The Guru’s March Madness Daily Report: Second Half Thrusts Send 1-Seeds UConn and UCLA to Final Four; Texas Meets Michigan and South Carolina Meets TCU Monday Night for Other Two Spots in Phoenix

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

UConn and UCLA, the nation’s top two women’s teams, used strong second half finishes Sunday afternoon to punch their tickets to the Women’s Final Four this weekend in Phoenix while the other two slots will be determined Monday night when Texas meets Michigan and South Carolina plays TCU.

Notre Dame (25-11), which as the sixth seed led by South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo of Merchantville in suburban Philadelphia knocked out three-seed Ohio State in Columbus last weekend and two-seed Vanderbilt in Friday’s Sweet 16 opener of Fort Worth (Texas) Region 1 in Dickies Arena to reach the unbeaten Huskies (38-0), stayed on the defending NCAA champions’ heels into midway through the third quarter when UConn began gaining separation from a familiar rival and on to a 70-52 victory.

Part of the thunder from advancing to the Huskies’ 25th appearance at the tournament’s final rounds as Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma picked up his 1,288th victory, was stolen from their male counterparts a few hours later when freshman Braylon Mullins sank a desperation 3-pointer with 0.4 remaining to complete a comeback from a 19-point deficit and edge top-seeded Duke 73-72 to return to the men’s finals for the third time in the last four seasons.

The Duke (27-9) women also suffered a blown lead after Friday’s last second game-winner downed two-seed LSU in Golden 1 Center to send the Blue Devils back to the Elite Eight against the Bruins, only to have a halftime advantage on UCLA (35-1) evaporate in the third period sending coach Cori Close’s squad to a 70-58 victory in Sacramento (Calif.) Region 2 and a return to the Final Four, which they achieved last year for the first time in the NCAA era that began in 1981-82.

Led by Ann Meyers-Drysdale, UCLA won the the national title under the AIAW in 1978, the first year that organization went to a Final Four format.

UCLA’s only loss was way back near the beginning of the season to Texas, the last time the Bruins, who have won 29 straight including a sweep of the Big Ten, trailed at the half.

Senior center Lauren Betts had 23 points, 10 boards, and five blocks for UCLA.

“I was pretty mad, didn’t like how that first half happened,” Betts said. “I could have been a lot more effective. A game like this you got to take care yourself out of your head. This is the Elite Eight and my senior season is on the line, so got to wake up a little bit.”

Taina Mair scored 21 for Duke, which is guided by former Tennessee star Kara Lawson, also in charge of the USA women through the current Olympic cycle.

The Bruins, who were down eight at the half, in the third bolted from a 45-41 deficit in the third on a 10-2 run going in front 47-45 on a 3-pointer from Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens.

“They’re a really good team,” Mair said. They’re super experienced.

“When they came out, we just didn’t have a response to it. So credit to them for going into the locker room and making the correct changes to be able to win the game. But they played a great second half.”

Back in Texas, Auriemma, the winningest combined men’s and women’s coach in the NCAA, who wore a cowboy hat and did a short dance on the court after the win, said this group is the proudest he’s been over taking all those superstar teams to the Final Four.

“This group, they don’t have that kind of swagger, trash-talking kind of mentality,” he said. “It’s not the kind of team that I’ve had in the past that has gone this far undefeated. It’s not. They don’t have that kind of mentality off the court, on the court. They are just a bunch of really nice kids that play hard for each other.”

Sarah Strong had 21 points in the Huskies’ 54th straight victory while freshman Blanca Quinonez scored 20 off the bench, and Azzi Fudd had 13 points, four assists, and three steals.

“He’s usually all serious or like anxious, grumpy,” Strong said. “Just seeing him let loose and be his true self was really good.”

“He doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean,” Fudd said. “He doesn’t give out compliments too often, depending on who you are. So, to hear him say that, it does mean a lot, and we feel the same way. We love this team so much.”

Hidalgo had 22 points, 11 boards, and her three steals in the ninth NCAA tournament meeting between the Irish and the Huskies extended her season record to 202 and single tourney mark to 29.

