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March Madness 2025 live updates, scores, bracket, highlights: Iowa vs. Murray State in women’s NCAA tournament
- With Iowa holding a 12-point lead over Murray State, the Hawkeyes are in hot water as the second half ends.
- Three key Iowa players are in foul trouble early on: Star forward Hannah Stuelke hit the bench first after getting her second foul, leading Iowa coach Jan Jensen to give freshman center Ava Heiden extra minutes. Heiden quickly impressed, putting up a game-high 13 points in the first half, but also found herself in foul trouble after picking up her third foul late in the second quarter.
- Hawkeyes guard Lucy Olson, who is the team’s second-highest scorer at 12 points, also has three fouls. Iowa has 11 fouls in this first half, including a surprising number of offensive fouls.
- Despite the fouls, Iowa went on a strong run at the end of the half to grow its lead. But the Hawkeyes’ fouls could be a way in for Murray State: The Racers are good free throw shooters, going 8-10 on free throws in this first half. If Olson, Heiden and Stuelke all end up on the bench, it could majorly affect the Hawkeyes’ scoring in the second half.
- Freshman Ava Heiden is having an incredible month. The 6-4 center is dominating in this first-round lead over Murray State, the nation’s leading offense. She scored in the double-digits in each of the Big Ten games against Michigan and Ohio State, her most productive games of the season, drawing “Ava” chants from the Iowa faithful. The Hawkeyes and head coach Jan Jensen, who worked with the posts as an assistant, have a strong lineage of talented centers. Megan Gustafson won National Player of the Year honors and Monika Czinano starred on the first Caitlin Clark-led team that reached the national championship game.
- Iowa is holding strong over Murray State, with the Hawkeyes holding a 18-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Iowa has been strong inside the paint, and has already forced five Murray State turnovers.
- But don’t count out the Racers yet. They’ve had trouble beyond the arc — going 0-for-7 in the first quarter — but some of the shots they have gotten have been impressively gritty. Murray State guard Halli Poock hit this impressive finish to break Iowa’s 13-0 run.
- Murray State is doing its best to force an upset here, getting points on the board first and initially rolling out to a 6-2 lead. But a Iowa 12-0 run has put the Hawkeyes comfortably in front in this first quarter.
- In a post-Caitlin Clark era, Iowa is heading into this tournament with a lot to prove as a potential Cinderella. After two straight Finals appearances, the Hawkeyes are a six seed after a 22-10 season. Their first challenge will be a Murray State team that won the Missouri Valley Conference with a 25-7 record.
- No. 10 Oregon 77, No. 7 Vanderbilt 73 (OT): The Commodores forced overtime with a late second-half push, after the Ducks led by as many as 19 points earlier in the half.
- Oregon held a slim two-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation. But after a few missed free throws, Vanderbilt guard Leilani Kapinus — who was playing off the Commodores’ bench — hit a perfectly-timed game-tying layup.
- Things remained tight in the extra period, but the tide turned in the final minute, when star Commodores freshman Mikayla Blakes and Kapinus fouled out. Khamil Pierre, who was the team’s second-leading scorer with 17 points, fouled out near the end of the fourth quarter, leaving three key Vanderbilt players on the bench.
- With the score at 75-73, Oregon guard Peyton Scott had a chance for four free throws after being fouled twice in a row; while Scott missed the first two throws, she nailed the next two to make it a two-score game with five seconds left. Although the Commodores had one more possession left, they fell just short of the win.
- No. 9 Indiana 76, No. 8 Utah 68: The Hoosiers and Utes played an incredibly tight first half, matching each other score-for-score through the first two quarters. But Indiana was able to start to pull away during the third quarter, and while Utah kept it close, the Hoosiers pulled off the win.
- It was a team effort for Indiana, who shot 58 percent from the field, with guard Yarden Garzon leading the team with 17 points. Utah’s Gianna Kneepkens led all scorers with 14.
- Check out all the upsets of March Madness here.
- The second round of the men’s NCAA tournament begins on Saturday while the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament continues.
- The schedule of the second round makes it much more conducive to flipping between the two tournaments on Saturday afternoon. Just two of the eight men’s games tip off before 5 p.m. ET while 10 of the 16 women’s games begin in the afternoon.
- Here are a couple of tips for the women’s games on Saturday (all times are Eastern):
- Must-skip: Players like UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s JuJu Watkins are certified stars. We’re not advocating that you ignore them on Saturday. But their teams should also have no trouble in their first-round matchups. You can feel free to flip around to more competitive games.
- Player to watch: LSU forward Aneesah Morrow is a double-double machine. She’s the team’s second leading scorer behind Flau’jae Johnson at 18.5 points per game and leads women’s college basketball with 13.6 rebounds per game. It’ll be a surprise if she doesn’t have a double-double against the Aztecs.
