🏀 Clark's Can't-Miss Revenge

Rise and Shine! The women’s NCAA Tournament took center stage Monday with a pair of mouthwatering Elite Eight matchups, and Caitlin Clark stole the show. In an eagerly awaited national title game rematch, Clark got her revenge against the reigning champs by raining threes in a 41-point masterpiece. Her reward? A date with the highly-touted Huskies in the Final Four. And while women’s hoops captivated the country last night, the headlines didn’t stop there. Devin Booker made history, the MLB saw an improbable no-no, and Auston Matthews notched a new career high in goals (spoiler alert: he has a lot of them). Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Suns G Devin Booker’s last three games against the Pelicans:

• April 1, 2024: 52 PTS, 19-28 FG, 9 AST

• Jan. 19, 2024: 52 PTS, 18-30 FG, 5 AST

• Dec. 17, 2022: 58 PTS, 21-35 FG, 5 AST

Booker joins Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history with three straight 50-point games against a single opponent - Booker is the only player to accomplish the feat while also recording five or more assists in all three games.

🏈 Former Colts CB Vontae Davis, who made two Pro Bowls and played 10 NFL seasons, died Monday at the age of 35 - Davis was found dead at his home in Southwest Ranches, FL; the cause and circumstances of his death are unknown but foul play is not suspected

🏀 76ers C Joel Embiid, who has been sidelined since Jan. 30 with a meniscus injury, is closing in on a return in the near future and may possibly play in tonight’s game against the Thunder - Embiid had surgery to repair the injury in his left knee in early February

🏀 Marquee Monday Madness

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament - Elite Eight

• Region 2 | #1 Iowa 94, #3 LSU 87: “Clark! She’s possessed!” A highly anticipated rematch of last year’s national championship game lived up to the hype, as Angel Reese (17 PTS, 7-21 FG, 20 REB, 4 AST, 3 BLK) and the Tigers absorbed an early Iowa haymaker to tie the game at 45 entering the break. But Caitlin Clark (41 PTS, 9-20 3PT, 7 REB, 12 AST) simply could not be contained and took over in the 3rd quarter with some deep triples to put her team up 11 heading into the 4th, where the Hawkeyes ultimately prevailed to oust the defending champs in a frenetic Elite Eight showdown - Reese fouled out with 1:45 left, Clark tied the NCAA Tournament record with nine three-pointers, and it’s Iowa’s second straight Final Four appearance

• Region 3 | #3 UConn 80, #1 USC 73: In another heavyweight clash, freshman phenom JuJu Watkins (29 PTS, 9-25 FG, 10 REB) helped the Trojans erase a 12-point, 3rd-quarter deficit to tie the game with 7:36 remaining; however, Paige Bueckers (28 PTS, 11-23 FG, 10 REB, 6 AST) and the Huskies were too much in the end, and pulled away down the stretch to book an astounding 23rd trip to the Final Four, extending their Division I record - UConn, Clark’s dream school that never offered her, will face Iowa on Friday in a must-see semifinal

See the full box scores here.

Women’s Final Four

Friday, April 5 - Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, OH)

• #1 South Carolina vs. #3 NC State 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• #1 Iowa vs. #3 UConn 9:00pm ET, ESPN

See the entire women’s bracket here.

MLB - Top Games

• Houston Astros 10, Toronto Blue Jays 0: No-no alert! After getting swept by the Yankees in an opening four-game series, the Astros earned their first win of the year in epic fashion, as 30-year-old Ronel Blanco (9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 7 Ks, 2 BB), who was making his eighth career start and had never pitched more than six innings in a game, tossed the first no-hitter of the MLB season to blank the Blue Jays in Houston - Kyle Tucker (2-3, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs) and Yainer Diaz (2-4, 2 HRs, 2 RBIs) each had a pair of dingers in the win

• Baltimore Orioles 6, Kansas City Royals 4: The O’s are already racking up W’s. After Kansas City’s Maikel Garcia (1-4, 1 RBI) tied things up with a sac-fly in the top of the 9th, Baltimore’s Jordan Westburg (1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI) responded a half-inning later with a two-run walk-off homer to send Camden Yards into a frenzy - the Orioles (3-1) have scored 34 total runs across their first four games

• Chicago Cubs 5, Colorado Rockies 0: Thirty-year-old Japanese ace Shota Imanaga (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 Ks) shined in his MLB debut, Cody Bellinger (1-4, 2 RBIs) ripped a two-run single in the 7th inning to make it a 5-0 game, and the Cubbies secured a shutout win in their home opener against Dakota Hudson (5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 Ks) and the already struggling Rockies - the Cubs have been getting roasted online for their underwhelming pregame player introductions