“They’re very, very physical,” said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, who also played for the Irish against the Huskies under Hall of Famer and Saint Joseph’s grad Muffet McGraw. “They try to take away every option that you have. They are very disciplined. They play well together, and they just play hard.”

The Final Four will be set after Monday’s ESPN doubleheader, Texas (34-3) meets Michigan (28-6) in Fort Worth Region 3 at 7 p.m., the winner meeting UCLA in one of Friday’s national semifinals, while three-seed TCU (32-5) at 9 p.m. meets one seed South Carolina (34-3), the winner meeting UConn.

Should that semifinal be Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks and UConn, it would be the rematch of last season’s lopsided win by the Huskies in the championship in Tampa, Florida.

The Other Two Tourneys

The title game in the three-year old WBIT, also run by the NCAA, will be set Monday afternoon after a doubleheader on ESPNU in Wichita, Kansas, while later the Fantastic Four of the long running WNIT will be set following three games at separate sites.

The Ivy League nearly had two teams still alive in the WBIT field, but Harvard fell 64-61 at Wisconsin in overtime.

Columbia (23-8), however, won 74-68 at California (21-15) as Perri Page scored 24 points, Ivy player of the year Riley Weiss collected 22 points and Mia Broom scored 17 sending the Lions into Monday’s 2:30 p.m. contest against Wisconsin (16-17) at the Charles Koch Arena.

Several years ago in 2023, Columbia, prior to the WBIT, in a larger field advanced to the WNIT title game.

 In the other game at 5 p.m., BYU (25-11), the only No. 1 seed to advanced this far, will face Kansas (22-13), pitting two Big 12 teams against each other.

On Sunday, in one of Great Eight games in the WNIT, South Dakota (26-9) at home in Vermillion won 65-56 over Montana State (27-8) as Molly Joyce scored 31 points.

On Monday, the three other NIT games will air on ESPN+.

AT 6 p.m., Saint Joseph’s former standout and assistant coach Katie Kuester will guide Army (26-7) in Huntingdon, W.Va. against host Marshall (25-9), the furthest a Patriot League team has advanced in the WNIT.

At 7:30 p.m., George Washington (18-17) is at Illinois State (22-13) at Normal, while at 8 p.m., Cleveland State (26-9) is at Arkansas State (26-9) in Jonesboro. 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s Daily March Madness Report: 1-Seed UConn Meets 6-Seed Notre Dame While 1-Seed UCLA Faces 3-seed Duke for Final Four Trips to Phoenix; 1-Seed Texas, 2-Seed Michigan, 1-Seed South Carolina, 3-Seed TCU Advance to Elite Eight

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

The Sweet 16 that has been reduced to the Elite Eight has all four No. 1 seeds still intact as the ticket punching for the Final Four this weekend in Phoenix begins Sunday afternoon with a pair of games on ABC in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif., and then concludes Monday night in the same cities on ESPN.

Defending national champion UConn (37-0), the overall No. 1 seed which has been perfect 53 straight games beyond prior to claiming its 12th title in Tampa over South Carolina last April, will not have Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma against his former star Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt on the other bench in the 1 p.m. contest at Dickies Arena.

Instead, it will be in an encore performance for the Region 1 title game ticket against sixth seed Notre Dame (25-10), which eliminated the second-seeded Commodores 67-64 on Friday in a dazzling game from South Jersey’s Hanna Hidalgo of Merchantville with a triple-double of 31 points, 11 rebounds, and ten steals and the game-winner.

She also passed Lamar’s Chastadie Barrs’ NCAA record of 192 season steals set in 2018-19 and is one theft short of being the first with 200.

The two teams met during the regular season on UConn’s campus with the Huskies winning 85-47, the most lopsided outcome in the in what will be a 57-game series including meetings in the Big East and Final Four, but this will be the first in nine March Madness meetings at the Elite Eight, the Irish’s furthest advance since 2019.

UConn won its game Friday easily beating fourth-seeded North Carolina 63-42 as Sarah Strong scored 21 points with 10 boards to end the Tar Heels’ season at 28-8.

