Goggia and Johnson’s downhill dominance leaves little room on podium

By Alex AzziDec 18, 2021, 5:08 PM EST

In an event where winning and losing is determined by fractions of a second, Italian skier Sofia Goggia and American Breezy Johnson have been remarkably consistent in the last 365 days.

On Saturday in Val d’Isere, France, Goggia won her seventh consecutive World Cup downhill, while Johnson finished second for a third straight race. Austrian Mirjam Puchner rounded out the podium. (A video highlight is embedded above.)

While Goggia has won every downhill she has entered since the last Val d’Isere World Cup in December 2020, the Bergamo resident did miss two World Cup downhills last season – plus the 2021 World Championships – after she fractured a bone in her right knee.

Johnson, who has dealt with her own fair share of injuries, has finished in the top-five of every World Cup downhill she has finished since February 2020.

Goggia and Johnson’s continued success hasn’t left much space on the podium for the rest of the field. Since the start of the 2020-21 World Cup season, a total of 30 downhill podium spots have been filled by the same 10 women. Goggia owns the most podium finishes (8), followed by Johnson (7) and Switzerland’s Corinne Suter (5).

World Cup Downhills	Winner	Second Place	Third Place
Val d’Isere (December 18, 2020)	Corinne Suter won by 0.11 seconds	Sofia Goggia	Breezy Johnson
Val d’Isere (December 19, 2020)	Goggia won by 0.24 seconds	Corinne Suter	Breezy Johnson
St. Anton (January 9, 2021)	Goggia won by 0.96 seconds	Tamara Tippler	Breezy Johnson
Crans Montana (January 22, 2021)	Goggia won by 0.20 seconds	Ester Ledecka	Breezy Johnson
Crans Montana (January 23, 2021)	Goggia won by 0.27 seconds	Lara Gut-Behrami	Elena Curtoni
Val di Fassa (February 26, 2021)	Gut-Behrami won (Goggia was injured)	Ramona Siebenhofer	Corinne Suter
Val di Fassa (February 27, 2021)	Gut-Behrami won (Goggia was injured)	Corinne Suter	Kira Weidle
Lake Louise (December 3, 2021)	Goggia won by 1.47 seconds	Breezy Johnson	Mirjam Puchner
Lake Louise (December 4, 2021)	Goggia won by 0.84 seconds	Breezy Johnson	Corinne Suter
Val d’Isere (December 18, 2021)	Goggia won by 0.27 seconds	Breezy Johnson	Mirjam Puchner

With her third straight second-place result on Saturday, Johnson clinched a provisional spot on the 2022 U.S. Olympic team. In Beijing, Johnson – a resident of Jackson Hole, Wyoming – could become just the second American woman to win Olympic downhill gold (Lindsey Vonn was the first), while Goggia will be aiming to become just the second skier to defend an Olympic downhill title.

The Val d’Isere World Cup continues on Sunday with a super-G, in which Mikaela Shiffrin is a late entry.

“I was not at all planning on going to Val d’Isere but we decided just last night to give it a go in the Super G… so here goes somethin’!” Shiffrin wrote on Instagram on Thursday.

ALSO FROM ON HER TURF: Goggia wins Val d’Isere super-G, Shiffrin and Johnson ski into top-10

Follow Alex Azzi on Twitter @AlexAzziNBC

2023 March Madness: Utah Utes engineer dramatic turnaround for third-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance

By Lisa AntonucciMar 19, 2023, 11:27 PM EDT

Getty Images

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The No. 2-seeded Utah (27-4) women’s basketball team held off a pesky 10th-seeded Princeton squad on Sunday, winning 63-56 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships for the first time since 2005-06 and just the third time in the program’s history.

“I’m proud of our team,” said eighth-year head coach Lynne Roberts after the second-round win at Utah’s Hunstman Center. “We set out to do this a year ago. We lost in this game at University of Texas and the goal was to be able to host (this year) so that we could have that home-court advantage and it made a difference.”

Utah’s fourth-year junior Alissa Pili backed up her recent second-team All-American honor with another 20-plus-point performance, scoring 28 on 8-for 13 shooting with 10 rebounds and going 11-for 13 on free throws. Sophomore forward Jenna Johnson added 15 points and six rebounds.

There’s been a lot of talk this weekend about how the Utes’ previous few seasons have ended – beginning with a rough 14-17 season that was cut short in 2020 due to the pandemic, followed by an abysmal 5-16 record in 2020-21. But the tide turned last year, as Utah rebounded with a 21-12 season that ended with a 78-56 loss to Texas in Austin in the second round of the NCAA tournament one year ago.

So, what changed?

