This past Easter Break weekend featured the culmination of the NCAA March Madness Tournaments for DI Women’s and Men’s, with the championship games for each held on Sunday, Apr. 5, and Monday, Apr. 6, respectively. The Women’s National Championship game was played first on Apr. 5 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Men’s National Championship game was played the day after in Indianapolis, Indiana. Each game brought great entertainment to college basketball fans who witnessed UCLA’s women’s team win its first March Madness tournament ever and saw Michigan win its first March Madness tournament in 37 years.
The No. 1 UCLA Bruins defeated the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA Championship to secure their first-ever March Madness victory. The Bruins blew out the Gamecocks 79-51, with Bruins standout senior guard Gabriela Jaquez leading the team with 21 points in the championship. She averaged 13.5 points per game throughout the season. Superstar senior center Lauren Betts led the team with 11 rebounds in the championship and scored 13 points.
The Gamecocks’ sophomore forward Joyce Edwards led the team with 11 rebounds and three assists in the championship game. Junior guard Tessa Johnson had 14 points in the championship, the most on the team. The championship was a quiet scoring game from Edwards, who averaged 19.2 points per game throughout the season.
UCLA’s Betts averaged 17.1 points per game, 8.8 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists per game throughout the season. She had the highest points and rebounds for UCLA and was a large factor in the Bruins’ March Madness push, being named the Most Outstanding Player of the entire tournament. She was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year, the Defensive Player of the Year, and earned the Naismith Lisa Leslie Award as the NCAA’s best center. Betts is widely projected to be a top-five pick in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft on Monday, Apr. 13.
David DiDomenico ‘26, student manager for the Loyola men’s basketball team and practice player for the women’s basketball team, was happy to see UCLA win.
“I think that it was cool to see UCLA win their first national championship. It was very surprising to me that it was their first ever championship appearance in tournament history, but it was cool to see them win their first,” DiDomenico said.
March Madness brought many additional surprises. The No. 10 Virginia Cavaliers upset the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes 83-75 in double overtime in the second round of the tournament. Although the Cavaliers lost to the TCU Horned Frogs in the next round, their upset busted many March Madness brackets this year
“I did not see Virginia upsetting Iowa at all. It broke my bracket. Iowa has been a very elite team for the past couple of years, and being in the dance before, and being well coached, I thought that they would make it much further,” DiDomenico said.
The dance of March Madness is unpredictable, and the teams with the best talent can often be eliminated. DiDomenico shares what makes a team, such as UCLA, win it all.
“I think good coaching and experience are the best ways for a team to make a good run. Of course, good rebounding, defense, and keeping the ball moving on offense are other reasons, but knowing how it feels to be there on the big stage is most important,” DiDomenico said.
UCLA is no stranger to the big stage. They have qualified for March Madness ten times since Cori Close became Head Coach of the team ahead of the 2011-12 season. After years of close contention, UCLA has finally won an NCAA Championship.
The Men’s National Championship proceeded a day later, where the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines faced off against the No. 2 UConn Huskies. Michigan cruised to the final round, racking up double-digit wins in all games before the championship, with their lowest win by 13 points and their highest by 33. UConn, contrary to Michigan, only had one double-digit win in the tournament, an 11-point win in the first round. In the Elite Eight, UConn notably completed a 19-point comeback against No. 1 Duke after trailing 21-40 to keep their tournament hopes alive. Now, the two teams met with the National Championship on the line.
Michigan started the game with a small lead for around 10 minutes, with points only from forward Morez Johnson Jr. and guard Eliot Cadeau during that time. UConn made more threes in that period than Michigan did all game and held their own. The latter end of the first half had a handful of lead changes, led by UConn’s Alex Karaban and guard Solo Ball. A short stretch in the final couple of minutes from the Wolverines gave them a slight lead over UConn. Halftime brought a score of 33-29, Michigan leading.
Although UConn knocked down nine three-pointers in the game to Michigan’s two, the Wolverines’ size advantage proved to be too hefty for the Huskies to halt. Michigan kept on gathering blocks, ending with six to UConn’s two. Michigan also scored 36 points in the paint to UConn’s 22. The Huskies dominated the offensive glass, though, with 22 rebounds to Michigan’s 12, but UConn shot 31% in total for the game, while Michigan shot 38%.
As the second half progressed, Michigan kept a consistently large single-digit lead, but UConn was never out of striking distance. The Wolverines then led by double digits with 5:45 remaining at a score of 56-45; this lead turned to a nine-point lead with a minute and a half left. After some free throws on both ends, Michigan had to inbound the ball with less than a minute to go with a seven-point lead, which ultimately resulted in a crucial turnover. UConn capitalized on this mistake as Ball banked in a three with 37 seconds to go to cut the Michigan lead to 67-63. Even after Michigan missed two free throws, this deficit was as close as the Huskies could cut it to. A missed three from UConn and two free throws from Michigan’s Trey McKenney iced the game for the Wolverines, earning the team their first National Championship since 1989.
Ryan O’Keefe ‘26 gave his thoughts on what he thought was a pretty entertaining game, saying it was about as good a game as you can get for a championship. He also predicted Michigan to win the championship in his own bracket.
Cadaeu led Michigan in scoring with 19 points on five of eleven shooting and also grabbed three rebounds. Johnson Jr. notched a double-double with 12 points and ten boards, shooting 71%. UConn stayed afloat from Karaban’s double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds; Tarris Reed Jr. also had a double-double with 13 points and 14 boards. O’Keefe talked about UConn’s defensive efforts on some of Michigan’s best players despite the loss.
“I thought UConn kind of did what they needed to do, which was limit how effective [Yaxel] Lendeborg and [Aday] Mara, the center, were, for the most part, and I thought if they did that, I thought they’d be able to win or keep it a little closer, but UConn in the second half, their shooters just kind of went missing,” O’Keefe said.
A large portion of Michigan’s roster was comprised from the transfer portal, including their whole starting lineup in the championship game. O’Keefe shared his thoughts on teams not building organically yet still earning success.
“I do think that the transfer portal is a good thing for basketball. However, the current level at which it’s being utilized is, I don’t think anyone could have predicted when they changed up the regulations on it,” O’Keefe said.
He further noted that it may be harder to build camaraderie with a team of new players, but that Michigan just proved this thought to be wrong this year, and that regardless of how the team was constructed, hoisting a trophy is inherently the same.
Both the Women’s and Men’s provided great entertainment for college basketball fans who were cheering for their own school, or at least had a bracket that they wanted to be correct. Either way, March year after year continues to bring a lively tournament full of upsets, emotions, Cinderella stories, and tons more.