In Sunday’s other game at 3 p.m. at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, UCLA (34-1), the second overall No.1 seed faces third-seed Duke (27-8), which had Friday’s most dramatic win as the Blue Devils, coached by former Tennessee star Kara Lawson, who will guide the 2028 USA Olympians, gave up a lead on second—seeded LSU (29-5) and then came back to win on Ashton Jackson’s 3-pointer just ahead of regulation time ending.

Tania Mair and Toby Fournier each scored 22 points for Duke, and Jackson collected 21 points.

UCLA had an easy time winning 80-56 over fourth-seeded Minnesota (24-9) as Kiki Rice scored 21 points and Lauren Betts had 16 points and five blocks.

On Saturday out West, South Carolina (34-3) avenged its SEC season loss to Oklahoma (26-8), Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks winning 94-68 as Ta’Niya Latson scored 28 points, while TCU (32-5) ended 10th-seeded Virginia’s Cinderella run 79-69 as Marta Suarez, who previously played for Tennessee and California, scored 33 points with 10 rebounds and Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles scored 28.

TCU and South Carolina will meet Monday night in Sacramento.

 The Fort Worth Saturday games saw Texas (34-3), the other No. 1 seed, and three overall, win 76-54 over SEC rival Kentucky as Rori Harmon had 11 points, seven assists, seven rebounds, and six steals, while Jordan Lee scored 18, and Madison Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Second seed Michigan (28-6) advanced to Monday’s game against Texas by cruising 71-52 over Louisville riding a 17-0 eruption in the third quarter. Olivia Olson scored 19 for the Wolverines and Syla Swords scored 16.

Michigan also overcame an early deficit by going on a 16-0 spurt in the second period.

The four No. 1 seeds were in last season’s Final Four, although UConn was a two seed upsetting Southern Cal, which had just lost national player of the year JuJu Watkins.

 

 

 

Guru Report: Former Villanova Great Adrianna Hahn Joins Head Coaching Ranks

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

Here’s press release news out of Wilmington University

NEWARK, Del. - Wilmington University and its athletics department have appointed Adrianna Hahn as head coach of women's basketball.

"We are excited about the energy, expertise and commitment to player development that Coach Hahn brings to our program," says Director of Athletics Dr. Stefanie Whitby. "Her passion for the game and dedication to helping athletes reach their full potential make her a valuable addition to our community."

A Delaware native, Hahn was a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year at Ursuline Academy, leading her team to two DIAA State Championships. At Villanova University, she became the program's all-time leader in 3-point field goals made, with 315, and the Big East career leader in conference 3-point field goals made, with 169 in conference games. She established herself as one of the most accomplished shooters in Villanova and Big East history. She graduated as the No. 7 scorer in Villanova history, with 1,503 career points.

Beyond her playing career, Hahn has coached at the high school level and brings a strong background in skills training and basketball operations. She served as a player development coach for the Delaware Blue Coats, working with professional players and coaches and contributing to practices, drills, and individualized instruction. Hahn also served in a similar role with BPG Sports as director of basketball operations.

As the owner of Hahn Hoops, she has dedicated her career to developing athletes from the youth level to the professional ranks, with an emphasis on skill development, basketball IQ, confidence, and leadership on and off the court.

"I'm excited to represent my hometown of Wilmington and take on the opportunity to lead this program," Hahn says. "At Villanova, there's a saying: 'Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.' Coming to Wilmington University, where teams also compete as Wildcats, makes this role feel especially meaningful to me. I want to bring that same sense of pride to WilmU and build a program that our students, alumni and community can rally around. Women's basketball is gaining momentum, and I want Wilmington University and our community to be part of that excitement. I'm committed to building a program that Wilmington and the state can take pride in."

Hahn earned a bachelor's in Communications (2018) and a postgraduate certificate in Digital Media (2019), both from Villanova University.

