Illini women secure No. 8 in NCAA Tournament, will take on Creighton
The Illini women are putting on their dancing slippers again in the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 8 seed in the Birmingham Region takes on No. 9 seed Creighton in Austin on Saturday.
This is the second appearance for Illinois under Head Coach Shauna Green, and the 10th in program history.
Illinois (21-9) is one of 12 Big Ten teams in the women's tourney — the most in conference history.
"To hear your name called never gets old. I don't care how many times you hear it. So proud of this group. Obviously, our goal coming into the season was an NCAA Tournament," said Green. "For us to sit and hear our name, and know we're going to be in it — even leading into it; it wasn't like, you know we were on the bubble — again, it's something that you just don't get sick of hearing."
Also in the Birmingham Region, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women slipped to a No. 3 seed. Led by sophomore star Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame has a tricky road to the Final Four with a loaded field that includes No. 1 seed Texas.
This is the Notre Dame program's 30th appearance in the Big Dance.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
4 hours ago
- Washington Post
Raleigh homers twice, breaks Bench's record in the Mariners' victory over the Cubs
CHICAGO — Cal Raleigh broke Johnny Bench's record for home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, hitting his major league-leading 28th and 29th in the Seattle Mariners' 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday. Raleigh broke a tie in the seventh with No. 29 to move ahead of Hall of Famer Bench's 1970 mark. Raleigh needed only 73 games to break the record that Bench set in 87 games. The Seattle star shattered the mark with 22 games to spare before the All-Star game. Raleigh had three hits in his sixth multi-homer game of the season. The 28-year-old slugger drove in three runs to push his season total to 63. Mitch Garver also homered twice and drove in five runs, putting it away with a three-run shot in the ninth. Randy Arozarena and Donovan Solano each had three hits to help Seattle win for the fifth time in seven games. RANGERS 6, PIRATES 2 PITTSBURGH — Jacob deGrom struck out seven in six strong innings, Corey Seager hit his first home run since May 10 and Texas beat Pittsburgh. DeGrom (7-2) retired the first 11 batters and allowed two runs and five hits in six innings with one walk. One day after his 37th birthday, the two-time Cy Young Award winner extended his franchise record to 12 consecutive starts of allowing two runs or fewer and five hits or fewer. After being injured for most of the past four seasons, deGrom is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four June starts. Seager homered with one out in the fifth inning off rookie Mike Burrows (1-2), a drive to right field to increase the Rangers' lead to 4-2. The five-time All-Star shortstop had gone 81 plate appearances without a home run while also being on the injured list from May 11-27 with a strained right hamstring. Burrows lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 3 NEW YORK — Ramón Urías hit a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning against Luke Weaver, spoiling the New York reliever's return, as Baltimore topped the Yankees. Urías snapped a 3-3 tie when he drove a full-count pitch into the right field seats for a 337-foot drive. The ball went over Aaron Judge's leaping try, off a fan's shirt and into the first row of the seats. Weaver (1-2) returned from missing 17 games with a strained left hamstring and gave up his third homer this season. He gave up two runs and two hits in two-thirds of an inning. After Weaver exited, Gunnar Henderson's pinch-hit RBI single off Tim Hill put Baltimore up 5-3. WHITE SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 1 TORONTO — Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run homer in Chicago's four-run third inning and the White Sox beat Toronto to end an eight-game losing streak. Josh Rohas had a two-run double in the third for Chicago. Andrew Benintendi had a solo home run in the first and added an RBI single in the second. It was a double-bullpen game, with both teams trotting out a handful of relief pitchers with no starters available. Grant Taylor pitched a scoreless inning for the White Sox before giving way to long reliever Tyler Alexander (4-7), who worked four without giving up a run. Dan Altavilla, Wikelman Gonzalez and Tyler Gilbert also came out of the bullpen, with Gonzalez allowing a run. Spencer Turnbull (1-1) gave up four runs on five hits and two walks over two innings of work. Mason Fluharty gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, before Braydon Fisher, Nick Sandlin, Chad Green, Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman combined for six scoreless innings. MARLINS 6, BRAVES 2 MIAMI — Agustín Ramírez hit a three-run home run, Janson Junk pitched five effective innings and Miami beat Atlanta. Ramírez made it 4-1 in the third with a drive off Braves starter Didier Fuentes (0-1) that went 436 feet to left, giving the rookie catcher a team-leading 11 home runs on the season. Junk (2-0) allowed five hits, one run and struck out five in his first Marlins start. Junk, who has made five relief appearances, did not issue a walk. Eric Wagaman boosted Miami's lead with a pinch-hit, ground-rule double in the sixth, and Ramírez drove in another run in the seventh. CARDINALS 6, REDS 1 ST. LOUIS — Andre Pallante allowed two hits in six shutout innings and St. Louis used a five-run eighth inning to beat Cincinnati. Pallante (5-3) allowed a walk and a second-inning single to Matt McLain before