NCAAW

The 2002 Connecticut team beat out its other Huskies championship squads, and it may be due to the roster full of WNBA royalty.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina freshman Aliyah Boston has won the Lisa Leslie Award given to the top center in women’s college basketball.

For Vic Schaefer, the decision to take over the Texas women's basketball program was profoundly personal. “It was a calling,� Schaefer said Monday, noting the old Austin hospital building where he was born is just across the street from where the Longhorns play at the Frank Erwin Center. Texas quickly snatched up Schaefer on Sunday, just two days after athletic director Chris Del Conte announced coach Karen Aston would not be retained after eight seasons.

Pac-12 Networks' Mike Yam interviews former Oregon State guard Sydney Wiese to hear how she's recovering from contracting COVID-19. Wiese recounts her recent travel and how she's been lifted up by steadfast support from friends, family and fellow WNBA players. See more from Wiese during "Pac-12 Playlist" on Monday, April 6 at 7 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Network.

Sabrina Ionescu wins the Wooden Award for the second year in a row, becoming the fifth in the trophy's history to win in back-to-back seasons. With the honor, she completes a complete sweep of the national postseason player of the year awards. As a senior, Ionescu matched her own single-season mark with eight triple-doubles in 2019-20, and she was incredibly efficient from the field with a career-best 51.8 field goal percentage.

Hear how former Oregon State guard and current member of the WNBA's LA Sparks Sydney Wiese is recovering from a COVID-19 diagnosis, seeing friends and family show support and love during a trying time.

Texas moved quickly to hire a new women's basketball coach, luring Vic Schaefer away from powerhouse Mississippi State on Sunday. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced the move by tweeting a picture of himself with Schaefer and his family holding up the “Hook'em Horns� hand signal. The move comes just two days after Texas dismissed eight-year coach Karen Aston, who had only one losing season in her tenure and had led the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 or farther four times.

A look at the newest members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, announced on Saturday:

Kobe Bryant was already immortal. Bryant and fellow NBA greats Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett headlined a nine-person group announced Saturday as this year’s class of enshrinees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich finally got his call, as did longtime Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton.

Over four years in Eugene, Ruthy Hebard has made a name for herself with reliability and dynamic play. She's had many memorable moments in a Duck uniform. But her career day against Washington State (34 points), her moment reaching 2,000 career points and her NCAA record for consecutive made FGs (2018) tops the list. Against the Trojans, she set the record (30) and later extended it to 33.

Since the day she stepped on campus, Satou Sabally's game has turned heads — and for good reason. She's had many memorable moments in a Duck uniform, including a standout performance against the USA Women in Nov. 2019, a monster game against Cal in Jan. 2020 and a career performance in Pullman in Jan. 2019.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas dismissed women's basketball coach Karen Aston on Friday, ending an eight-year stint that included four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 from 2015-2018.

Already named The Associated Press women's player of the year, Ionescu was awarded the Naismith Trophy for the most outstanding women's basketball player on Friday. Ionescu, who won AP All-American honors three times, shattered the NCAA career triple-double mark with 26 and became the first player in college history to have 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. Ionescu averaged 17.5 points, 9.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds with eight triple-doubles as a senior this season.

Sabrina Ionescu is the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year, concluding her illustrious Oregon career with one of the major postseason women's basketball awards. As the only player in college basketball history with 2,000 career points (2,562), 1,000 assists (1,091) and 1,000 rebounds (1,040) and the NCAA all-time leader with 26 triple-doubles, Ionescu has continued to rack up player of the year honors for her remarkable senior season.

Oregon State basketball player Destiny Slocum has opted to enter the transfer portal for her final season of eligibility. Slocum, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged a team-best 14.9 points and had 4.7 assists a game this past season with the Beavers, who finished the season ranked No. 14 with a 23-9 record. In a statement released by the university on Thursday, Slocum thanked everyone who supported her in the decision.

All-Pac-12 talent Mikayla Pivec's career in Corvallis has been memorable to say the least. While it's difficult to choose just three, her top moments include a career-high 19 rebounds against Washington, a buzzer-beating layup against ASU, and breaking Ruth Hamblin's Oregon State rebounding record this year against Stanford.

Senior UCLA guard Japreece Dean has had an eventful two years in Westwood after transferring from Texas Tech. Among her top three moments as a Bruin are her career-high 28 pts against Cal, her first career triple-double against Yale, and a game-winning three to beat ASU with nine seconds left.

Oregon superstar Sabrina Ionescu's career has been marked by many incredible accomplishments. Picking just three is a tough task, but Ionescu's career 2k pts/1k reb/1k ast moment, breaking Gary Payton's all-time Pac-12 assists record, and 31-8-7 performance in the Elite 8 to lead Oregon to its first Final Four appearance top the list.

Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu is the winner of the 2020 Wade Trophy for the second consecutive year in a vote by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Her illustrious senior season saw her become the first college basketball to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. She also had eight triple-doubles to win Pac-12 Player of the Year honors.

