Sophomores shine for Michigan and Louisville in women's Sweet 16, plus an SEC rematch in Fort Worth

“Youth is wonderful because they don’t sometimes realize what they’re really doing, what they’re playing and what this means to be one of 16 teams left,” said coach Jeff Walz, who has Louisville in its 13th Sweet 16 after early exits the past two NCAA Tournaments.

The game with a bunch of second-year players in the Fort Worth Regional 3 semifinals on Saturday will be followed by a Southeastern Conference rematch between top seed Texas (33-3) and Kentucky (25-10). The Longhorns won 64-53 on Feb. 9.

Michigan sophomore guards Olivia Olson, Mila Holloway and Syla Swords all made their college debuts in the 2024-25 season opener against then-defending national champion South Carolina in a 68-62 loss. They won a first-round NCAA game last season, were the Big Ten regular-season runner-up behind No. 1 seed UCLA this year and are now trying to get the Wolverines (27-6) to their second Elite Eight.

“We’re just really using our experience as fuel to keep going and accomplish our goals. We accomplished our goal of being able to host, and I think we’re taking great strides," said Olson, the leading scorer at 19.2 points a game, ahead of Swords (14.8) and Holloway (12.6). "It’s been really cool to just be sophomores, but we don’t want to just be known as sophomores. We want to make it as far as we can.”

The Wolverines are 12-3 since a 72-69 loss to Sweet 16 team Vanderbilt on Jan. 19, with the only losses in that span being 69-66 to UCLA and two by double digits to Iowa.

Texas and Kentucky meet again

This is the second year in a row that Texas is facing an SEC team in the Sweet 16, after beating Tennessee last March on its way to the Final Four.

Aside from back-to-back road losses at Sweet 16 teams LSU and South Carolina in mid-January, the Longhorns' other loss was 86-70 at Vanderbilt three days after beating Kentucky. Their 10-game winning streak since includes the SEC Tournament championship.

“To replace three starters from our Final Four team a year ago and for them to play the way they’ve played, responded this year during just a little bit of tough times, they’ve played really well most of the year. ... They have just played really, really well here the last month,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “They are tough. They have played the game the right way.”

Kenny Brooks has completely turned over Kentucky's roster in two seasons since taking the job.

The Wildcats' loss in Austin was their fifth in six games, but they are in their first Sweet 16 in 10 seasons after going 7-3 since. They lost 81-79 at Vandy and twice to South Carolina.

“Obviously I think he's a great coach,” said 6-foot-5 junior center Clara Strack, who came with Brooks from Virginia Tech. “He does a good job at getting a lot out of his players and then being able to, like, get us all to play together. We haven’t all played together for a long time, so I think (he's been) able to build that chemistry with the team and then able to get a lot out of us.”

Cards spread their scoring

Six different Louisville players have had 20-point games this season. Their top seven scorers average between 8.2 and 11.6 points per game, and all are capable 3-pointer shooters.

“That’s our foundation. Like, we always are dangerous,” said forward Laura Ziegler, the grad transfer from Saint Joseph’s who averages 11.2 points.

“It’s a relief in a sense. If I don’t have it going that night, my shot is not falling, my job is to get into the paint and get it to somebody who is scoring,” Roberts said. “There’s not been a day where all of us, all five of us, have been clicking, but there also hasn’t been a day where none of us are clicking.”

Back in Fort Worth (and near Dallas)

Texas played a regular-season game at Dickies Arena on Dec. 14, when All-America forward Madison Booker had 27 points in an 89-54 win over Baylor in a top-15 matchup just under 200 miles from their campus.

“We knew that was a possibility to be here towards the end of the year,” sophomore guard Jordan Lee said. “There’s a good advantage of having familiarity in being on the court. ... We're excited to be here, and especially in the state of Texas.”

Louisville's NCAA Tournament run last season ended in Fort Worth, on TCU's campus only about 3 miles away, in a second-round game against the Horned Frogs.

Schaeffer and Kenny Brooks took their previous teams to Final Fours played about 35 miles away at the home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.

Schaeffer was Mississippi State's coach in 2017 when the Bulldogs ended UConn's 111-game winning streak in the national semifinals in Dallas, then lost to South Carolina. Brooks' team at Virginia Tech lost in the 2023 semifinals to eventual national champion LSU.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness