Technologies

Women’s March Madness 2023: How to Watch the National Championship Game

Iowa takes on LSU today to determine the winner of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

The women’s national championship game is set. No. 3 LSU will battle No. 2 Iowa today in the final game of the women’s March Madness tournament, taking place at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The Final Four ended Friday with LSU knocking out No. 1 seed Virginia Tech and Iowa dispatching the best team in the tournament (until then), undefeated No. 1 South Carolina, thanks to a record-setting 41 points from Buckeyes point guard Caitlin Clark.

Today’s women’s national championship game takes place at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT) on ABC and ESPN. Here’s everything you need to know to watch without cable.

Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after winning. — Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes will play the LSU Tigers in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

When’s the NCAA women’s championship game?

Here you go:

Sunday, April 2

Women’s NCAA championship game: 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN and ESPN Plus.

Can I stream March Madness for free?

Go to the NCAA’s March Madness Live site or use its March Madness Live app and you’ll be able to watch games for free. You can watch March Madness Live on iOS and Android devices along with Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV and Xbox. The app also supports AirPlay and Chromecast.

As with most things that are free, there’s a catch. Without proving you’re a pay-TV subscriber, you get only a three-hour preview, after which point you’ll need to log in to continue watching.

What are my other streaming options?

You can use a live TV streaming service to watch the women’s NCAA basketball tournament. All five of the major live TV streaming services offer the channels needed to watch every game, but keep in mind that not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries ABC in your area. You can also watch the remainder of the tournament on ESPN Plus.

ESPN Plus

Carries the national championship game for $10 a month

ESPN’s stand-alone streaming service costs $10 a month or $100 a year and will show the national championship game live.

Read our ESPN Plus review.

See at ESPN Plus

Sling/CNET

Sling TV Orange

Carries ESPN for $40 a month

Sling TV’s $40-a-month Orange plan includes ESPN. Read our Sling TV review.

See at Sling TV

Hulu

Hulu with Live TV

Carries ABC and ESPN for $70 a month

Hulu with Live TV costs $70 a month and includes ABC and ESPN. Click the «View channels in your area» link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code. Read our Hulu with Live TV review.

See at Hulu with Live TV

Sarah Tew/CNET

YouTube TV

Carries ABC and ESPN for $73 a month

YouTube TV now costs $73 a month and includes ABC and ESPN. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area. Read our YouTube TV review.

See at YouTube TV

Fubo TV

FuboTV

Carries ABC and ESPN for $75 a month

FuboTV’s basic plan costs $75 a month and includes ABC and ESPN. Click here to see which local channels you get. Read our FuboTV review.

See at FuboTV

Directv stream

DirecTV Stream

Carries ABC and ESPN for $75 a month

DirecTV Stream’s basic $75-a-month plan includes ABC and ESPN. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live. Read our DirecTV Stream review.

See at DirecTV Stream

All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.

Technologies

Verum Messenger Goes Desktop: Launches macOS Version as Part of Expanding Digital Ecosystem

The team behind Verum Messenger has announced a new update, introducing a full-featured macOS version of the application.

The launch of the Mac version marks a significant step in the platform’s development, enabling users to access Verum Messenger not only on mobile devices but also on desktop environments.

The macOS version ensures seamless synchronization across devices while maintaining the platform’s core principles: security, stability, and independence.

Unified Digital Experience

With the release of the macOS version, users can now:

— communicate on a larger screen
— manage chats and files more efficiently
— use the messenger in a full desktop environment
— access core features without limitations

This is particularly valuable for users who rely on messaging platforms for both communication and professional use.

Expanding Capabilities

Verum Messenger continues to evolve into a multifunctional platform combining:

— secure communication
— financial tools (Verum Finance)
— digital asset operations, including Tether
— investment features such as Verum Gold

Toward a Full Ecosystem

The macOS release reflects Verum Messenger’s strategy to become a universal digital platform available across all major devices.

According to the team, the goal is to provide users with continuous access to communication and financial services regardless of device or environment.

Verum Messenger continues to build technologies focused on security, usability, and global accessibility.

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.