“Last year, everyone was new to the NCAA tournament, so I think everyone was just experiencing it for the first time,” mused Johnson. “Losing in the second round last year, we’re definitely a lot hungrier this year, and then obviously hosting in Salt Lake, it’s fun just being in your own environment, to be around your own fans. I think it gives us an elevated level of confidence, both knowing what it’s like it play in this tournament and also getting to be at home.”

“Yeah, freshman year was kind of rough,” added third-year sophomore Kennady McQueen, who chipped in nine points Sunday. “We did experience losing a lot. … Coach Roberts, she said we are not going to have another season like that. We all stood behind her — the people that stayed — and brought in great people like starting last year with Jenna and Gi (Gianna Kneepkens) and people like that who have had a huge impact in helping us to where we are today. …

“When you get together a group of people that have the same goal in mind and will do make anything to make it happen, I think that’s where we have seen our success rate going up. This past offseason, we just kept getting better, and of course, the addition of the Alissa Pili really helped. When you bring a group of girls that have the same dream and same goal at the end of the year and doesn’t care about personal stats more than winning, I think we get the season that we have today, and it prepares us for deep run in March.”

In particular, McQueen believe it was Utah’s improvement in their defense that was crucial to the turnaround. “Everyone knows how good we are on offense, but if we can’t get stops, it doesn’t matter how good you are on offense,” she said. “So that’s just been a key the whole past off-season and all of this season — just getting better on defense.”

MORE FROM ON HER TURF: Alissa Pili revives her love of basketball with record season at Utah

Roberts credits their defensive improvement with a “philosophical mindset change,” explaining, “We worked on [defense] a lot differently, a lot more intentionally. Strategically we made some changes of how we are going to defend, and I won’t bore you with that. But there was a lot, just different things because you have to play to your strengths. You can’t be a run-and-jump pressing team if you don’t have the depth and athletes to do it. You can’t be a zone team if you are not super big. You have to figure out what fits your personnel, and so that’s what we did.”

There’s also the undeniable impact of Pili, a transfer from USC who has found her stride as a Ute, where she recently was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

“She kind of is the straw that stirs the drink for us right now,” said Roberts of the 21-year-old Alaska native. “She’s a nightmare to defend because she can shoot the three, and she’s also really athletic and mobile, so it doesn’t matter who we are playing. I think you have to gameplan for her. But then with her three-point shooting, you know, you have to pick your poison.”

But Roberts also gave plenty of kudos to Johnson, whom she describes as “phenomenal.”

“She’s 19 going on 40,” Roberts said of Johnson. “She’s the most mature, even-keeled consistent player we have. What I love about her is she is who she is. She’s confident in who she is. She knows who she is. She also is incredibly busy off the court.

“We were talking as we were getting ready to watch film, just shooting the breeze a bunch of us, we were talking about movies. And she was like, Oh, I don’t watch movies. Why not? I don’t have time. I get bored. What do you mean you don’t have time? Do you watch shows? No, I don’t ever watch TV. It is because she is doing all of these other extracurricular activities.”

As for guiding to the Utes to becoming a championship program, Roberts still sees it as an uphill battle – but one that she and her players are ready for.

“I always use the analogy of pushing the boulder up the hill,” she said. “And doing things for the first time, you have to have that mindset. You have to keep pushing. It’s been incredibly fun to see the support, and I think the swell is a perfect word for it. Most importantly, our players feel it.

“This is why you play, right? And it means so much. I know I say it over and over, but this is not going to be a flash-in-the-pan [season]. This isn’t going to be a ‘Oh, remember that year they had such an incredible year?’ We are going to keep doing it.”

RELATED: 2023 March Madness 2023 — Updated bracket, scores and schedule for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

2023 March Madness: Updated bracket, scores and schedule for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

By Lisa AntonucciMar 19, 2023, 12:35 AM EDT

Editor’s note: We’ll keep this page updated, so be sure to check back here for winners, scores and next-round details as the tournament progresses.

The bracket for 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship is officially set and defending champion South Carolina earned the No. 1 overall seed for the second straight season. A total of 68 teams will see tournament action, beginning with the “First Four” games on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by Round 1 play kicking off on Friday.

On Her Turf has compiled the matchups, sites and schedule for the tournament, which culminates Sunday, April 2 with the title game from American Airlines Center in Dallas.