The Guru’s Daily March Madness Report: Army Shoots La Salle Out of WNIT Enhancing Kuester WBCA Maggie Dixon Candidacy; Princeton’s Berube Northwestern Bound

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopgurux

WEST POINT, N.Y. – After getting swept in two meetings with Saint Joseph’s this past season, La Salle was victimized by more Hawks DNA here at the United States Military Academy Wednesday night at Cristl Arena where a local notable from Media, Pa., continued to make good, this time at the Explorers’ expense as first-year coach Katie Kuester guided Army to a 74-63 victory making the Black Knights (26-7) the first Patriot League team to advance to the Great Eight of the WNIT.

From the outset of the Super 16 round, Army went through La Salle (19-14) like a Sherman tank, firing away to a 25-13 lead after a quarter and going up by as many as 26 points before the Explorers’ continuing fight brought the differential to a respectable 11 points at the finish.

The winners doubled the opposition’s 3-point output 10-5 and overall displayed a 56.3% target efficiency from the field compared to the blanks accounting for La Salle’s 37.9%.

So ended the Explorers’ joy from Monday night in which they beat Binghamton back home in the John E. Glaser Arena in Philadelphia giving coach Mountain MacGillivray his 100th victory in La Salle’s first post-season appearance since 1992 and post season victory since a 1989 NCAA dispatch of UConn two years before the Huskies made their Final Four debut in New Orleans.

There were positives in the loss with a career performance of game highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds from Kiara Williams, while Ashleigh Connor scored 19 with four steals, and Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year Aryss Macktoon had three assists and five thefts finishing with a program best 105 thefts, 11th nationally.

All of which had MacGillivray upbeat over the future with all the key pieces back if none enter the portal.

“Hats off to Army, Katie’s doing great, they had their best night, we weren’t our very best, but we had no practice yesterday, but couldn’t be more proud of what they did,” he said.

“They didn’t quit. We looked like we were going to lose by 40 at one point, Army didn’t miss a shot. We kept fighting, that’s been us all year, hopefully we set the tone for the future. I’d love to see a lot of these young ladies back and we’re excited about the kids coming in.”

La Salle was the last of the 13 Guru D-1 locals ending their seasons.

Army is the place where in 2006 a promising former DePaul assistant, Maggie Dixon, the sister of then Pitt men’s coach Jamie Dixon, guided the Black Knights to their first Patriot League title and NCAA appearance, was carried off the floor by the cadets and sadly a week later succumbed to an undetected heart defect while taking a morning run here at the academy.

Each year the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association presents the Maggie Dixon Award to the top rookie head coach and ironically, Kuester, a former Saint Joseph’s star who spent the last decade at her alma mater on Cindy Griffin’s staff, has frontrunner all over her resume which would be sweet being from Army.

The daughter of longtime NBA coach John Kuester, she already has the most wins by a first-year Army coach.

The WBCA awards committee will deliberate next week at the Women’s Final Four in Phoenix and announce its list of winners.

Army tied Holy Cross for second behind preseason favorite Navy with Holy Cross, whose roster has Griffin’s daughter Hannah and Plymouth Whitemarsh grad Kaitlyn Flanagan, beating Army and Lehigh for the NCAA automatic qualifier.

The Knights after a long idle stretch prior to Sunday’s contest rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat NJIT 59-52 at home before showing a balanced effort against La Salle.

Fiona Hastick, who missed the non-conference part of the schedule rehabbing from a preseason ankle injury, had her best game with 13 points while Reese Ericson scored 19 points, and Kya Smth and Camryn Tade each scored 16 points.

Brooke and Taylor Wilson are Archbishop Carroll grads.

Army had only one postseason victory prior to this year.

The teams traded runs in the final period, Army at 10-0 countered by La Salle at 9-0 in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

“I think our start, we really emphasized having a big start tonight,” Kuester said. “I think that first quarter showed a lot. We just kept coming at them.

“I thought we had a great start, great middle, maybe a shaky end, but when you have those two portions so heavily in our favor, you're allowed for lapses here and there.

 “Having that cushion is huge. So proud of Fiona Hastick. It's been a long time coming for her to try and get her legs under her and get a feel for the game, especially learning a new system offensively and defensively... Just proud of our team collectively and what we showed,” Kuester said.

The Carousal Spins

The local number reached four at the Division I level Wednesday with news that Princeton’s Carla Berube is heading to Northwestern, succeeding retiring Father Judge grad Joe McKeown, with speculation that Tigers alum Addie Micir at Lehigh could be the successor.