leaving with a 1-0 lead after a broken-bat single by Elly De La Cruz to begin the seventh. Phil Maton got three outs to end it. St. Louis scored five runs off relievers Scott Barlow, Taylor Rogers and Tony Santillan — who retired one batter each. Masyn Winn drove in the first run with a single off Rogers and Lars Nootbaar's single off Santillan capped the rally after a two-out throwing error by Gavin Lux led to two runs. Brendan Donovan reached on a fielder's choice, took third on a Winn double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alec Burleson to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the third against Reds starter Brady Singer (7-5). Singer allowed one run on four hits and a walk in six innings, striking out seven and retiring his final nine batters. PHILLIES 10, METS 2 PHILADELPHIA — Bryson Stott hit a bases-clearing triple in a six-run seventh inning and Philadelphia surged past slumping New York into first place in the NL East with a victory. Nick Castellanos homered for the Phillies, who opened the three-game set between division rivals with their eighth win in their last nine games. Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil homered for New York, which has lost seven straight. Reliever Reed Garrett (2-3) started the seventh for the Mets but failed to retire any of the five batters he faced after opening the frame by giving up doubles to Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner. _____
USA Today
6 hours ago
- USA Today
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas reveals what he likes best about projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg is on the verge of becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and the National College Player of the Year recently earned praise from ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. Flagg led Duke to the Final Four, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks on 38.5% shooting from 3-point range. He became the 22nd player in program history to be named a consensus first-team All-American. The 6-foot-8 forward established himself as the overwhelming favorite to be the No. 1 pick because of his size, athleticism and ability to affect games on both ends of the court. Bilas, speaking on the "Awful Announcing" podcast with Brandon Contes, named his favorite trait about Flagg. The one thing that stands out about Cooper Flagg, to me, above all others, and we can talk about the attributes -- physically, athletically, how he shoots it, how he handles it, how he passes it and how he defends -- but the thing I like about him best is he is not one who is interested in numbers. What he does is he makes the right play on that play and then he winds up stacking the right play over and over again and then by the end of the game, he has compiled really impressive numbers. Flagg entered the season with tremendous expectations as the consensus top recruit in the class of 2024. He was highly touted as the likely top pick in the draft and lived up to the hype after becoming the face of the sport this past season. The 18-year-old led the Blue Devils in total points (709), rebounds (277), assists (156) and blocks per game. He is highly regarded for his ability to process plays in real-time and his decision-making with the ball in his hands, while also constantly adding new skills to his arsenal. After trading away cornerstone Luka Dončić, the Dallas Mavericks hope Flagg can step in and be their long-term solution. Should Flagg indeed hear his name called first on Wednesday, the ACC Freshman of the Year will become the sixth Blue Devil to be selected as the top pick. "I think he is the best freshman Duke has ever had, and that is saying something given the freshmen that Duke has had over the last 30-40 years, maybe even beyond that," Bilas said. "He is barely 18 years old right now, and the polish and maturity he shows... People talk about will Dallas trade the pick, I just can't imagine a scenario where you trade that because he is the future for them."
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Fox News
Bulls, White Sox owner to be deposed for lawsuit after fan was shot
Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf will be deposed in a lawsuit stemming from a shooting during a White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field in August 2023, a Cook County judge ordered Friday, per multiple reports. The shooting has been shrouded in mystery nearly two years later. A 42-year-old woman was shot in the leg and a 26-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the abdomen and refused medical attention. The 42-year-old woman filed a lawsuit in 2024, accusing the team of "negligence and recklessness." Videos posted to X at the time showed some panicked patrons running away from the stadium. Others were awaiting a Vanilla Ice concert at the end of the game that ended up being canceled because of "technical issues," according to a message on the scoreboard. "Due to technical issues, tonight's postgame concert has been canceled," the message read in part. "We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding." It was unclear how a weapon was able to get into the stadium in the first place. The ballpark doesn't allow for any type of weapon to be brought into the facility. "Weapons of any type, including pepper spray. It is illegal for anyone to enter or attempt to enter the ballpark with a firearm, regardless of permit," according to the park's rules. A fan previously told FOX 32 Chicago he went through a metal detector to get into the stadium. The shooting didn't stop the game from carrying on, however, as the White Sox lost to the Athletics 12-4. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
