2025 NCAA Tournament - Special coverage at The Spokesman-Review

Sports > NCAA basketball

Basketball on the big stage: For players, coaches who helped elevate the game in Spokane, hosting NCAA Regional is the reward

UPDATED: Wed., March 26, 2025

Given the lack of upsets in this year’s tournament, the real Cinderella story might just be Spokane itself.

Sports > NCAA basketball

From Hoopfest to NCAA history: UConn’s Paige Bueckers returns to Spokane focused on national championship quest

UPDATED: Tue., March 25, 2025

The last time Paige Bueckers played in Spokane, she left opponents dazed and spectators amazed. That was seven years ago at Hoopfest, when she led a team of high school all-stars to victory at Center Court. Now Bueckers has a chance to do it again this weekend at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, where her UConn Huskies will take on Oklahoma in the first game of what should be a memorable super regional of the NCAA women’s tournament.

Sports > NCAA basketball

Field set for women’s NCAA Tournament regional rounds in Spokane

UPDATED: Tue., March 25, 2025

Some of best teams in women’s basketball are on their way to Spokane.

Sports > NCAA basketball

JuJu Watkins injury casts shadow over USC women advancing to Sweet 16 of NCAA tournament

UPDATED: Mon., March 24, 2025

The arena sat in hushed disbelief, struggling to process a scene that seemed ripped straight out of their worst nightmares: USC’s superstar laying crumpled on the court, clutching her right knee, her cries ringing out to the rafters where she hoped a banner would soon hang.

Sports > NCAA basketball

A UC San Diego transfer watches the NCAA Tournament team he left: ‘Is the grass greener?’

UPDATED: Mon., March 24, 2025

DENVER — Bryce Pope was ready to watch a game he wished he was playing in. A game that he should have been playing in.

Sports > Gonzaga basketball

Zags Basketball Insiders Podcast: Dispatches from the Dance – the good, the bad and the boring

UPDATED: Mon., March 24, 2025

In the latest Zags Basketball Insiders Podcast, longtime Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Meehan and former GU center and TV analyst Richard Fox break down the dominant win over Georgia, the heartbreaking loss to Houston and debate the overall entertainment value of this year's tournament.

Sports > NCAA basketball

Arizona Wildcats oust Oregon Ducks from NCAA tournament, reach Sweet 16

UPDATED: Sun., March 23, 2025

SEATTLE – Back in the days of the old Pac-12 – like a year ago – the fans of Arizona would descend on Las Vegas every March for the conference basketball tournament and create a home-court advantage no other school could match.

Sports > NCAA basketball

Hailey Van Lith remains a perennial winner, leading TCU to its first Sweet 16

UPDATED: Mon., March 24, 2025

On Sunday evening in Fort Worth, Texas – 2,000 miles from her hometown of Wenatchee and an incalculable distance of how far she has actually come in the last five years – Hailey Van Lith played the final home game of her college career.

Sports > NCAA basketball

Saint Mary’s unable to upset No. 2 Alabama for Sweet 16 spot, 80-66

UPDATED: Sun., March 23, 2025

Saint Mary’s shot at the Sweet 16 went amiss Sunday, 15 years after reaching that NCAA Tournament stage for the only time in program history.

Sports > NCAA basketball

Houston’s finally at full strength in the NCAA Tournament. Is this the Cougars’ best chance at a title?

UPDATED: Sun., March 23, 2025

WICHITA, Kan. – Kelvin Sampson had a boss in the early days of his coaching career who looked for innovative plays in a magazine and installed them immediately, convinced they could work for his team.

Basketball on the big stage: For players, coaches who helped elevate the game in Spokane, hosting NCAA Regional is the reward

From Hoopfest to NCAA history: UConn’s Paige Bueckers returns to Spokane focused on national championship quest

Field set for women’s NCAA Tournament regional rounds in Spokane

JuJu Watkins injury casts shadow over USC women advancing to Sweet 16 of NCAA tournament

A UC San Diego transfer watches the NCAA Tournament team he left: ‘Is the grass greener?’

Zags Basketball Insiders Podcast: Dispatches from the Dance – the good, the bad and the boring

Arizona Wildcats oust Oregon Ducks from NCAA tournament, reach Sweet 16

Hailey Van Lith remains a perennial winner, leading TCU to its first Sweet 16

Saint Mary’s unable to upset No. 2 Alabama for Sweet 16 spot, 80-66

Houston’s finally at full strength in the NCAA Tournament. Is this the Cougars’ best chance at a title?

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Spokane regional: UCLA women vs. Ole Miss