GREENVILLE

The NCAA has gotten mostly positive reviews for its new women's Sweet 16 format during March Madness.

South Carolina is two wins away from completing the 10th undefeated season in women's college basketball history.

Aliyah Boston had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Zia Cooke scored 18 points and top-seeded South Carolina used its smothering defense to outlast second-seeded Maryland 86-75 to reach its third straight Final Four.

Aliyah Boston had eight points, 14 rebounds and two blocks while reigning national champion South Carolina turned in its latest overwhelming defense-and-rebounding-first performance to beat UCLA 59-43 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Alexis Morris hit two foul shots with 10 seconds to play as No. 3 seed LSU reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008, beating second-seeded Utah 66-63, Down 64-63, the Utes had a chance to back in front, but Jenna Johnson — a near 75% foul shooter — missed both attempts with 4.7 seconds to go.

Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday for the program’s first trip to the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina has joined an exclusive group, going wire-to-wire as No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.

South Carolina is six wins away from becoming the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season, and the Gamecocks will enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

South Carolina remains No. 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll for a 37th consecutive week.

Zia Cooke scored 24 points and Aliyah Boston added 18 as No. 1 South Carolina pulled away in the final two quarters to beat Tennessee 74-58 for the SEC championship.

The final week of the regular season is here, the calendar rounding toward March Madness.

The top five spots in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll remained the same.

The battle for the national championship in women’s basketball is on.

Michigan State has signed basketball coach Tom Izzo to a new deal valued at $6.2 million per season.

Authorities have seized 65 dogs and puppies from a central Michigan home.

Duke survived a tense finish against Michigan State and extended Mike Krzyzewski’s final NCAA Tournament run.

Despite a major push late in the second half, Michigan State basketball lost a down-to-the-wire battle against Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The matchup between Hall of Fame coaches Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Tom Izzo of Michigan State highlights the final day of the NCAA Tournament's opening weekend.

Here are this morning's top stories.

Michigan State basketball rode a late surge Friday to knock off No. 10 seed Davidson and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Duke began retiring Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski’s final NCAA Tournament with minimal stress, beating Cal State Fullerton 78-61.

Charlie Moore made two free throws with three seconds left and finished with 16 points to lift 10th-seeded Miami to a 68-66 win over No. 7 seed Southern California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Governors and state lawmakers are prioritizing climate change as they write their state budgets, devoting money to lowering emissions and guarding against natural disasters such as flood and fire.

South Carolina is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason women’s basketball poll for the second consecutive season.

The widow of Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has died.

Firefighters battling the Dixie Fire face “another critical day” as thunderstorms pushed flames closer to two towns in the forestlands of Northern California.

California’s largest single wildfire in recorded history is running through forestlands as fire crews try to protect rural communities from flames that have destroyed hundreds of homes.

Thick smoke that held down winds and temperatures began to clear Sunday from the scenic forestlands of Northern California as firefighters battling the largest single wildfire in state history braced for a return of fire-friendly weather.

Thick smoke that held down winds and temperatures has begun to clear from Northern California's scenic forestlands as firefighters battle the largest single wildfire in state history.

Two missing Independence Township children have been found safe in North Carolina.

A fast-moving wildfire has engulfed a Northern California town, leveling much of the downtown and several homes.

Officials say more than 100 homes have burned in and around the town of Greenville as California’s largest wildfire surged through the Sierra Nevada.

California’s largest wildfire exploded again after burning for nearly three weeks in remote mountains.

Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have been involved in starting a small wildfire that merged with a massive blaze now threatening homes in the Northern California mountains.

Former President Donald Trump reached just under 700,000 measurable TV viewers over the weekend in his return to the stage at a North Carolina political event.

(AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)GREENVILLE, N.C. – Jayden Gardner had 21 points and 15 rebounds to help East Carolina stun fifth-ranked Houston 82-73 on Wednesday night, securing the Pirates' first win against a ranked opponent in nearly two decades. Tremont Robinson-White added 17 points for East Carolina, which defied season-long offensive struggles against one of the nation's top defensive teams. East Carolina shot 47% and made 11 of 24 3-pointers — and more impressively, the Pirates led for the last 12-plus minutes against a Houston team that struggled to make much of anything after halftime. East Carolina (8-6, 2-6 American Athletic Conference) hadn't won a game in more than a month between five straight losses and three postponements. AdECU: East Carolina hadn't won since beating Tulane at home on Dec. 22.

Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, census worker Ken Leonard wears a mask as he mans a U.S. Census walk-up counting site set up for Hunt County in Greenville, Texas, Friday, July 31, 2020. (AP Photo/LM Otero)A watchdog agency for the U.S. Census Bureau says that proper information-technology security safeguards weren’t in place leading up to the start of the 2020 census last year, but the statistical agency disputes some of the findings and says no data was compromised. The Census Bureau was able to remedy some of the security deficiencies after they were pointed out by the Office of Inspector General, and others were corrected right before most U.S. residents began answering the 2020 census questionnaire in March, the report said. “The integrity of census data is crucial,” the report said. The 2020 census was the first once-a-decade count in which respondents were encouraged to answer the questionnaire online, though they could also respond by mail or telephone.

(AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)NEW YORK – Dawn Staley already has accomplished so much at South Carolina. The Gamecocks received 29 of the 30 first-place votes in The Associated Press preseason women's Top 25 released Tuesday. Arizona was seventh, the first time since 2004 that the Wildcats have been ranked in the preseason poll. RESPECTING THE CATSNorthwestern was ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 2015, coming in at No. It's the first time since 2015 that two mid-major teams were ranked in the preseason poll.

President Donald Trump speaks during an NBC News Town Hall with moderator Savannah Guthrie, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. His Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, participated in an ABC town hall from Philadelphia at the same time. __9:50 p.m.Democrat Joe Biden says President Donald Trump has not been “chastened” by the claims of racial injustice that have marked his presidency. ___9:20 p.m.President Donald Trump tried to end his contentious town hall meeting on a positive note. ___9:15 p.m.President Donald Trump demurred when asked whether he supports overturning Roe v. Wade.

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2019 file photo, Democrat Jaime Harrison, who is seeking to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaks to Democrats gathered at the Spratt Issues Conference in Greenville, S.C. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has been outraised for the first time by his Harrison, Democratic challenger, in a record-breaking quarterly period that sets up a multimillion-dollar grudge match leading into the general election. Harrison announced late Wednesday, April 14, 2020, that he took in $7.36 million in the first three months of 2020, a figure his campaign said brought his total, overall fundraising to nearly $15 million. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

(AP Photo/LM Otero)ORLANDO, Fla. The U.S. Census Bureau is cutting its schedule for data collection for the 2020 census a month short as legislation that would have extended the national head count's deadlines stalls in the U.S. Senate. But Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham said that the agency aimed to have the same level of responses as past censuses. The bureau also asked Congress in April to extend the deadline for turning in apportionment data used for drawing congressional districts from Dec. 31, 2020, to April 30, 2021. Top Census Bureau officials have said it would be impossible to meet the end-of-the-year deadline, and that the bureau expected bipartisan support for the request. The chambers inaction coincides with a memorandum Trump issued last month to try to exclude people living in the U.S. illegally from being part of the process for redrawing congressional districts.

GREENVILLE, Mich. – Several workers were fired from a Michigan Wendy’s after a video posted online showed an employee bathing in a kitchen sink. The video shows a worker in a sink full of water and soap at the Wendy’s on N. Lafayette Street in Greenville. Another person walks by and talks to the employee who is in the sink as someone else records the incident for the social media video app Tik Tok. Below is the statement:“This egregious behavior is completely unacceptable and counter to our safety, training and operational standards. Upon learning of this situation, all employees in the video were terminated immediately and the restaurant has been completely sanitized.

Authorities work the scene after a deadly shooting in Greenville, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. A gunman opened fire at an off-campus Texas A&M University-Commerce party, which left over a dozen injured before he escaped in the ensuing chaos, a sheriff said Sunday. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News via AP)GREENVILLE, TX A man suspected of opening fire at an off-campus college party in Texas, killing two people and injuring 12 others, was arrested Monday. Brandon Ray Gonzales, 23, of Greenville, Texas, was taken into custody less than 48 hours after Saturday's shooting, Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks said. The shooting came as Texas A&M University-Commerce, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Dallas, celebrated homecoming weekend.

GREENVILLE, Texas - Two people have been killed in a shooting at an off-campus Texas A&M University-Commerce party that also left at least 14 others injured, a sheriff's official said. He said the shooting began around 15 minutes after deputies arrived outside the venue, responding to reports of illegal parking. Deputies heard gunshots coming from the back of the building, but could not tell whether the shots were fired from inside or outside, Oxford said. The shooting came as the university east of Dallas celebrated homecoming weekend. The event was a homecoming party, but wasn't a school-sanctioned event, Oxford and university officials said.

Head coach Scottie Montgomery of the East Carolina Pirates looks on in the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Greenville, North Carolina. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)GREENVILLE, N.C. - Teams looking to regroup following blowout losses to begin the season square off Saturday when FCS member Gardner-Webb visits East Carolina. "This is not a losing football team," Ahlers, who has lost six of the seven games he has started for East Carolina, told the media. East Carolina has lost two straight games to teams from the FCS after winning 25 straight against such programs. PREDICTION: East Carolina 37, Gardner-Webb 20More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.