PHOENIX – So far, much of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament has been characterized by blowouts – victories by large margins – and teams taking their starters out early. This all changes in the Sweet Sixteen, as the build-up to the Women’s Final Four in Phoenix begins.
Familiar basketball powerhouses dot the Sacramento 2 Regional: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Minnesota have all shown they were seeded high for a reason. Both games are scheduled to be played on Friday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
All of these teams are in the Sweet Sixteen for a reason. While they have different styles, they have all sustained success.
Here’s a look at the coaches, key players and matchups in this quadrant of the bracket.
Coaches
Kim Mulkey (LSU): Mulkey has become a LSU legend over the past five years, winning the NCAA title in 2023 and getting to the Elite Eight in both 2024 and 2025. She also coached three national championship-winning teams at Baylor. This success and her often colorful outfits have helped LSU become a national brand since she joined the program five years ago.
Kara Lawson (Duke): Lawson got her first head coaching job at Duke in 2020 after a long WNBA career and a quick stop as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. Her first season lasted only four games before COVID-19 shut everything down. Since then, she has made the last four tournaments with Duke, including an Elite Eight berth last year. Now she looks to repeat that success and continue the success of the Blue Devils program.
Dawn Plitzuweit (Minnesota): Plitzuweit has had a much different career path. She has been a head coach at five different universities, from Division II all the way to a Big Ten team. She started at Minnesota in 2023, where she signed a six-year deal, after spending one year at West Virginia. Plitzuweit has led the Golden Gophers to their first tournament appearance since 2018 and their first Sweet Sixteen since 2005.
Cori Close (UCLA): UCLA has the only coach in the region who has been with the team for over five years. Close is in her 15th season as the coach of the Bruins, leading the Bruins to 10 NCAA tournament berths, including a Final Four appearance last season. Despite only one Final Four appearance so far, Close has led the Bruins to 10 winning seasons in a row and has become a household name at UCLA. After the Bruins’ victory over Oklahoma State, Close grabbed the courtside microphone and thanked the UCLA crowd as senior center Lauren Betts slapped the Bruins’ name on the Sweet Sixteen bracket.
“We appreciate you so much, and these seniors deserve your support,” Close said
Key Players
Lauren Betts (UCLA): For UCLA, there are players aplenty to choose from, which is part of the reason for their success in the tournament and the season, but the player to focus on is Betts, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the win against Oklahoma State. Betts and her sister Sienna are both big presences on the boards, averaging 8.7 and 4.2 rebounds per game, respectively. This could be the deciding factor against Minnesota, which relies heavily on its guard play.
Mara Braun and Amaya Battle (Minnesota): That guard play for the Golden Gophers is highlighted by the duo of Braun and Battle, who average 11.8 and 11.3 points, respectively. Battle also put up 21 in Minnesota’s round of 64 win against Green Bay. Her ability to facilitate at a high level, averaging 3.6 assists, has put the Golden Gophers in a great spot. Battle also led the Golden Gophers in rebounds with 11 in the win against Ole Miss in the second round. If Minnesota‘s guards can get going early, it could get dangerous and carry them to an Elite Eight appearance and beyond.
Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams (LSU): The Tigers have a big star in Johnson, who is averaging 18.6 points per game and dropped 24 points in LSU’s last game against Texas Tech. Junior guard Mikaylah Williams also had 24 points in the game, leading to a deadly backcourt duo for the Tigers. This is a change from the past, from when forward Angel Reese was scoring huge totals for LSU and dominating down low. Now the Tigers’ guard play will be the focal point if they want to make a championship run.
“I think that’s just my teammates finding me and me being ready to knock down shots,” Williams said at a press conference.
Toby Fournier (Duke): The Blue Devils will rely on their forwards for most of their scoring. Fournier, a sophomore, has been the star so far this season, averaging 17.4 points and eight rebounds. However, the most important stat might be her 2.3 average blocks per game. Her ability to play great defense and score created a monster season for the Toronto native.
Matchups
LSU vs. Duke: The first game is a good example of an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force in the battle of two top-10 teams. No. 5-ranked LSU is an offensive powerhouse, having put up over 100 points in its first two games, including a 116-spot on Jacksonville.
No. 8-ranked Duke may have the defense to put LSU to the test. Duke held Baylor, a team that dropped 67 on Nebraska in the first round, to 46 points to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Blue Devils will have to rely on slowing down the pace and forcing LSU to play Duke’s brand of basketball.
“One of our better defensive efforts of the season,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said at a press conference after beating Baylor. “When you look at it in total, I thought we started the game with the appropriate level of force, physicality, attention to detail, and really just locked in on that end.”
UCLA vs. Minnesota: UCLA enters as not only the No.1 team in the region but as the No. 2 team in the nation. The Bruins are one of the most complete teams in the country, with multiple players who can score, rebound, defend and pass at a high level, including sisters Lauren and Sienna Betts, who both had double-doubles in their second-round matchup against Oklahoma State.
Minnesota has had the closest games of all the teams in the region, but players stepping up and clutch plays have helped them reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Golden Gophers have five players who average double-digit points in the regular season, and that versatility will be their key to victory. The bigs have struggled at times for Minnesota, with their guards doing the heavy lifting, even in rebounding, which could be an issue going against UCLA, whose bigs dominate the floor.
“Overall, just really proud of our young ladies,” Plitzuweit said after Minnesota slipped by Ole Miss 65-63 to reach the Sweet Sixteen. “We needed to show a lot of resilience. I was told we were down five with about three minutes to play and made big shots, but really got some big stops as well.”
The Gophers will need all the big shots and stops they can muster to get past UCLA, and continue the journey to the Valley and the Final Four.
