Eight teams, four games, infinite brutality. The Elite Eight teams each battled aggressively to earn a spot in the Final Four in contests marked by tenacious defense and ferocious offense.

The game between Odyssey Sims’ No. 2 seeded Baylor and No. 1 seed Notre Dame went to the favored Irish, but not without a fight from the Lady Bears. Sims scored a game-high 33 points, but could not take down undefeated Notre Dame even with one of their star players and team leaders, Natalie Achonwa, out with a torn ACL in the second half. With the help of Sophomore Jewell Loyd, who played a sensational game and scored a team-high of 30 points, the fighting Irish were able to put away the tough Baylor team to advance to the Final Four for the fourth time in four years.

No. 3 seed Texas A&M came out blazing as they took the lead against  the No. 1 seeded UConn Huskies at the start of the first half. That fire didn’t last long as the UConn ladies stepped up their defense and Kaleena Mosqueeda-Lewis began making her presence known on the offensive end of the floor, finishing the game with 17 points. The Aggies had a brief rally in the second half to cut the deficit to three, but the Huskies redoubled their defense with a surprising showing from center Stefanie Dolson who had eight blocks in the paint. Undefeated UConn eliminated Texas A&M, 69-54.

The No. 4 seed Maryland vs. No. 3 seed Louisville regional final match-up was combative until the end. Ultimately the game  was decided by a missed three-pointer by senior guard Shonni Schimmel, who’d gone three-from-three beyond the arc up to that point. The Terrapins’ Alyssa Thomas had an outstanding game finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds, propelling Maryland to its fourth Final Four in school history.

The Maples Pavilion was packed with fans of both No. 3 seed North Carolina Tarheels and No. 2 seed Stanford Cardinals Tuesday night as the teams battled for a spot in the Final Four. The Cardinals struggled a little early as the Tarheels jumped out to a 10-point lead. Stanford closed the gap to six before the half. After the break, the Cardinals looked like a different team, executing well, playing a patient offense and looking for their star player, Chiney Ogwumike, inside. Ogwumike was held to just four points in the first half, but came to life in the second, scoring 16 points and grabbing key rebounds to help Stanford finish on top 74-65.

Nashville, Music City U.S.A., is set to play host as this year’s top four NCAA Women’s Basketball teams two-step into the home of country music. Action continues Sunday, April 6, as Stanford faces the defending champion UConn Huskies and Maryland goes head-to-head against a weakened Notre Dame, who will be without their leader Achonwa. The winners of each contest play Tuesday, April 8, for the national championship.

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Robin Roberts with her beloved dog

BY FARM SAETEURN
Lesbian.com

Just like the rest of us, celebrities love animals, especially the furry friends who live to give them kisses (slobbery ones) and jump around like they’re from “House of Pain” when they get home, and who wag their tails wildly when they give them the slightest attention. Yup, they love the pooches and who can blame them? They are a man’s best friend, a companion unrivaled by any other.

But wouldn’t we love it if their furry friends could talk and give us the goods (and the dirt) about their famous human bestie? Well, that would be nice, but it isn’t going to happen unless linguists start learning and teaching woof-woof talk. So I guess delving into the breed of the K-9 friends these celebs are choosing may give some insight into who they are off camera (and Twitter). The following is a list of 10 LGBT celebs, their bow wow, and what their particular bow-wow’s breed may say about them:

Alan Cumming
He plays a campaign strategist and crisis manager named Eli Gold in CBS’s popular TV series “The Good Wife.” He is also starring in the Broadway musical “Cabaret.” He’s one of the most versatile actors in our generation and has had all shades of roles under the rainbow. When he is not working, he’s home with his multi-talented (she does impersonations) pooch Honey who is a Collie-Shepherd mix. Collies, like Lassie, are working dogs: They are strong, have stamina and are highly trainable. It’s also said if you own a shepherd or collie, you are a classic extrovert and can socialize with anyone and everyone. Yes I would say this sounds very Alan Cumming-like.

Jane Lynch
You know her as Principal Sue Sylvester of Fox’s musical-comedy series “Glee,” for which she has won both an Emmy and Golden Globe. Jane totes around her Lhasa Apso Olivia that she adores ever so much.

Lhasa Apsos are happy, joyful and playful, but are also regal and dignified. Lhasa Apsos were bred to be indoor dogs for dignitaries, including the Dalai Lama in Tibet, for hundreds of years. Jane as a monk? Yeah, I can see that.

Anna Paquin
She plays the slightly clueless fairy Sookie Stackhouse on HBO’s hit series “True Blood.” She has been quoted saying that her dogs have grounded her and given her perspective about herself. But for brevity, we’ll only introduce her Catahoula Leopard dog, Banjo. The Catahoula Leopard is the official state dog of Louisiana and is highly affectionate, hard-working and an excellent family dog.

