Meet the 8 teams playing in women's March Madness Sweet 16 in Portland

March Madness is back in the Rose City with the women’s NCAA tournament coming to the Moda Center on March 29-April 1.

Portland is hosting two regionals, meaning it will play home to Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups on two sides of the bracket to determine half of the Final Four.

Up first is the Portland Regional 4 matchups between No. 1 seed Texas against No. 4 Gonzaga, along with No. 3 NC State against No. 2 Stanford.

NC State and Stanford play first at 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 29 followed by Texas and Gonzaga at 7 p.m., both at the Moda Center.

Portland Regional 3 matchups are next between No. 1 USC and No. 5 Baylor at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 30 and No. 3 Connecticut against No. 7 Duke at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The winner between Texas/Gonzaga and NC State/Stanford will square off in the Elite Eight at noon on Sunday, March 31 for a spot in the Final Four. The winner between USC/Baylor will take on the winner of UConn/Duke at 6 p.m. Monday, April 1 to advance.

Here’s a quick look at the eight teams coming to play in front of the Portland crowd:

No. 1 USC Trojans (28-5)

How they got here: Defeated No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in round one 87-55, defeated No. 8 Kansas 73-55 in round two.

Regular season: USC tied for second in the Pac-12 with UCLA before going on to win three games in Las Vegas to win the Pac-12 tournament title thanks to a 74-61 win over Stanford in the title game.

Names to know: Freshman JuJu Watkins is averaging 26.9 points per game, the second most in the country, only behind Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Watkins also averages 7.3 rebounds per game and leads her team in steals (76) and is second in assists (106). Watkins is one of four players named as Naismith Player of the Year award finalists.

Junior Rayah Marshall is another one to keep an eye on, averaging a double-double with 10.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, the latter being the 26th most per game in the country.

No. 5 Baylor (26-7)

How they got here: Defeated No. 12 Vanderbilt 80-63 in round one, defeated No. 4 Virginia Tech 75-72 in round two.

Regular season: The Bears finished in a three-way tie for fourth during the Big 12 regular season before losing in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals to eventual champions Iowa State.

Names to know: Graduate senior Dre’Una Edwards leads the Bears in scoring with 11.7 points per night, but is followed close behind by senior Sarah Andrews with her 11.3 points per game. Andrews also leads the team in assists with 129.

Sophomore Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scores 10.5 points per game and averages 7 rebounds a night, second only to Graduate senior Aijha Blackwell who pulls down 8.3 rebounds per game.

No. 3 Connecticut (31-5)

How they got here: Defeated No. 14 Jackson State 86-84 in round one, defeated No. 6 Syracuse 72-64 in round two.

Regular season: The Huskies dominated the Big East once again, going a perfect 18-0 in the regular season before winning the Big East tournament, besting Georgetown 78-42 in the final.

Names to know: Redshirt junior Paige Bueckers is back in March Madness after missing the last two and she hasn’t skipped a beat. Her 21.8 points per game is 12th in the country, and she scored 28 points and 32 points to open the NCAA tournament. She is one of four finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year award.

Bueckers is far from alone though as senior Aaliyah Edwards averages 17.6 points per game and leads the Huskies on the glass with 9.4 rebounds per game. UConn is 12th as a team in scoring, averaging 80.7 points a contest.

No. 7 Duke (22-11)

How they got here: Defeated No. 10 Richmond 72-61 in round one, defeated No. 2 Ohio State 75-63 in round two.

Regular season: The Blue Devils tied for seventh place in the ACC with an 11-7 record, and made an early exit in the ACC tournament quarterfinals falling to NC State 54-51.

Names to know: Junior Reigan Richardson averages 12.4 points per game and was a big reason for Duke pulling off the upset of Ohio State with 28 points in the game.

Freshman Oluchi Okananwa cleans the glass for the Blue Devils with 6.2 boards per game while sophomore Taina Mair leads in assists with 121 this season. Duke also has former Oregon State standout Kennedy Brown. The senior averages 8.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

No. 1 Texas (32-4)

How they got here: Defeated No. 16 Drexel 82-42 in round one, defeated No. 8 Alabama 65-54 in round two.

Regular season: The Longhorns finished second in the Big 12 regular season title race, finishing with a 14-4 record, second to Oklahoma at 15-3. Texas got the Big 12 conference tournament title though with a 70-53 win over Iowa State.

Names to know: Freshman Madison Booker is the Longhorns’ top playmaker with a team high in points per game (16.8) and assists (178). She chips in 4.9 rebounds per game as well.

Texas has three more players averaging double digits in scoring in junior Rori Harmon (14.1), senior Taylor Jones (12.4) and junior Aaliyah Moore (11.2). Add it up and the Longhorns are 11th in the country in scoring with 80.8 points per game.

Jones is another Oregon State standout as well, transferring to Texas following last season.

No. 4 Gonzaga (32-3)

How they got here: Defeated No. 13 UC Irvine 75-56 in round one, defeated No. 5 Utah 77-66 in round two.

Regular season: Gonzaga only lost two games in the entire regular season, dominating the West Coast Conference with a perfect 16-0 record. However, the Bulldogs did slip up in the WCC tournament title game with a 67-66 loss to Portland.

Names to know: Gonzaga is the No. 1 team in the country in 3-point percentage (40.15%), and it’s seen with five players averaging double-digits in scoring.

Graduate senior Brynna Maxwell is the top Bulldog in 3-point percentage at 44.5% and is second in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Senior forward Yvonne Ejim still leads the team in scoring despite not being an outside threat, scoring 19.9 points and grabbing 8.8 rebounds per game.

Twin sisters Kayleigh and Kaylynne Truong are also excellent outside shooters, averaging 12.3 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Gonzaga is 10th in the country in scoring as a team with 80.9 points a night.

No. 3 NC State (29-6)

How they got here: Defeated No. 14 Chattanooga 64-45 in round one, defeated No. 6 Tennessee 79-72 in round two.

Regular season: The Wolfpack finished in a three-way tie for second place in the ACC regular season standings with Syracuse and Notre Dame. NC State made the ACC tournament title game, but fell 55-51 to Notre Dame.

Names to know: Aziaha James leads NC State in scoring with 16 points per game, but the Wolfpack four other players in double figures.

Saniya Rivers (12.7), Mimi Collins (10.9), Madison Hayes (10.7) and River Baldwin (10.4) can all get it done as well. James, Rivers and Zoe Brooks off the bench all have over 100 assists this season as well.

One other note is Katie Peneueta, who is from Vancouver, Washington. She’s played in eight games this season for NC State after transferring from Sacramento State.

No. 2 Stanford (30-5)

How they got here: Defeated No. 15 Norfolk State 79-50 in round one, defeated No. 7 Iowa State 87-81 in overtime in round two.

Regular season: The Cardinal hung on to win the Pac-12 regular season title with a 15-3 mark, but fell in the Pac-12 title game to USC 74-61.

Names to know: Beaverton local and senior Cameron Brink is the heart and soul of this Stanford team with 17.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game. That block number is No. 1 in the country and is part of the reason why Brink is one of four finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year award.

While Brink is the local star, fans can’t sleep on junior Kiki Iriafen as she leads the Cardinal in scoring with 19.2 points per game and also brings down 11.1 rebounds a night. She had 41 points in the overtime thriller win against Iowa State to make it to Portland.