Lafayette announced Monday Kia Damon-Olson is being let go after nine seasons, making it possible La Salle assistant Chris Day could land at either Patriot school.

Rutgers last week introduced former LSU assistant Gary Redus II while earlier this week Penn State introduced former standout Tanisha Wright.

WBIT Elite Eight

The matchups Thursday night that will determine who finishes at Wichita, all on ESPN+, San Diego State at Kansas, and Harvard at Wisconsin, 7:30 p.m., Stanford at BYU, 9 p.m., and Columbia at California, 10 p.m.

BYU is the only No. 1 seed still in the field.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s Daily March Madness Report: Villanova Readies for Texas Tech; Drexel Melts Again in WNIT; La Salle Ends Three Decade Postseason Drought; NCAA Starts Four Days Wide Coverage

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

Now that the women’s First Four has been halved to the surviving four, the big show gets under way across the nation but for the Philly locals it will be at day-long wait in Baton Rouge, La., on the campus of two-seed LSU (27-5) until 10-seed Villanova (25-7) plays 7-seed Texas Tech (25-7) at 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU) which will come after the host Tigers play 15-seed Jacksonville (24-8) at 6 p.m. (ESPN).

Coaches never like to look ahead until their next game if one looks back to the Wildcats’ last appearance in 2023 in the NCAA, which was in the Sweet 16 which became superstar Maddy Siegriest’s last game for ‘Nova, coach Denise Dillon’s squad that lost to underseed Miami which had upset Indiana was a game away from meeting LSU in Greenville, S.C.

In the loss to the Hurricanes the Wildcats made a big rally to briefly draw even and then fade at the finish.

Most people are calling for Villanova to pull one of the opening day upsets against a Texas Tech squad coming off a long dry spell of NCAA appearances.

The Red Raiders are coached by Krista Gerlich, a former Texas Tech teammate of Sheryl Swoopes on the 1993 national champions making it two coaches at their alma maters against each other while LSU hall of fame coach Kim Mulkey is in her home state where as a player she was on Louisiana Tech’s national champions.

We’ll be back to look at the key games for Friday in the NCAA, but a lot happening involving locals and others that occurred Wednesday and especially in the WBIT, which has no local teams, and the WNIT, which saw sadness strike Drexel and Lehigh also eliminated.

Dragons Hearts Broken Again While La Salle has WNIT Hosting Duties Monday

Just one day before a week ago in Drexel’s semifinal loss in overtime in the CAA semifinals after a turnover in the closing seconds of regulation cost a shot in the conference title, where coach Amy Mallon’s team (21-11) would still have been an underdog to eventual champion Charleston, the only debut team in this year’s NCAA field, it was nightmare city déjà vu in a WNIT opener loss 69-67 in overtime at St. Bonaventure (17-15)  in upstate New York Thursday night.

Holding a 50-42 lead going into the final period and a 10-point lead at one stretch of the second half, the Bonnies methodically caught the Dragons at 59 all with 2:22 left in regulation and neither team was able to win it or score before needing an extra minute.

The home team was able to survive Drexel’s 40-20 domination in the paint throughout ultimately with a near perfect 12-13 on the line to the Dragons’ mere 2-4.

After Laine McGurk, who had 19 points, tied it with her fifth 3-pointer with 13 seconds left it came down to the Bonnies’ Aaliyah Parker, who had all her 13 points in the second half along with 10 boards for the game, driving the lane in a crowd with nine seconds left for the game winning layup before Amaris Baker tried to get it back with a three at the buzzer that went off the rim for the final shot of her Drexel career.

Laycee Drake had a game-high 24 points for St. Bonaventure.

“Drexel is one of the most consistent mid major programs in the country,” said Saint Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley, on his second tour of duty with the program. “I have so much respect for how they do things. We did what we needed to do.”

The outcome ruined a career night off the bench for Spaniard Julia Garcia Roig, a junior out of Barcelona who had 14 points and completing her first double double with 10 assists while her seven makes were a personal best and she pulled four boards.

