Spokane anticipates star-studded field as host site for women’s NCAA Tournament regionals
It’s not madness to say that Spokane is about to hold one of the biggest sports events in its history.
From March 28-31, the Arena will host two regionals of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Eight teams will arrive with big dreams, and Spokane will send two of them to the Final Four in Tampa.
It doesn’t get much bigger than that, even if no one knows which teams will hit the Arena floor 10 days from now. After all, each needs to win two games just to get here.
That didn’t stop the experts at ESPN from offering their best guesses as the 68-team field was unveiled Sunday night.
The hottest topic was the Spokane 4 Regional, which is headlined by top-seeded USC and No. 2 seed Connecticut.
Who was more deserving of the top seed? The debate was intense, but everyone is already looking forward to a possible Elite Eight showdown between the Trojans and Huskies on March 31.
That’s right: Spokane is the talk of women’s basketball.
It deserves the attention. The Arena has hosted several women’s Regionals in addition to men’s NCAA first- and second-round events. It’s one of the smallest venues in the March Madness rotation, but past performance in organizing the games has been so impressive that it was selected to host this high-profile event.
Local fans have risen to the occasion, and few tickets remain for the six-game double regional. It begins on March 28 with a pair of Sweet Sixteen games in Region 1, followed by two more Region 4 contests on March 29.
On March 30 the Arena will send a team to the Final Four from Region 1 and will do it again on the night of March 31.
There’s plenty to look forward to. Assuming they can win two home games this week in Los Angeles, the UCLA Bruins will arrive in Spokane as not only the top seed in Spokane Region 1 but also the top overall seed in the tournament.
The Bruins (30-2) won the Big 10 Conference championship by defeating USC in the third matchup between the two Los Angeles schools. With the victory, UCLA topped 30 wins for the first time in program history.
Junior center Lauren Betts does it all for the Bruins, averaging almost 20 points and 10 rebounds a game along with three blocks.
If form holds, the Bruins will take the Arena floor on March 28 against a fourth-seeded Baylor program that has won three national titles. On the other side of the bracket is No. 2 seed North Carolina State, which reached the Final Four last year and has all the tools to do it again.
However, the Wolfpack may need to get past No. 3 seed LSU, who despite losing forward Angel Reese to graduation feature Flau’Jae Johnson, one of the top guards in the nation.
The star presence may atone for the lack of local flavor in the Spokane Region. Gonzaga failed to make the field for the first time in nine years, while the NCAA elected to send regional teams Washington, Oregon, Oregon State and Montana State to the Birmingham Region.
In Region 4, top-seeded USC (28-3) has perhaps the top player in the nation in JuJu Watkins. The sophomore guard has scored 20 points or more in 26 games this season and is a cinch to be named an All-American for the second straight year.
If they win twice this week at home, the Trojans could face a veteran squad in 4 seed Kentucky on March 29.
And if UConn and star guard Paige Bueckers hold up their end of the bracket, the Trojans and Huskies will cap the Spokane 4 Region with a game to remember, no matter the score.
The controversy has already begun. UConn Coach Geno Auriemma has been critical of the super Regional format, with good reason: the Huskies will now have to travel three time zones for the third time.
Adding to the potential drama, the programs met last year in the Elite Eight, with UConn advancing 70-63. USC got some revenge in a regular-season game in December, winning 72-70.
To reach the regional final this year, UConn might need to get past No. 3 seed Oklahoma, which reached the SEC title game last week and is peaking at the right time.