Home Sweet Home. Home Sweet 16 Home. The USC Trojans used their home court at the Galen Center to win two NCAA Tournament games over the past three days and return to the Sweet 16 of March Madness for the first time in 30 very long years.

The last time USC women’s basketball reached the Sweet 16, Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson were playing for the Women of Troy.

We had not yet seen Leslie star for the legendary 1996 United States Olympic Women’s Basketball Team in Atlanta.

This year’s USC team has brought the magic back to Los Angeles.

USC looks and feels like a big-time women’s basketball school again.

2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament scores, highlights, results: USC, UConn and Notre Dame cruise into Sweet 16

The waning hours of the NCAA Women’s Tournament’s Round of 32 saw the sport’s biggest star nearly fall, while the player who seems destined to follow her path to greatness led a resounding win.

Caitlin Clark and Iowa avoided a shocking upset in the senior’s final game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Fighting through a physical West Virginia defense, the top-seeded Hawkeyes closed their second-round matchup on a 12-2 run over the final 2:03 to win 64-54, advancing them to a Sweet 16 game against No. 5 seed Colorado.

It wasn’t the most efficient Clark shooting night, but it was a historic one. A pair of free throws to ice the game late gave Clark the single-season scoring record in women’s Division I (1,111 points).

Overall, Clark went 8-for-22 for a game-high 32 points, adding eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Hannah Stuelke was impactful down low with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

While Clark and Co. sat on the verge of defeat, USC’s victory was never in doubt.

The top-seeded Trojans found an early lead over No. 8 seed Kansas and rolled to a 73-55 win. JuJu Watkins is continuing to blossom into a superstar in real time, and Monday she tallied 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Clarice Akunwafo provided incredible energy off the bench, as she pulled down nine rebounds, three steals and six blocks.

Earlier Monday, UConn and Notre Dame collected wins over Syracuse and Ole Miss, respectively.

The Huskies avoided a late comeback push to win their second-round game, and Paige Bueckers led the way with 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Maddy Westbeld spearheaded the Fighting Irish’s double-digit win with 20 points.