2026 March Insanity: 1 Factor To Know About Each Girls's NCAA Event Staff

[ad_1] Which groups make it out of the primary weekend? Which of them advance to the Closing 4, and who will win all of it?

The sector of 68 is ready, we all know which groups will play within the 2026 NCAA Girls’s Basketball Event and which area of the Huge Dance they are going to be taking part in in. What you would possibly want some assist with nonetheless, although, is figuring out simply who these groups are.

Right here is one key factor to find out about all 68 groups, from those dealing with off within the First 4 to the mid-major convention champions to the top-line seeds that dominate school basketball.

Alabama: The Crimson Tide use their dimension to common 4.67 blocks per sport — 9 of the gamers to select up minutes this yr are a minimum of six ft tall, and 5 of these gamers are 6-foot-3 and up. Senior guard Jessica Timmons led the way in which in a breakout marketing campaign with 16.4 factors.

Arizona State: The Solar Devils are one other top-25 Huge 12 protection that struggles to attain, particularly from past the arc — if they'll preserve opponents from hitting 3s, they are often harmful.

Baylor: Like so many Huge 12 groups, Baylor’s protection is its power. The Bears rank 14th within the nation in defensive score (72.87 factors allowed per 100 possessions), with senior guard Bella Fontleroy the standout defender: She’s sixth within the Huge 12 in defensive score and second in Defensive Plus/Minus.

California Baptist: The Lancers have 5 gamers averaging between 10.0 and 15.1 factors per sport, however they could discover it harder to attain towards event competitors — California Baptist’s adjusted offensive score ranks 118th.

The Huge 12 was all about large protection in 2025-2026. (Picture by Carolina Escobedo/Baylor Athletics)

Clemson: In her second yr with Clemson, senior guard Mia Moore noticed important boosts to scoring and assists and a rebound to her taking pictures share. The Tigers will want her at her finest.

Charleston: Junior guards — and twins — Taryn Barbot and Taylor Barbot are the center of the offense: Taryn averaged 19.5 factors with 5.3 rebounds and three.4 assists, whereas Taylor is at 11.2, 4.1 and a 6.0.

Colorado: The Buffaloes can't get right into a battle from deep and are available out forward — Colorado ranked 337th in made 3-pointers. It was twenty fifth in defensive score, nonetheless, so it hasn’t had that downside a lot.

Colorado State: A trio of guards, 5-foot-9 and beneath, powers the Rams: Lexus Bargesser, Brooke Carlson and Kloe Froebe are all double-digit scorers who decide up rebounds and drop dimes.

Duke: The Blue Devils discovered their footing in convention play, going 16-2 in a troublesome ACC whereas ending seventh within the nation in School Basketball Reference's adjusted Internet Ranking.

Fairfield: Nobody in D-I sank extra 3-pointers than the Stags, which tore by means of the MAAC with 364 treys on 37% taking pictures. Juniors Kaety L’Amoreaux (17.6 factors) and Meghan Andersen (16.0) are the center of the offense.

Fairleigh Dickinson: FDU sophomore guard is second on the workforce in factors per sport at 12.1, behind one other sophomore guard, Ava Renninger (12.7). McDonald, although, tied for fifth in D-I with 96 3-pointers.

Georgia: What the Woman Bulldogs lack in depth they make up for by being top-heavy: Ahead Mia Woolfolk scores 13.4 per sport, whereas guards Trinity Turner (11.1), Rylie Theuerkauf (11.5) and Dani Carnegie (18.1 factors) energy the whole offensive assault. And nicely, too: Georgia is thirty third in offensive score.

Gonzaga: Freshman ahead Lauren Whittaker is a game-changing monster, averaging a double-double for the season (19.4 factors and 10.2 rebounds) whereas main the West Coast Convention in FG% (55.3%), 2P% (60.2%) and efficient FG% (59.2%).

Freshman Lauren Whittaker was a pressure to be reckoned with in WCC play. (Picture by Oliver McKenna/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos)

Inexperienced Bay: The Phoenix have posted a successful season in 47-straight campaigns, behind solely Tennessee; junior forward-center Jenna Guyer (15.1 factors, 6.3 rebounds, fourth in Horizon in PER) is the first driver of that streak within the current.

Excessive Level: Junior ahead Macy Spencer led the Huge South with 18.4 factors per sport, and she or he’s tied for fifth in D-I with 96 3-pointers this season.

