Women’s NCAA Tournament: How to watch BYU vs. Villanova, Utah vs. Arkansas

Utah Utes guard Ines Vieira (2) knocks the ball away from BYU Cougars guard Shaylee Gonzales (2) in a basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Both BYU and Utah made the NCAA Tournament, and game times and TV information have been released for their games.

The schedule and TV information for first-round games in this year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament have been released. Here’s the first-round information for the two Utah schools who made this year’s tournament.

No. 7 Utah vs. No. 10 Arkansas

Spokane Regional, first round
Friday, March 18, 3:30 p.m. MDT
Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
TV: ESPNews
Livestream: Watch ESPN
Up next: The winner of this game will face the winner of No. 2 Texas and No. 15 Fairfield in the second round on Sunday, March 20.

‘It’s like the cherry on top’: Utah women thrilled with their NCAA Tournament seeding, matchup

Key players to watch: The Utes, who are seventh nationally in 3-pointers made per game (291), are led by freshman guard Gianna Kneepkens. She leads a balanced Utah team, was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year — in addition to making the league’s all-conference first team and all-freshman team — and is one of three Utes to average double-digit scoring (12.0). She’s also made 53 3-pointers this season.

Arkansas guard Amber Ramirez leads the Razorback attack and earned all-SEC second team honors. She averages 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 41.8% from 3-point range. SEC Freshman of the Year Samara Spencer also adds 12 points and 3.1 assists per contest.

No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Villanova

Wichita Regional, first round
Saturday, March 19, 11 a.m.
Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
TV: ESPNews
Livestream: Watch ESPN
Up next: The winner of this game will face the winner of No. 3 Michigan and No. 14 American in the second round on Monday, March 21.

BYU women’s basketball team earns best NCAA Tournament seed in program history

Key players to watch: The Cougars are led by the guard duo of Shaylee Gonzales and Paisley Harding. Gonzales is the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and averages 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while Harding adds 13.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest.

Villanova forward Maddy Siegrist is the Big East Conference Player of the Year and is second nationally in scoring — averaging 25.9 points per game — while shooting nearly 50% from the field and 36% from 3-point range.