March Madness: How to watch the women's Sweet 16 and who's now favored to win the NCAA Tournament

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March Madness: How to watch the women's Sweet 16 and who's now favored to win the NCAA Tournament

2025-03-26 06:04 Last Updated At：06:11

The women's NCAA Tournament has reached the Sweet 16.

Of the 16 teams remaining, 15 are members of Power Four conferences and other is perennial juggernaut UConn, raising questions about whether the tournament needs expansion. The big news over the weekend was the season-ending injury to Southern California's JuJu Watkins, costing the tournament one of its brightest stars and dropping the Trojans out of the betting favorites to win it all.

There are plenty of stars left, from Paige Bueckers of UConn to Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and Madison Booker of Texas.

3 seed North Carolina (29-7) vs. 2 seed Duke (28-7), Friday. There is nothing like a conference rivalry game and these two ACC teams know each other well, splitting their two regular-season meetings. The two have never met in the women's NCAA Tournament. All three schools in North Carolina’s Triangle region — UNC, Duke and N.C. State — reached the Sweet 16 together for the first time since 2007.

3 seed LSU (30-5) vs. 2 seed N.C. State (28-6), Friday. A clash of wills with power forwards and athleticism all over the court. The Tigers got at least 20 points from three players, led by Mikaylah Williams, in their second-round win over Florida State. N.C. State made an NCAA Tournament program-record 15 shots from 3-point range in its last game.

3 seed Notre Dame (28-5) vs. 2 seed TCU (33-3), Saturday. Notre Dame's spectacular guards against TCU's formidable duo of Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince, who have the Horned Frogs in their first Sweet 16.

Every game of the women’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule — on ESPN's networks and streaming services with select games on ABC.

The top four betting favorites as Sweet 16 week arrives are (in order): UConn, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

There were 31 automatic bids that went to conference champions and they were combined with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. Selection Sunday unveiled the bracket matchups.

First- and second-round games concluded Monday on campuses across the country. Sweet 16 weekend (March 28-31) put games at two sites once again: Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington.

The Final Four is in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, April 4, with the championship game on Sunday, April 6. A year ago, the championship game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Myanmar's earthquake death toll jumps to nearly 700 as more bodies recovered from the rubble

2025-03-29 13:00 Last Updated At：13:11

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar jumped to nearly 700 on Saturday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the scores of buildings that collapsed when it struck near the country's second-largest city.

State-run television MRTV reported that 694 people have now been found dead and another 1,670 injured, with 68 others missing, according to a statement from the military-led government. The same figures were also reported by the independent news site The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar is in the throes of a prolonged and bloody civil war, which is already responsible for a massive humanitarian crisis. It makes movement around the country both difficult and dangerous, complicating relief efforts and raising fears that the death toll could still rise precipitously.

The earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks including one measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude. It sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads, caused bridges to collapse and burst a dam.

The head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said in a rare television broadcast Friday that the death toll was expected to rise as he reported an initial 144 people found dead.

In neighboring Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, home to some 17 million people — many of whom live in high-rise buildings — and other parts of the country.

Bangkok city authorities said so far six people have been found dead, 26 injured and 47 are still missing, most from a construction site near the capital's popular Chatuchak market.

When the quake hit, the 33-story high-rise being built by a Chinese firm for the Thai government wobbled, then came crashing to the ground in a massive plume of dust that sent people screaming and fleeing from the scene.

On Saturday, more heavy equipment was brought in to move the tons of rubble, but hope was fading among friends and family members of the missing that they would be found alive.

“I was praying that that they had survived but when I got here and saw the ruin — where could they be? In which corner? Are they still alive? I am still praying that all six are alive,” said 45-year-old Naruemol Thonglek, sobbing as she awaited news about her partner, who is from Myanmar, and five friends who worked at the site.

“I cannot accept this. When I see this I can’t accept this. A close friend of mine is in there, too,” she said.

Waenphet Panta said she hadn't heard from her daughter Kanlayanee since a phone call about an hour before the quake. A friend told her Kanlayanee had been working high on the building on Friday.

“I am praying my daughter is safe, that she has survived and that she’s at the hospital,” she said, Kanlayanee’s father sitting beside her.

Myanmar’s government said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas. In a country where prior governments sometimes have been slow to accept foreign aid, Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar was ready to accept assistance.

A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia’s emergencies ministry dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.

India sent a search and rescue team and a medical team as well as provisions, while Malaysia’s foreign ministry said the country will send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.

The United Nations allocated $5 million to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. was going to help with the response, but some experts were concerned about this effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance.

The Trump administration's cuts to the United States Agency for International Development have already forced the United Nations and non-governmental organization to cut many programs in Myanmar.

AP writers Jerry Harmer and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.