Holy Cross: Only one Holy Cross participant managed double-digit scoring this yr — senior ahead Meg Calahan, at 15.3 factors. The Crusaders are one other tourney workforce with a unfavorable Internet Ranking.

Howard: Senior ahead Zennia Thomas led the MEAC with 15.2 factors per sport and eight.0 rebounds; even along with her round, the Bison have a unfavorable Internet Ranking (-3.24).

Idaho: The Vandals are dancing for the primary time since 2019; they're twenty fifth in factors per sport, and third amongst tourney groups in rebounds per sport (46.9).

Illinois: The Combating Illini do loads proper, however rebounds are an issue — they're within the bottom-110 groups in rebounds per sport, however fortunately are additionally twenty sixth in taking pictures share as a workforce.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes had been routed by UCLA, certain, however the trio of sophomore middle Ava Heiden, senior ahead Hannah Stuelke and sophomore guard Chazadi Wright — 43.1 factors, 18.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists mixed per sport — make them harmful towards anybody on the correct night time.

Iowa State: Dropping Addy Brown triggered the Cyclones to break down for an prolonged interval, however the junior ahead is again — she’s a triple-threat that opens up the ground for junior guard Jada Williams, pulls down rebounds and feeds probably the greatest scorers within the nation, Audi Crooks, within the paint.

Jacksonville: Just one workforce on this yr’s discipline depends extra on free throws than the Dolphins, which common 18.8 on 25.8 journeys to the stripe per sport.

JMU: Seniors Peyton McDaniel and Ashanti Barnes-Williams are a harmful duo. Each 6-footers, McDaniel averages 18.9 factors and seven.5 rebounds, whereas Barnes-Williams is at 14.9 factors and 9.1 boards.

Kentucky: Junior middle Clara Strack is a star. She’s 6-foot-5 and averaging 17.1 factors per sport and 10.0 rebounds for a double-double, and during the last month of the season (11 video games), she bumped that to twenty.3 factors.

Clara Strack turned it on over the past month of the season. (Picture by Dylan Buell/Getty Photos)

LSU: The Woman Tigers had been one in every of two groups to attain greater than 3,000 factors this season, and first within the nation. Firstly, it was from beating up on Quad 4 groups, however LSU greater than proved itself in SEC play.

Louisville: The Cardinals had been overshadowed by elite groups and sharing the ACC with Duke, however Louisville nonetheless completed tenth in Internet Ranking with the eighth-ranked offensive score. Whereas there isn't any single elite scorer, the Cardinals boast depth with seven gamers with between 8.3 and 11.4 factors per sport.

Maryland: The Terps are one of many higher rebounding groups within the event, and rank twelfth within the nation in offensive boards. It’s not as a result of Maryland is consistently lacking, both: the Terrapins are twenty fifth in FG%, however assault for second-chance factors, anyway.

Miami (Ohio): The RedHawks are led by their protection, which ranks 62nd in defensive score at 84.12 factors per 100 possessions. Junior ahead Amber Tretter leads with 14.5 factors per sport and eight.2 rebounds.

Michigan: Michigan performs exhausting and elevates its video games towards its hardest opponents, like UCLA and UConn. The Wolverines additionally are inclined to lose management of the ball and go ice chilly past the arc too often, however its assortment of proficient sophomores makes it a troublesome out.

Michigan State: The Spartans have a harmful offense, led by senior ahead Grace VanSlooten and sophomore guard Kennedy Blair. VanSlooten is 6-foot-3, so 6.6 rebounds and 15.0 factors doesn’t shock, however Blair is simply 5-9 and leads the workforce with 7.1 boards per sport, with 14.4 factors and 5.4 assists, too.

Minnesota: The Golden Gophers have seemed like a special workforce since consecutive losses to UCLA and then-ranked Washington. Minnesota went 10-2 over its final 12, scoring Ws towards plenty of tourney groups and ending up within the prime 16 in seeds.

Missouri State: Kaemyn Bekemeier took the leap this yr — the junior guard added practically six factors per sport, to a Convention USA-leading 17.4, and added 2.5 extra rebounds (8.2) as nicely.

Murray State: The Racers have the Forty fifth-best adjusted offensive score, and junior guard Halli Poock is at its middle. Whereas simply 5-foot-4, Poock averaged 22.1 factors per sport — simply outdoors the D-I prime 10 — and set the Missouri Valley report for complete factors in a season.