Robin Roberts
The “Good Morning America” anchor, who is a cancer survivor and has recently undergone treatment for a rare blood disorder from the chemotherapy she received, was overjoyed when she was able to reunite with her Jack Russell Terrier, KJ. JRTs don’t grow over 18 pounds, but are very quick and sporty. And very Robin Roberts-like in that they are fierce and resilient.

Anderson Cooper
The anchor of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” jets around the world to do live news broadcasts on location for breaking news, loves his Welsh Springer Spaniel Molly. Molly made an appearance on Cooper’s, now defunct talk show, “Anderson Live,” where everyone was introduced to the shy Molly crouching in Cooper’s lap most of the time. The Welsh Springer Spaniel is a sensitive breed, they have a soft and gentle expression and are extremely devoted to their owners.

Jesse Tyler Fergusson
Better known as Mitchell Pritchett to avid “Modern Family” viewers like me. He treats his dog Leaf as his own child. Leaf is a Maltese-Yorkie mix and is as cute as a button. Maltese dogs are lively, playful, quick learners and brave. Leaf’s other half, Yorkie, is similar. They are small, clever and playful. It’s also been said that if you own a “toy dog,” like a Yorkie, you’re likely to be very creative.

Jim Parsons
Even though his character Sheldon Cooper sings a jingle about cats on CBS’ hit sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” Parsons is actually a dog person in real-life. His beloved Shih Tzu Rufus is one of two of his prized pooches. Shih Tzu’s are Chinese dogs (the word Shih Tzu in Mandarin translated means lion dog). They were favorites of Chinese Royalty, so much so they refused to sell, trade or give away these dogs until the 1930s.They are happy, lively, alert and packed with character.

Neil Patrick Harris.
This “How I Met Your Mother” star has always had two dogs, a Carin Terrier named Fred and a rescue dog named Watson who is a Labra Doodle-Wheaten mix. He has said that their family has always had these kinds of dogs, if one would pass away, they’d get another. Both dogs are from the Terrier family, but the Labra Doodle requires tons of mental stimulation and needs to be challenged or they get bored, so it takes quite an energetic owner to keep up with them.

Ellen DeGeneres
She has a Poodle-Maltese named Wolf and a Poodle named Mabel. Poodles just like Malteses are “toy dogs” and extremely adorable. In addition to their adorableness, they are also highly intelligent (arguably the most trainable breeds), delightful, very amusing and keen. What a perfect match for Ellen as she is all of those things and a bag of dog biscuits.

Ellen Page
She came out last month at the Las Vegas Human Rights Campaign’s “Time to Thrive” conference in the most ingenious and revealing manner. She has two Poodles of her own, Gigi and Valentino. Just like her name twin (Ellen DeGeneres, duh), she and her dogs are all that and then some.

The post Dogs of the rich, famous, queer: The breed says it all first appeared on Lesbian.com.

It’s not just the men who are generating a little March Madness nationwide and there’s good reason for that.

There was lots of action in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, including the nail biter between the No. 4 seeded Maryland Terrapins and No. 5 Texas Longhorns. This one featured 15 lead changes and seven tie scores during the game. In the end, it was Maryland who held on to beat Texas 69-64 in the last minute moving on to the Sweet 16.

The No. 4 North Carolina Tarheels made a screaming comeback from their first-round game in which they barely squeezed by No. 13 Tennessee-Martin. Freshman Diamond DeShields, who set the ACC single-season freshman scoring record, definitely puts the “pop” in popcorn! Keep an eye on this veteran-like player the remainder of the tournament — and the rest of her career. She scored 24 points in the Tarheels’ second-round match-up to help topple No. 5 seed Michigan State, 62-53.

The defending champs and a No. 1 seed, UConn, easily breezed past an outmatched No. 9 St. Joseph’s, 91-52, with their most consistent player Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis registering a nice “triple double.” Mosqueda-Lewis tallied 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Baboom! She’s like Nelly Furtado; everyone wants her on their team.

In a big upset, 12th seeded BYU beat No. 4 seed Nebraska with the help of ten 3-pointers. The BYU women will be making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2002.

LSU and West Virginia provided another second round barn burner. The game was neck-and-neck until the last two minutes when No. 7 LSU pulled ahead of the No. 2 Lady Mountaineers, securing the 76-67 upset.

Also noteworthy (primarily because I’m a proud Bay Area sports fanatic) No. 2 Stanford unsurprisingly ousted No. 10 Florida State with an impressive defensive performance and a 30-2 run. The final was 63-44. The Cardinals come back to the Bay Area on Sunday to take on No. 3 Penn State.

Joining Maryland, North Carolina, UConn, BYU, LSU, Penn State and Stanford to round out the Sweet 16 will be Notre Dame, Oregon State, Kentucky, Baylor, Texas A&M, DePaul, Oklahoma State, Purdue and Louisville. Sweet 16 play is set for March 29 and 30 and is sure to provide much more Action Jackson!

You can follow Farm Saeteurn on Twitter @itsfarmhello.

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