Arizona's Aari McDonald is set to return to Tucson for her senior year and is poised to make waves in the Pac next season. McDonald, an All-Pac-12 selection, won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors for her dominant defensive play in 2019-20. She finished with a league-leading 2.3 steals per game and helped the Wildcats finish No. 1 in overall defense (56.6 ppg).

Oregon superstar Sabrina Ionescu gives an inspiring speech about the legacy of the 2019-20 Ducks on this quick look at "Our Stories". Ionescu continues to rack up awards after being named the Pac-12 women's basketball Player of the Year for the third straight season, as well as the second ever unanimous AP women's basketball Player of the year. Catch the full feature this spring on the newest episode of "Our Stories".

Texas A&M guard Chennedy Carter says she will forego her final year of eligibility and declare for the WNBA draft. Carter averaged 21.3 points this past season for the Aggies and scored 1,983 points in her three years at the school. The second-team All-American had a 37-point effort against Tennessee this season - the most points scored by a Texas A&M player in an SEC game in program history.

Arizona guard Aari McDonald will return for her senior season, bypassing a chance to leave early for the WNBA. ''I am already counting down the days until I can get back on the court with my teammates and I can't wait to play one more season in front of the best fans in the country,'' she posted on Twitter Sunday. A 5-foot-6 guard, McDonald had an immediate impact after transferring from Washington and sitting out a year, finishing third nationally with 24.1 points as a sophomore in 2018-19.

Villanova hired former star Denise Dillon as its new women's basketball coach Friday. Dillon, who has spent the last 17 years as the head coach of Drexel, played at Villanova for former coach Harry Perretta, who retired after 42 seasons at the school. Dillon compiled a 329-204 (.617) record in her 17 years at Drexel and recently guided the program to one of the best stretches in its history.

Stanford legend Chiney Ogwumike joined Pac-12 Networks' Ashley Adamson to discuss the status of the upcoming WNBA season as well as how she's coping with today's rapidly changing sports landscape. The 2014 consensus National Player of the Year is also the vice president of the WNBA Players' Association. Other topics included the stellar season of future WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu, the postponement of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, and her charitable 28th birthday gift to families in need during the crisis. Catch more on Pac-12 Playlist Thursday, March 26th at 7 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. MT.

Pac-12 Networks' Ashley Adamson interviews former Stanford women's basketball star and current LA Sparks standout Chiney Ogwumike to hear how she's navigating a new world without sports. In addition to hooping herself, Ogwumike also works for ESPN as a full-time NBA analyst, so two of her passions were suddenly disrupted earlier this month.

All but one of Anna Makurat's teammates headed home after the NCAA canceled this year's postseason basketball tournament and the school suspended classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 19-year-old UConn freshman from Poland, the decision was not that easy, especially with ever-increasing travel restrictions to and from Europe. Makurat is one of more than 20,000 foreign athletes currently competing at NCAA schools, according to the organization.

A massage therapist charged with a sex crime involving a girl also engaged in inappropriate behavior toward at least six female athletes at the University of Kansas, including unwanted touching during massages, school officials alleged Tuesday. Chancellor Doug Girod and Athletic Director Jeff Long said in a joint statement that investigators also found an athletic trainer was aware of at least some of the alleged incidents involving Shawn P. O'Brien but failed to appropriately report the conduct. O'Brien provided free massages on campus to the general student population through the university's Alumni Association's finals dinner beginning in 2011 and as recently as last fall, the university said.

Sabrina Ionescu capped off a unprecedented college career by entering an exclusive club. Oregon's star guard was a unanimous choice Monday as The Associated Press women's basketball player of the year, receiving all 30 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25 each week during the season. Someone I look up to and have a good relationship with,'' Ionescu told the AP.

Dawn Staley helped guide South Carolina to No. 1 and has now earned coach of the year honors from The Associated Press for the first time. The veteran Gamecocks coach received 20 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25 poll each week. Northwestern coach Joe McKeown was second with five votes in balloting released Monday.

Oregon superstar Sabrina Ionescu was unanimously named the 2020 AP Women's College Basketball Player of the Year for her outstanding senior season in Eugene. As part of her final campaign, Ionescu set the NCAA career triple-double record and became the first player in college history to have 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. Earlier, she earned a spot on The Associated Press women’s basketball All-America team as a unanimous choice from the national media, as well as being named the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Year. She is just the second ever to be given the award unanimously after former UConn star Breanna Stewart.

South Carolina point guard Tyasha Harris is this year's recipient of the Dawn Staley award. Harris became the second Gamecock, joining Tiffany Mitchell in 2013, to win in the eight seasons of the award. The award, named after the South Carolina coach and Philadelphia native, goes to the player in women's basketball who best displays the qualities Staley demonstrated during her playing career.

