LSU’s Milaysia Fulwiley drives to the basket against Duke on
March 27.

The
highly anticipated tournament had everything: Eight teams hailing
from coast to coast, legendary coaches with deep Sacramento
connections, and a buzzer beater for the ages, as the 2026 NCAA
Women’s Division I Basketball Championship lit up Golden 1 Center
March 27-30.

Sacramento fans also got to see
the two teams sent to the Final Four — UCLA and South Carolina —
square off in the title game on Sunday, with UCLA pulling off the
stunning upset in Phoenix, routing South Carolina 79-51 to claim
its first ever NCAA women’s basketball championship.

While Sacramento has played host
to the NCAA men’s and women’s tournament eight other times at
Arco Arena and Golden 1 Center since 1994, those were first and
second-round games (the only time women previously appeared was
2010). This year Sacramento was one of only two sites — with Fort
Worth being the other — to host the deeper Sweet 16 and Elite 8
matchups. After six total games and four days, No. 1 seeds UCLA
and South Carolina survived and moved on to the Final Four
tournament that began April 3.

It is an emotional final minutes for Minnesota players as the
clock winds down on the Gophers’ season during their loss to UCLA
on March 27.

With Sacramento State and Visit
Sacramento hosting, the week featured all of the emotion March
Madness is known for, with Visit Sacramento saying the tournament
resulted in an extra booking of about 13,000 hotel rooms to
accommodate UCLA, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Texas Christian
University, Louisiana State, South Carolina, Virginia and Duke,
bringing in an estimated $10 million in revenue.

LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson reacts and Duke players celebrate after
Ashlon Jackson’s buzzer-beating three-pointer gives the Blue
Devils the 87-85 win on March 27 at Golden 1 Center.

“We came out with our team last
week, and it’s been an awesome six days here in Sacramento,” says
Tom Buddie, TCU’s athletic director, as he sat at an outside
table at Tom’s Watch Bar across from Golden 1 Center before the
Elite 8 matchup with South Carolina on March 30. “Phenomenal,
phenomenal welcome, and the weather has been absolutely Chamber
of Commerce. And what I love about Sacramento — and this is my
first time here — is the walkability. We’re staying at the Hyatt
Regency, and to be able to go around the Capitol and to Old
Sacramento has been just really kind of eye-opening in a really
good way.”

Duke coach Tara Lawson speaks at the press conference at Golden 1
Center after the buzzer-beater by Ashlon Jackson gave the Blue
Devils the thrilling 87-87 Sweet 16 win over No. 2 seed LSU.

While Buddie’s Horned Frogs lost
to South Carolina later that evening, denying them a trip to the
Final Four, he probably got some advice on what to do in
Sacramento from his head coach Mark Campbell, who was at
Sacramento State for two seasons, taking the Hornets in 2023 to
their first NCAA Tournament berth after the team won its first
Big Sky regular season and tournament championships.

UCLA center Lauren Betts shoots and scores against Minnesota on
March 27 at Golden 1 Center.

Another coach in the tournament
with deep Sacramento ties was Duke head coach Kara Lawson, a star
with the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs for seven of her 13 WNBA
seasons, which included the team’s WNBA championship in 2005.
Lawson, an Olympic gold medalist, was named head coach of the USA
Basketball Women’s National Team last September, after coaching
the 2025 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team to a gold medal.

The Oklahoma band lights up Golden 1 Center during the Sooners’
game with South Carolina on March 28.

Lawson was on the winning end of
Saturday’s buzzer-beater by Ashlon Jackson as the Blue Devils
claimed the thrilling 87-85 Sweet 16 win over No. 2 seed LSU. At
the press conference after the game, Lawson talked about her days
in Sacramento, calling it “one of the great basketball towns in
the country.”

“I love this city so much,”
Lawson said. “I’m telling you, everywhere I’ve gone, as we’re
walking down the street, people are, like, hey, man, thanks for
that title, thanks for that championship. And to be here and to
be able to come back now as a coach and even though this city saw
me as a player, it’s really cool.”

The TCU fan section behind the basket cheer on the Horned Frogs
during their March 30 Elite 8 loss to South Carolina.

UCLA has a huge fan base in
Sacramento and its fans travel well, so anytime the Bruins come
to town the crowds are more animated, prompting UCLA guard Angela
Dugalic to say in the last game’s news conference that “I know
it’s a little bit away from LA but it just still felt like a home
court advantage.”

TCU head coach Mark Campbell, who was at Sacramento State for two
years, with players during a time out on March 30.

Led by star Lauren Betts, who
recently told her personal story in
The Players
Tribune, UCLA advanced
to the Final Four, handily beating Oklahoma 87-68 and then
Lawson’s Duke squad, 70-58, with Betts leading all scorers in the
Elite 8 against Duke with 23 points.

Also heading to Phoenix, though
in another capacity, was PA announcer
Jaime Coffee
of Sacramento, who made her sixth
consecutive Final Four appearance, but was ironically behind the
microphone at Golden 1 Center for her first time.

South Carolina center Madina Okot shows a piece of the net she
cut down after the Game Cocks beat TCU to advance to the Final
Four on March 30.

Coffee, the former voice of the
Monarchs, as well as Sacramento Republic FC, became the first
woman to become the PA announcer for an NBA game when she was
asked to fill in for Scott Moak in 2014 at Sleep Train Arena.
Coffee has some special memories of Lawson after the Monarchs won
the WNBA title and Lawson jumped up on her table in
excitement.

“It’s been fun to watch her
grow,” says Coffee, whose full-time job is director of
communications for the CHP. “I also just worked the ACC
conference tournament, and so I just saw her.”

Sacramento fans will have another
chance next year to experience March Madness, as the men’s NCAA
tournament is returning to Sacramento in 2027, with the Golden 1
Center, Sacramento State and Visit Sacramento hosting the first
and second rounds, scheduled for March 19-21.

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