NC State: Junior ahead Khamil Pierre ranks fourth in D-I with 12 rebounds per sport, powering the Wolfpack to sixth within the nation as a workforce and top-five amongst tourney groups.

Nebraska: The Huskers scored 117.05 factors per 100 possessions, good for the Eleventh-best adjusted Offensive Ranking within the nation. Sophomore guard Britt Prince is the star, with 17.4 factors, 4.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Notre Dame: With Olivia Miles transferring to TCU and three different gamers transferring on to the WNBA, the Combating Irish grew to become junior guard Hannah Hidalgo’s, and she or he responded with 25.2 factors, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and a league-leading 5.4 steals per sport.

Hannah Hidalgo helped flip Notre Dame round after a troublesome mid-season stoop. (Picture by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Photos)

Ohio State: Sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge reached that subsequent degree in 2025-2026, scoring 22.8 factors per sport (seventh in D-I) with 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Sophomore middle Elsa Lemmila turned up her sport in mid-January, averaging 11.6 factors, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a pair of.6 blocks over her last 16 video games.

Oklahoma: Senior ahead Raegan Beers is 6-foot-2 and a menace within the paint, averaging a double-double with 15.7 factors and 10.4 rebounds. It’s freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez that elevates the Sooners, nonetheless, with 18.4 factors, 4.2 assists and D-I-best 93.9% on free throws.

Oklahoma State: The Cowgirls had the second-best offense within the Huge 12, scoring 116.19 factors per 100 possessions, due to a degree of scoring depth that a lot of the remainder of the convention simply can’t lean on.

Ole Miss: Senior ahead Cotie McMahon transferred from Ohio State to the Rebels for this season, and had her best-ever season: a team-leading and career-high 19.9 factors with 5.3 rebounds and three.0 assists per sport.

Oregon: The Geese had a greater season than their report suggests — the Huge Ten is simply that robust. Oregon completed the convention season twenty fourth in NET, and was hovering round there all season lengthy regardless of by no means showing within the ballot.

Princeton: The Tigers are greater than "simply" the workforce that got here out of the Ivy, as they're 51st in adjusted Internet Ranking, at +22.69. 5 gamers averaged a minimum of 10.0 factors per sport, led by senior guard Madison St. Rose (15.7).

Rhode Island: The Rams lack a dominant scorer or rebounder, however as a substitute have six gamers averaging between 7.7 and 12.5 factors, 4 between 5.3 and seven.0 rebounds (and three with 2.4 to three.6 assists).

Richmond: The Spiders have a possible WNBA participant in senior ahead Maggie Doogan, who scored 21 factors with 7.8 rebounds and three.9 assists this yr, and Richmond is right here due to a 3-heavy offense: Solely Fairfield made extra 3s per sport than the Spiders, however each shot 37% from deep.

Richmond is in a mid-major hiding a possible WNBA participant in Maggie Doogan. (Picture by G Fiume/Getty Photos)

Samford: The Bulldogs can hit from deep. Samford is thirty second in made 3s and twenty sixth in makes an attempt. The Bulldogs like to let it fly, particularly sophomore guard Briana Rivera, who hit a Division I-leading 109 3s.

SFA: The Ladyjacks pulled now-senior guard Harmanie Dominguez out of a decrease division final season, and this yr had been rewarded with 97 3-pointers, the third-most in D-I.

South Carolina: Simply UConn and UCLA have greater Internet Ranking than the Gamecocks’ 62.28 — it is a terrifying basketball workforce with three possible first-round WNBA picks in its beginning lineup: Ta’Niya Latson, Raven Johnson and Madina Okot.

South Dakota State: The Jackrabbits’ offense is legit, with the Thirty seventh-best adjusted Offensive Ranking (108.56 factors per 100 possessions). Senior ahead Brooklyn Meyer deserves credit score for that, with 22.4 factors, 8 rebounds and a pair of.7 assists per sport — she ranks second amongst tourney gamers in PER.

Southern: No Jaguars averaged double-digit scoring this season, however sophomore ahead Demya Porter obtained the closest with 9.7 factors per sport, in addition to 5.1 rebounds.