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Sacramento 2 Regional: Players, coaches, matchups to watch on road to Women’s Final Four in Phoenix
Morgan Tremmel, Cronkite News
March 26, 2026
PHOENIX – So far, much of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament has been characterized by blowouts – victories by large margins – and teams taking their starters out early. This all changes in the Sweet Sixteen, as the build-up to the Women’s Final Four in Phoenix begins.
Familiar basketball powerhouses dot the Sacramento 2 Regional: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Minnesota have all shown they were seeded high for a reason. Both games are scheduled to be played on Friday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
All of these teams are in the Sweet Sixteen for a reason. While they have different styles, they have all sustained success.
Here’s a look at the coaches, key players and matchups in this quadrant of the bracket.
Coaches
Kim Mulkey (LSU): Mulkey has become a LSU legend over the past five years, winning the NCAA title in 2023 and getting to the Elite Eight in both 2024 and 2025. She also coached three national championship-winning teams at Baylor. This success and her often colorful outfits have helped LSU become a national brand since she joined the program five years ago.
Kara Lawson (Duke): Lawson got her first head coaching job at Duke in 2020 after a long WNBA career and a quick stop as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. Her first season lasted only four games before COVID-19 shut everything down. Since then, she has made the last four tournaments with Duke, including an Elite Eight berth last year. Now she looks to repeat that success and continue the success of the Blue Devils program.
Dawn Plitzuweit (Minnesota): Plitzuweit has had a much different career path. She has been a head coach at five different universities, from Division II all the way to a Big Ten team. She started at Minnesota in 2023, where she signed a six-year deal, after spending one year at West Virginia. Plitzuweit has led the Golden Gophers to their first tournament appearance since 2018 and their first Sweet Sixteen since 2005.
Cori Close (UCLA): UCLA has the only coach in the region who has been with the team for over five years. Close is in her 15th season as the coach of the Bruins, leading the Bruins to 10 NCAA tournament berths, including a Final Four appearance last season. Despite only one Final Four appearance so far, Close has led the Bruins to 10 winning seasons in a row and has become a household name at UCLA. After the Bruins’ victory over Oklahoma State, Close grabbed the courtside microphone and thanked the UCLA crowd as senior center Lauren Betts slapped the Bruins’ name on the Sweet Sixteen bracket.
“We appreciate you so much, and these seniors deserve your support,” Close said
Key Players
Lauren Betts (UCLA): For UCLA, there are players aplenty to choose from, which is part of the reason for their success in the tournament and the season, but the player to focus on is Betts, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the win against Oklahoma State. Betts and her sister Sienna are both big presences on the boards, averaging 8.7 and 4.2 rebounds per game, respectively. This could be the deciding factor against Minnesota, which relies heavily on its guard play.
Mara Braun and Amaya Battle (Minnesota): That guard play for the Golden Gophers is highlighted by the duo of Braun and Battle, who average 11.8 and 11.3 points, respectively. Battle also put up 21 in Minnesota’s round of 64 win against Green Bay. Her ability to facilitate at a high level, averaging 3.6 assists, has put the Golden Gophers in a great spot. Battle also led the Golden Gophers in rebounds with 11 in the win against Ole Miss in the second round. If Minnesota‘s guards can get going early, it could get dangerous and carry them to an Elite Eight appearance and beyond.
Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams (LSU): The Tigers have a big star in Johnson, who is averaging 18.6 points per game and dropped 24 points in LSU’s last game against Texas Tech. Junior guard Mikaylah Williams also had 24 points in the game, leading to a deadly backcourt duo for the Tigers. This is a change from the past, from when forward Angel Reese was scoring huge totals for LSU and dominating down low. Now the Tigers’ guard play will be the focal point if they want to make a championship run.
“I think that’s just my teammates finding me and me being ready to knock down shots,” Williams said at a press conference.
Toby Fournier (Duke): The Blue Devils will rely on their forwards for most of their scoring. Fournier, a sophomore, has been the star so far this season, averaging 17.4 points and eight rebounds. However, the most important stat might be her 2.3 average blocks per game. Her ability to play great defense and score created a monster season for the Toronto native.
Matchups
LSU vs. Duke: The first game is a good example of an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force in the battle of two top-10 teams. No. 5-ranked LSU is an offensive powerhouse, having put up over 100 points in its first two games, including a 116-spot on Jacksonville.
No. 8-ranked Duke may have the defense to put LSU to the test. Duke held Baylor, a team that dropped 67 on Nebraska in the first round, to 46 points to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Blue Devils will have to rely on slowing down the pace and forcing LSU to play Duke’s brand of basketball.
“One of our better defensive efforts of the season,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said at a press conference after beating Baylor. “When you look at it in total, I thought we started the game with the appropriate level of force, physicality, attention to detail, and really just locked in on that end.”
UCLA vs. Minnesota: UCLA enters as not only the No.1 team in the region but as the No. 2 team in the nation. The Bruins are one of the most complete teams in the country, with multiple players who can score, rebound, defend and pass at a high level, including sisters Lauren and Sienna Betts, who both had double-doubles in their second-round matchup against Oklahoma State.
Minnesota has had the closest games of all the teams in the region, but players stepping up and clutch plays have helped them reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Golden Gophers have five players who average double-digit points in the regular season, and that versatility will be their key to victory. The bigs have struggled at times for Minnesota, with their guards doing the heavy lifting, even in rebounding, which could be an issue going against UCLA, whose bigs dominate the floor.
“Overall, just really proud of our young ladies,” Plitzuweit said after Minnesota slipped by Ole Miss 65-63 to reach the Sweet Sixteen. “We needed to show a lot of resilience. I was told we were down five with about three minutes to play and made big shots, but really got some big stops as well.”
The Gophers will need all the big shots and stops they can muster to get past UCLA, and continue the journey to the Valley and the Final Four.
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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