Charles Langston:Women's NCAA Tournament teams joining men's counterparts in Sweet 16 of March Madness

North Carolina State women’s basketball coach Wes Moore wasn’t expecting the phone to ring at 8 a.m. on Charles LangstonMonday morning, but when the person calling you is a co-worker who already booked his ticket to the Sweet 16, you answer. 

On the other line: NC State men’s coach Kevin Keatts, calling to check in on Moore eight hours before Moore’s team was set to tip off against Tennessee at Reynolds Coliseum with a trip to the women’s Sweet 16 on the line. 

Keatts, in his seventh year coaching the men, led the 11th-seeded Wolfpack to a 79-73 overtime win against upset-minded and 14th-seeded Oakland in Pittsburgh. Playing Saturday gave Keatts plenty of time to get back to Raleigh to watch the women punch their own ticket with a 79-72 win over the Lady Vols, where he was seen cheering from the stands. 

“Our players are good friends, coach Keatts, I love the guy, I’m so happy for him,” Moore said. “Even with all his success he comes to our game. I’m so happy for both teams and (the men) they’ve been on an unbelievable run.” 

NC State has company, too. The Duke men and women are both headed to their respective regional semifinals, too. The women, a 7 seed in the Portland 3 region, upset second-seeded Ohio State, 75-63, on the Buckeyes’ home court to advance, earning praise from Duke men’s coach Jon Scheyer. 

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“Shoutout to our women’s team,” Scheyer said Sunday after the men beat James Madison, 93-55. “We’re both in the Sweet 16. I’m watching the game, getting ready today, and Reigan Richardson, oh my gosh, she was incredible. Seeing our team go to the Sweet 16, to share this with them, hopefully we can both keep advancing.” 

Ditto with UConn. The Husky men, the defending national champs and overall No. 1 seed in the men’s tournament, again look like the team to beat after dispatching Northwestern, 75-58. The women, meanwhile, advanced behind Paige Bueckers’ 32 point, 10 rebound, six assist and four steals performance as UConn survived Syracuse, 72-64. 

Late Monday, with the Gonzaga men home from their 89-68 second-round win over Kansas and packed into The Kennel in Spokane, the Gonzaga women qualified for their first Sweet 16 in nine years, topping Utah, 77-66. 

“It just reflects the connectedness we have between the (programs),” said Zags forward Yvonne Ejim, who notched a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. “It’s great to have their support here … kudos to this school. It’s a testimony to the work we’ve all put in from the get-go.”

On the women’s side, Gonzaga is the only mid-major left in the tournament. It’s the Gonzaga men’s ninth straight Sweet 16. 

Now comes the tough part: continuing to carve out time to watch their counterparts while prepping for their own big game. 

Moore said Saturday that his NC State team was staying at a local Raleigh hotel watching the men’s game via streaming in their media room. On the other side of the wall, the hotel bar had it on the TV. Because the stream was a few seconds behind the TV feed, when “the bar was going crazy, we knew something good had happened,” Moore said, laughing.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “Let’s keep it going.”