Syracuse: If the Orange get to maintain on dancing, will probably be due to their protection: they're thirty sixth in Defensive Ranking, however their finest scorers can damage you, too: freshman middle Uche Izoje practically averaged a double-double with 15.5 factors and 9.4 rebounds.

TCU: TCU’s protection is normally the sport, however fifth-year guard Olivia Miles is a risk for a triple-double at any time. She ranks third in D-I girls’s historical past general, and has 5 alone in 2025-2026.

Tennessee: Tennessee fell aside down the stretch and was one-and-done within the SEC event, however Talaysia Cooper and Janiah Barker are harmful sufficient to reverse that pattern in March, particularly with the Woman Vols getting a break to reset.

Texas: The Longhorns are recognized for his or her protection (second in Defensive Ranking), however Texas can be fifth in Offensive Ranking. The issue is that if it falls behind early, because the Longhorns are 327th in made 3-pointers per sport.

Texas Tech: This can be a defense-first workforce, to the purpose that 4 of the Huge 12’s top-20 in Defensive Ranking play for the Woman Raiders. Junior ahead Jalynn Bristow is the convention chief at 77.5.

UCLA: The Bruins performed in 20 Quad 1 video games this yr, and went 19-1; that loss got here manner again in November towards Texas. They may have 4 starters chosen within the first spherical of the 2026 WNBA Draft for a cause.

UCLA didn't lose to a Huge Ten workforce within the common season or convention event. (Picture by Justin Casterline/Getty Photos)

UC San Diego: Junior ahead Erin Condron led the Tritons in factors (15.7 per sport) and rebounds (8.6), and her 53.6% taking pictures share topped the Huge West.

UConn: Sophomore ahead Sarah Robust led the Huge East in steals (3.4) and taking pictures share (60.1%) whereas averaging 18.5 factors, 7.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 blocks. She’s first in D-I in PER.

UNC: North Carolina’s offense is an effective one, however the protection is the star — the Tar Heels rank fifteenth in defensive score. Along with scoring 10.3 factors per sport, senior guard Indya Nivar led the ACC in defensive score (77.9).

USC: No JuJu Watkins means the Trojans aren’t a prime seed, however they nonetheless made it out of a troublesome Huge Ten due to freshman guard Jazzy Davidson complementing a still-strong core of veterans. Davidson led USC in factors, rebounds and assists.

UTSA: The Roadrunners’ protection obtained them to The Huge Dance: It’s 59th in adjusted defensive score, at 83.11 factors per 100 possessions.

Vanderbilt: If the Commodores hit exhausting and early, as they did towards Texas and Michigan, they're robust to beat. Sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes led the nation in scoring, however don’t sleep on freshman guard Aubrey Galvan: 13.1 factors and 5.9 assists per sport to feed Blakes & Co.

Villanova: The Huge East was down this yr, outdoors of two groups: UConn, and a 3-point-heavy Villanova squad led by sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe — 18.8 factors, 4.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

Virginia: A top-30 offense wasn’t sufficient to flee a First 4 slot, however junior guard Kymora Johnson is harmful sufficient to deliver the Cavaliers past that preliminary sport. She led the ACC in assists per sport (5.9) and averaged 19 factors per sport.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies had a quiet, high-quality season, however a troublesome ACC hid a few of that. Virginia Tech ranked twenty eighth in Defensive Ranking, and completed forty first in rebounds per sport.

Mikayla Blakes has turned Vanderbilt right into a severe risk within the SEC and nationally. (Picture by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos)

Vermont: Senior middle Nikola Priede is the Catamounts’ main scorer (17.7), rebounder (7.7) and blocker (1.5), and taking pictures slightly below 60% general.

Washington: The Huskies are a balanced squad, about equal in offensive and defensive outcomes, however had been overshadowed by different Huge Ten squads. Junior guard Sayvia Sellers is their star: 18.5 factors and an efficient FG% of 56.3%.

Western Illinois: Senior combo forward-guard Mia Nicastro is among the finest gamers representing the mid-majors, as she’s forward of the likes of Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes and UCLA’s Lauren Betts in PER (38.0), is fourth in D-I in scoring (24.2) and pulled down 9.9 rebounds per sport.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers rank Eleventh in defensive score (71.30 factors per 100 possessions), and regardless of having 5 six-footers — and 7 gamers standing a minimum of 5-foot-10 — managed that whereas rating 306th in blocks per sport.