2023 tournament No. 1 seeds:

South Carolina Gamecocks
Indiana Hoosiers
Virginia Tech Hokies
Stanford Cardinal

Last four teams in the tournament:

Illinois
Mississippi State
Purdue
St. John’s

First four teams out of the tournament:

Columbia
Kansas
UMass
Oregon

RELATED: South Carolina nabs No. 1 overall seed in NCAA women’s basketball tournament

‘First Four’ game schedule

Wednesday, March 15

7 p.m. ET: 11. Illinois vs. 11. Mississippi State (South Bend, Indiana)
- Winner: Mississippi State, 70-56
9 p.m. ET: 16 Southern U vs. 16 Sacred Heart (Stanford, California)
- Winner: Sacred Heart, 57-47

Thursday, March 16

7 p.m. ET: 11 Purdue vs. 11 St. John’s (Columbus, Ohio)
- Winner: St. John’s, 66-64
9 p.m. ET: 16 Tennessee Tech vs. 16 Monmouth (Greenville, S.C.)
- Winner: Tennessee Tech, 79-69

**Bracket, schedule* by region**

*Includes scores, game time and TV network, if available

GREENVILLE 1

Columbia, S.C.

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 1. South Carolina 72, 16. Norfolk State 40
- 8. South Florida 67, 9. Marquette 65
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 1. South Carolina 76, 8. South Florida, 45

Los Angeles, California

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 5. Oklahoma 85, 12. Portland 63
- 4. UCLA 67, 13. Sacramento State 45
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 4. UCLA vs. 5. Oklahoma, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

South Bend, Indiana

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 6. Creighton 66, 11. Mississippi State 81 (First Four winner)
- 3. Notre Dame 82, 14. Southern Utah 56
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 3. Notre Dame 53, 11. Mississippi State 48

College Park, Maryland

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 7. Arizona 75, 10. West Virginia 62
- 2. Maryland 93, 15. Holy Cross 61
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 2. Maryland 77, 7. Arizona 64

GREENEVILLE 2

Bloomington, Indiana

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 1. Indiana 77, 16. Tennessee Tech 47 (First Four winner)
- 8. Oklahoma State 61, 9. Miami 62 (FL)
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 1. Indiana vs. 9. Miami, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Villanova, Pennsylvania

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 5. Washington State 63, 12. FGCU 74
- 4. Villanova 76, 13. Cleveland State 59
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 12. FGCU vs. 4. Villanova, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 6. Michigan 71, 11. UNLV 59
- 3. LSU 73, 14. Hawaii 50
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 6. Michigan vs. 3. LSU, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Salt Lake City, Utah

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 7. N.C. State 63, 10. Princeton 64
- 2. Utah 103, 15. Gardner-Webb 77
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 2. Utah vs. 10. Princeton, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

SEATTLE 3

Blacksburg, Virginia

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 1. Virginia Tech 58, 16. Chattanooga 33
- 8. Southern California 57, 9. South Dakota State 62
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 1. Virginia Tech 72, South Dakota State, 60

Knoxville, Tennessee

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 5. Iowa State 73, 12. Toledo 80
- 4. Tennessee 95, 13. Saint Louis 50
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 12. Toledo vs. 4. Tennessee, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

Columbus, Ohio

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 6. North Carolina 61, 11. St. John’s 59 (First Four winner)
- 3. Ohio State 80, 14. James Madison 66
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 3. Ohio State vs. 6. North Carolina, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Storrs, Connecticut

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 7. Baylor 78, 10. Alabama 74
- 2. UConn 95, 15. Vermont 52
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 2. UConn vs. 7. Baylor, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)

SEATTLE 4

Stanford, California

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 1. Stanford 92, 16. Sacred Heart 49 (First Four winner)
- 8. Ole Miss 71, 9. Gonzaga 48
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 1. Stanford vs. 8. Ole Miss, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Austin, Texas

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 5. Louisville 83, 12. Drake 81
- 4. Texas 79, 13. East Carolina 40
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 4. Texas vs. 5. Louisville, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Durham, N.C.

Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
- 6. Colorado 82, 11. Middle Tennessee State 60
- 3. Duke 89, 14. Iona 49
Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
- 3. Duke vs. Colorado, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Iowa City, Iowa

Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
- 7. Florida State 54, 10. Georgia 66
- 2. Iowa 95, 15. Southeastern Louisiana 43
Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
- 2. Iowa 74, 10. Georgia 66

Regionals/Final Four schedule, how to watch

Sweet 16: Friday and Saturday, March 24-25; Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C., host: Southern Conference and Furman; and Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, hosts: Seattle and Seattle Sports Commission

Elite 8: Sunday and Monday, March 26-27; Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C., host: Southern Conference and Furman; and Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, hosts: Seattle and Seattle Sports Commission

Final 4: Friday, March 31, 7 p.m. ET and 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN); American Airlines Center, Dallas; hosts: Big 12 Conference and Dallas Sports Commission

Championship Game: Sunday, April 2, 3 p.m. ET (ABC); American Airlines Center, Dallas; hosts: Big 12 Conference and Dallas Sports Commission

ALSO FROM ON HER TURF: Goggia wins Val d’Isere super-G, Shiffrin and Johnson ski into top-10

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