St. Bonnies moves to the second round 7:30 p.m. Monday night at Middle Tennessee, whose longtime legendary coach Rick Insell 21 years at his alma mater just announced his retirement to be followed by his son and associate head coach Matt.

Longtime Quinnipiac coach Tricia Sacca Fabri, a native of Delran in South Jersey, also announced her retirement after tying Fairfield for first in the MAAC and losing to the Stags in the championship.

Thursday night the Bobcats (27-6) in a WBIT opener won 71-64 at Atlantic 10 co-champion George Mason (23-10) in Fairfax, Va., and will play Sunday at 5 p.m. (ESPN2) at sector No. 2 seed Stanford (20-13), which advanced at home in Ma a narrow 80-76 win in Maples Pavilion over LMU (21-10).

Two of the four first out NCAA No. 1 seeds in the WBIT were upset, Utah (19-13), which was unable to host, fell 72-58 to unseeded Eastern Kentucky (24-8) while Texas A&M (14-13) at home in College Station in Reed Arena 68-48 to unseeded McNeese (28-5), the regular season Southland champion.

Missouri (17-16), a four seed under former Tennessee coach Kellie Harper, won 67-57 at Seton Hall (19-13).

Both Ivy teams won, Columbia (20-8) demolished its nearby New York metro neighbor Saint John’s 74-26 at home in Levien Gym led by Ivy player of the year Riley Weiss with 24 points to end the Red Storm season at (22-12) while the Lions Sunday play at No. 1 seed North Dakota (29-5) at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

No. 4 seed Harvard (19-11) won 73-52 at home in Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass., over Patriot League regular season champion Navy (22-9) and Sunday will host Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

Back in the WNIT La Salle, in postseason play for the first time in over three decades since 1992, will host Binghamton at 6 p.m. in the John E. Glaser Arena after the Explorers’ opponent advanced with an 81-60 victory over Mercyhurst.

That winner will meet Sunday’s winner at 2 p.m. between NJIT and host Army, under first-year coach Katie Kuester, a former Saint Joseph’s star and assistant coach under Cindy Griffin.

Lehigh (17-15) lost its WNIT opener 72-62 at Monmouth (21-11), the winners moving Sunday at 7 p.m. to Cleveland State.

Belle Bramer, was 8-14 from the field scoring 19 points for the season-ending Nountain Hawks.

On Wednesday, Richmond’s NCAA appearance lasted shorter than last season, losing 75-56 in a First Four game to Nebraska (19-12) led by Britt Prince with 22 points, shooting 10-14 from the field while Broomall’s Maggie Doogan, the A-10 olayer of the year, shot 8-13 from the field for 24 points with 10 boards in her final game for the Spiders (26-8).

The Huskers’ 17-0 start of the third quarter took care of business moving them to Friday’s game against six seed Baylor.

The other three games had Missouri State win 85-75 over Stephen F. Austin; Southern win 65-53 over Samford; and Virginia edge Arizona State 57-55 as Kymora Johnson scored 17 for the Cavaliers (20-11) and the go-ahead score with a three-pointer with 30.6 seconds left against the Sun Devils (24-11).

Virginia last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2018 while Arizona State last appeared a year later.

Looking Ahead NCAA Weekend Highlights

On Friday, at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2), WCC champion Gonzaga, a 12 seed meets 5 seed Ole Miss while Missouri State, under former Notre Dame star Beth Cunningham, who played for the Philadelphia Rage in the ABL, meets Texas at 4 p.m. (ESPN), Michigan hosts Holy Cross, featuring area players Kaitlyn Flagan and Hannah Griffin at 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2) and at 8 p.m. (ESPN) No.10 Tennessee, entering in a seven-game losing streak plays No. 7 N.C. State.

On Saturday, overall No. 1 snd unbeaten Connecticut begins play at 3 p.m. on ABC, while Ivy champ and No. 9 Princeton plays No. 8 Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2., Fairfield plays Notre Dame at 2 p.m. on ESPN, James Madison plays Kentucky at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU, Rhode Island plays Alabama at 2:30 p.m. (ESPNews).