament round came with Missouri State in 2019. That's when she took a Cinderella team on a run to cap her six-year tenure with the Bears.
It's that title-hunting experience that Missouri is hoping to harness, as the Tigers haven't made the March Madness cut since 2019 — the year that the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury drafted Mizzou's all-time leading scorer Sophie Cunningham.
"I am thrilled," said the Missouri alum and new Indiana Fever guard. "I have so much respect for coach Harper, and I can't wait to support her and our Tigers however I can."
The 2024/25 NCAA basketball tournament bracket is officially locked in, as Selection Sunday saw March Madness favorites, underdogs, and a few surprises claim their tickets to the Big Dance.
After winning the Big Ten tournament one week prior, UCLA not only earned the NCAA competition's overall top spot, but the Bruins claimed their first-ever No. 1 seed in program history.
Sitting atop the three other quadrants are SEC tournament title-winners and NCAA defending champions South Carolina as well as conference runners-up Texas and USC, giving both the SEC and Big Ten two of the tournament's top contenders.
Chasing the four top teams as No. 2 seeds are Big 12 tournament champs TCU, ACC tournament winners Duke, ACC runners-up NC State, and Big East champions UConn, whose late-season momentum wasn't quite enough to life the Huskies above a second-spot bid.
In a season that saw a record-tying four teams reach No. 1 in the AP Poll, three (UCLA, South Carolina, and Texas) claimed NCAA No. 1 seeds, with once-No. 1 ranked Notre Dame falling out of top-seed contention after losing three of their last five games.
The Irish will now tip off their March Madness campaign as a No. 3 seed alongside 2022/23 NCAA champs LSU, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
Snagging the tournament's last hosting spots are the No. 4 seeds, meaning Ohio State, Kentucky, Baylor, and Maryland will all have home-court advantage through the competition’s first two rounds.
Coaches question NCAA committee's seeding decisions
While some teams were thrilled with their placements, a tinge of disappointment overshadowed other top contenders’ watch parties.
"I never thought I'd be a No. 1 seed and feel disrespected," said USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after learning the NCAA committee awarded the Trojans the last top seed, ranking them fourth overall.
"It's not an arrogance of any kind, I think that there's a lot of really good teams...but I would love to ask [this committee] some questions."
Head coach Dawn Staley had a similar reaction to South Carolina's positioning, saying "I'm a little bit surprised."
"I'd like to get some feedback on how they came to that conclusion," said Staley. "We put together, manufactured, a schedule that — if done right — should produce the overall No. 1 seed."
The NCAA committee broke down their determination of the Gamecocks on ESPN, explaining that South Carolina’s head-to-head November loss to UCLA plus last month's 29-point nonconference defeat at the hands of UConn played major roles in the decision.
Despite the disappointment, Gottlieb says her team is ready to take care of business.
"You've gotta play the first game in front of you and earn your way from there, and that's what we'll do."
Big Ten makes NCAA March Madness bracket history
With 12 teams booking spots in the Big Dance, the Big Ten not only earned the season’s most NCAA tournament bids, it also smashed the Division I record for the most programs in a single conference to make a March Madness bracket.
With a conference-record 10 teams, the SEC closely followed the Big Ten, while eight ACC squads and seven Big 12 programs round out the Power Four's 37 total berths.
Also experiencing a record-setting Selection Sunday was the Ivy League, which saw three teams sneak into the competition for the first time in the eight-program conference's history.
After upsetting their way through last weekend's conference competition, Ivy League tournament champions Harvard secured a No. 10 seed on Sunday, while both Columbia and Princeton have a shot at snagging a No. 11 seed as contenders in the NCAA's First Four games.
Dancing for the first time are six teams, with Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon, UC San Diego, and William & Mary all set to make their NCAA tournament debuts later this week.
To be the best, teams must beat the best, and the talent concentrated at the top of the NCAA bracket — regardless of seeding — is guaranteed to make for some tough competition.
How to watch the First Four March Madness games
While the the official first round of the 2024/25 NCAA basketball tournament doesn't begin until Friday, the March Madness action will tip off with the First Four round on Wednesday, when eight teams will battle for the final four spots in the 64-team bracket.
Stepping into Wednesday's spotlight are Princeton and Iowa State, who will take the court at 7 PM ET before UC San Diego takes on Southern at 9 PM ET.
Then on Thursday, Washington will face Columbia at 7 PM ET, with William & Mary's match against High Point wrapping up the First Four round at 9 PM ET.
The Huskies' Thursday clash with the Lions will air live on ESPN2, with the other three First Four games earning live coverage on ESPNU.
Print complete NCAA Women's March Madness bracket