DETROIT (AP) -- Detroit Mercy has fired women's basketball coach Bernard Scott.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sabrina Ionescu has joined an elite group, becoming a three-time All-American.

Lauren Cox is still trying to process that her college basketball career is over. The Baylor forward, like many other seniors, saw her season end when the NCAA Tournament was canceled. The hardest part is that she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her teammates and coach Kim Mulkey as a group.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- UNLV has hired former Stanford assistant and player Lindy La Rocque as its next women's basketball coach.

Even though the teams didn't meet in the NCAA final as projected, South Carolina and Oregon ended the season on a historic note.

Dawn Staley and South Carolina are No. 1 in the final Associated Press women's basketball poll for the first time in school history. The Gamecocks received 26 first-place votes from the national media panel in voting released Tuesday. ''Our season ended and we're No. 1,'' said Staley, in her 12th year at South Carolina.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley knows that Monday was supposed to be the night that women's basketball got put in the national spotlight with the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal. ''While we didn't get a chance to do it, we were fortunate enough to have a final meeting on Friday,'' Parkinson said.

UConn forward Megan Walker has decided to forgo her senior season and enter the WNBA draft. The decision came a day after Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma told reporters he had no reason to believe that anyone on his team with remaining eligibility would not return next season. ''Due to the unfortunate circumstances that caused the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament, it saddens me that I was not able to finish my junior season in the way that I would have liked,'' Walker said Saturday in a statement.

The NCAA is planning to extend the eligibility of athletes on spring sports teams by one year to make up for the season lost to the new coronavirus. All three NCAA divisions would potentially allow another year for athletes in the 14 spring sports, which include baseball, softball, lacrosse and golf. The decision comes after the NCAA announced Thursday that its winter and spring championships would be canceled as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

5 Women's 1 NCAA Tournament 2 Cancelled

On Thursday, the NCAA canceled all winter and spring sports in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Now seniors are petitioning to get their lost year back.

Haylee Andrews scored 18 points, including her second-straight game-winner in the final minute, and Portland captured the West Coast Conference automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than two decades with a 64-63 overtime win over San Diego on Tuesday. Andrews, whose floater in the lane with 3.6 seconds left gave the fourth-seeded Pilots a 70-69 semifinal win over top-seeded Gonzaga on Monday, didn't need quite the same dramatics against the second-seeded Toreros. Andrews' layup came with 58.3 seconds left after both teams committed offensive fouls following Jordyn Edwards' go-ahead, shot-clock-beating 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:27 remaining.

Hannah Sjerven scored nine of her 15 points in the fourth quarter and 17th-ranked South Dakota earned a return trip to the NCAA Tournament with a 63-58 win over second-seeded South Dakota State in the Summit League championship game on Tuesday. The Coyotes trailed 47-45 when South Dakota State scored the last seven points of the third quarter but they held the Jackrabbits to one field goal in the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter to grab their third NCAA berth. South Dakota, only 4 of 11 from the field in the quarter, made 10 of 15 free throws but just 4 of 8 in the final minute.

Holly Hoopingarner scored 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and IUPUI earned its first NCAA Tournament berth win a 51-37 win over Green Bay on Tuesday in the Horizon League championship game. Green Bay, which was bidding for its 19th NCAA trip, did not score in the fourth quarter. Two-time league Most Outstanding Player Macee Williams added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Jaguars (23-8), who were in their first conference title game since the 2017 Summit League tournament.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Navy has fired women's basketball coach Stefanie Pemper following a 12-year run that finished with two straight losing seasons.

For the second consecutive weekend, there won't be any fans at Amherst's NCAA Tournament games on campus because of the coronavirus outbreak. The school is hosting Division III Sweet 16 games, with the Mammoths playing George Fox on Friday night. Mary Hardin-Baylor will face Christopher Newport in the other women's basketball game.

UConn may no longer dominate all of college basketball, but they will end their tenure in the American Athletic Conference as the undisputed champions. Megan Walker scored 26 points and Christyn Williams added 22 to lead No 5 Connecticut over Cincinnati 87-53 in the conference tournament title game on Monday night, finishing off a perfect run for the Huskies over their seven years in the AAC. The Huskies are leaving the AAC at the end of the postseason to rejoin the Big East.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Lexi Held scored a career-high 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting and No. 15 DePaul beat Marquette in the Big East tournament championship game for the third straight season, 88-74 on Monday night for the Blue Demons' fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Haylee Andrews scored on a floater in the lane with 3.6 seconds and fourth-seeded Portland, which trailed by 20 points in the first quarter, upset top-seeded and 11th-ranked Gonzaga 70-69 on Monday in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament. Gonzaga, which trailed by six when WCC player of the year Jill Townsend fouled out with 5:13 to play, took the lead on a layup by Jenn Wirth with 8.6 seconds to go. After a timeout, Andrews took the ball near the top of the key, drove left and stepped through the defense toward the basket, putting up a short right hander.