And with that it’s down to a field of 64 as Columbia and William & Mary joined Iowa State and Southern as the winners of their First Four matchups to advance to the first round of the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament.
In a battle of 11 seeds on Thursday night, Columbia outlasted Washington 63-60 behind 24 points from sophomore Riley Weiss. Weiss scored 14 of her points in the fourth quarter as the Lions came back from a 13-point halftime to register the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history. With the win, Columbia will face No. 6 seed West Virginia on Saturday.
Later Thursday, William & Mary played in its first ever NCAA Tournament game and prevailed with a 69-63 win over High Point. Bella Nascimento led the way for the Tribe with 24 points to set up a matchup with Texas, the No. 1 seed in the Birmingham 3 region.
On Wednesday, Iowa State held off Princeton, 68-63, led by Audi Crooks, one of last year’s tournament sensations. Crooks had a game-high 27 points while Addy Brown added 22, overcoming Princeton’s balanced attack that featured four…
