Missed Chances Haunt Alabama Softball in 5-3 Loss to Arkansas Sunday

The series rubber match is set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch Monday on the SEC Network

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. | Alabama softball had the bases loaded with nobody out trailing by two in the seventh inning Sunday night against Arkansas but a trio of strikeouts ended the comeback attempt as the Crimson Tide fell to the Razorbacks, 5-3, to even the weekend series.

Alabama (22-7, 1-1 SEC) threatened immediately against Arkansas (21-8, 2-3 SEC), loading the bases with one out in the first inning but could not push a run across. The Razorbacks responded in the next half-inning with an RBI double and a two-run single to take the early 3-0 lead. Arkansas loaded the bases with one out in the third but Lauren Esman, pitching in relief, got out of the jam unscathed to keep it a three-run game. The Crimson Tide got on the board in the bottom of the third with a pair of RBI singles to draw within a run, but Arkansas capitalized on a pair of Alabama errors in the fifth to score a pair and move back ahead by three. The score remained at 5-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh and Alabama looked to start a late rally, loading the bases with nobody out. A single from Emma Broadfoot moved everyone up 60 feet and made it a two-run game but three-straight strikeouts extinguished any comeback attempt.

Ashley Prange was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, tying her career high for hits. Bailey Dowling was 2-for-2 from the cleanup spot, including a double for the second-straight game.

Cassie Stevens Shines As Auburn Post a 197.100 at SEC Championship

DULUTH, Ga. | Senior Cassie Stevens scored a season-best 39.65 in the all-around and won a share of the vault title to help the No. 12 Auburn gymnastics team score 197.100 at the 2023 SEC Championship, the program's second-highest output ever at the conference meet.

Auburn won the afternoon session and finished fifth overall as the two-session meet was held in Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.

"We won our session and got some big scores from the senior leaders on the team," head coach Jeff Graba said. "I felt that for the most part, the team did a good job of picking each other up and getting through the meet. We talked a lot about how that is what it takes to get through the postseason. You're going to have adversity and you have to conquer it. I really feel like we did a good job with that today."

LSU Women's Basketball Advances to NCAA Sweet 16, 66-42

BATON ROUGE | LSU all-American Angel Reese scored 25 points and pulled down 24 rebounds — 14 on the offensive end — to propel the Tigers into the Sweet 16, 66-42, over No. 6-seeded Michigan on Sunday night in front of 10,108 at the Maravich Center.

Reese, who posted the second 20/20 game in the program’s NCAA Tournament history, also had six blocked shots and increased her NCAA-leading free throw stats with a 9-for-11 performance. Her 24 rebounds were a program record for a postseason game, bettering Sylvia Fowles’ 20 rebounds and 24 points in the 2008 Women’s Final Four.

She became the first player ever with 25 points, 24 rebounds, and 5 blocks in an NCAA Tournament.

HOW SWEET IT IS: No. 2 Seeded Terps Headed Back To Sweet 16 After 77-64 Win Over Arizona

COLLEGE PARK, MD | Maryland is headed back to the Sweet 16 for the 20th time in school history after the second-seeded and seventh-ranked Terrapins beat Arizona, 77-64 on Sunday evening at the XFINITY Center. The Terps (27-6 overall) will take on No. 3-seeded and No. 10-ranked Notre Dame (27-5) on Saturday, March 25 in Greenville, South Carolina in the Sweet 16. Ticket, game times, and television information will be announced shortly. Maryland beat the Irish, 74-72, in South Bend earlier this season on Dec. 1, 2022. 

This is the 11th Sweet 16 appearance for the Terps under Brenda Frese and the third in a row. 

Four Terps scored in double-figures led by Diamond Miller who scored 20 of her 24 points in the second half, including 13 in the third quarter. Miller had six rebounds and a career-high tying seven assists. 

Everybody Loves Diamond™️#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Pw9fqyS0PS

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 19, 2023

Michigan Earns No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament, to Face Colgate

ANN ARBOR, Mich. | The University of Michigan ice hockey team is a No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament as announced Sunday (March 19) on the NCAA Selection Show. Michigan (24-11-3) will take on No. 4 seed Colgate (19-15-5) in the Allentown, Pa., Regional at 8:30 p.m., Friday (March 24) at PPL Center and on ESPNU.

No. 2 seed and host Penn State and No. 3 seed Michigan Tech will meet in the other regional semifinal. The Allentown Regional's two semifinal winners will play on Sunday (March 26) for a spot in the Frozen Four, scheduled for April 6-8 in Tampa, Fla.

This is the second consecutive season and fifth time overall that Michigan has been a one-seed since the tournament expanded to 16 teams in 2003.

An automatic NCAA entry by virtue of winning the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan earns the program's 40th bid to the NCAA Tournament, the most in NCAA history. The Wolverines boast a 55-31 record in the NCAA Tournament, including a record nine national championships.

Michigan has been ranked in the top 10 all season, and in the top five since Feb. 6. The Wolverines finished second in the Big Ten Conference standings and earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament. En route to its third Big Ten Tournament title, Michigan swept Wisconsin in its quarterfinal series, defeated Ohio State 7-3 in the semifinal round, and won 4-3 at Minnesota in the championship game Saturday (March 18).