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

NBA - Top Games

• Phoenix Suns 124, New Orleans Pelicans 111: It’s safe to say Devin Booker has the Pelicans’ number. Booker (52 PTS, 19-28 FG, 8-16 3PT, 9 AST) dropped his third straight 50-piece against the Pels with a shooting clinic in which he went 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for 24 points in the 1st quarter alone, as the Suns superstar pushed Phoenix past Zion Williamson (30 PTS, 2 REB, 5 AST) and NOLA on their home court - it’s the fifth-highest scoring game of Booker’s career, and Phoenix (44-31) is now one game back of New Orleans (45-30) for the sixth seed in the West, which is the final non-play-in spot

• Boston Celtics 118, Charlotte Hornets 104: Jayson Tatum (25 PTS, 9-19 FG, 10 REB, 4 AST) and Sam Hauser (25 PTS, 7-11 3PT, 5 REB) each poured in 25, and the C’s made 19 threes to beat Miles Bridges (26 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST) and the Hornets for their second win in a row after two consecutive head-scratching losses to the Hawks last week - Boston (59-16) has the NBA’s best record and has won 11 of their past 13 games

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

NHL - Top Games

• Toronto Maple Leafs 6, Florida Panthers 4: Another day, another Auston Matthews masterclass. Matthews (2 G, 1 A) broke his own franchise single-season record by burying his NHL-leading 61st and 62nd goals of the year and added an assist as the Leafs built a 5-1 lead and staved off a late comeback to top Vladimir Tarasenko (1 G, 2 A) and the Cats in Toronto - the Leafs (43-22-9) hold a comfortable cushion for the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic and have won three straight games

• St. Louis Blues 3, Edmonton Oilers 2 (OT): The Blues entered the day five points shy of the Kings for the final wild-card spot in the West and picked up a massive OT win over Connor McDavid (1 A) and the Oils in St. Louis as Brandon Saad (1 G) called game two minutes into the extra frame - the Kings (38-25-11, 87 PTS) lost to the Jets, 4-3, last night, leaving St. Louis (40-31-4, 84 PTS) just three points back

See the full NHL scoreboard here and the current standings here.

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On April 2, 2002, Geno Auriemma and the UConn women’s basketball team completed a perfect 39-0 season. The Lady Huskies beat Oklahoma, 82-70, in the national championship game to cap the program's first unbeaten season, something Auriemma has now achieved six times as the head coach of UConn (01-02, 08-09, 09-10, 13-14, 15-16). However, this Huskies squad is generally considered the best women's college basketball team ever assembled, led by the dangerous duo of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi as well as Swin Cash, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. In their six tournament games, the Huskies' average margin of victory was a ludicrous 26.8 points. Their 12-point victory in the title game was one of only two games that they didn't win by 20 or more points. Later that spring, four of their five starters were selected in the top six picks of the 2002 WNBA Draft: Bird (No. 1 overall), Cash (No. 2), Ashja Jones (No. 4), and Tamika Williams (No. 6). Additionally, Diana Taurasi was the first overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, while Jessica Moore and Ashley Battler were selected in the 2005 WNBA Draft. Of the nine undefeated seasons ever completed in women’s DI basketball, UConn is responsible for six of them, including the most recent with a 38-0 run in 2015-16 - South Carolina is 36-0 entering this week’s Final Four; will the Lady Gamecocks achieve perfection?

MLB

• Minnesota Twins @ Milwaukee Brewers 4:10pm ET, ESPN+

• Cincinnati Reds @ Philadelphia Phillies 6:40pm ET, TBS

• San Francisco Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers 10:10pm ET, TBS

• Full Schedule

NBA

• Oklahoma City Thunder @ Philadelphia 76ers 7:30pm ET, TNT

• San Antonio Spurs @ Denver Nuggets 9:00pm ET, Local

• Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors 10:00pm ET, TNT

• Full Schedule

NHL

• Florida Panthers @ Montreal Canadiens 7:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Boston Bruins @ Nashville Predators 8:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Vancouver Canucks @ Vegas Golden Knights 10:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Full Schedule

Trivia Time Answer

B. 1998. The last time a team with the MLB’s highest Opening Day payroll had a lower payroll than the A’s current $80.5 million was in 1998, when the Orioles led the majors with an Opening Day payroll of $71.8 million. Since the turn of the century, MLB payrolls have sky-rocketed; Baltimore’s $71.8 million Opening Day payroll would have been the 10th-highest in 2000, the 15th-highest in 2005, and the 22nd-highest in 2010. Twenty teams had Opening Day payrolls north of $100 million this season, led by the Mets with $307.8 million.

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Mike Trout hit two home runs yesterday in a 7-4 win against the Marlins. His second shot went a ridiculous 473 feet!