Crowned

The Baylor Bears jumped out to a 9-0 lead against Gonzaga in the NCAA men’s basketball championship on April 5 and never relinquished the lead, winning the title game 86-70. Baylor’s victory gave the school its first NCAA title in men’s basketball and ended Gonzaga’s hopes for an undefeated season. The title bout between Baptist Baylor and Jesuit Gonzaga—the first basketball championship game between a Protestant school and a Catholic school—gave social media users fodder for funny one-liners: “Why’d y’all think the Catholics could beat the Baptists in any game that involves dunking?” “Baptists are playing like there’s a potluck after.” A day before Baylor’s victory, the Stanford Cardinal held on to win by 1 point against Arizona in the women’s championship. It was Stanford’s first title since 1992 and the third for coach Tara Vandeveer.

Died

Beloved children’s author Beverly Cleary died March 25 at her home in Northern California. She was 104. The creator of well-loved children’s books about Henry Huggins and Beezus and Ramona, she was a children’s librarian who wrote because kids asked her for books about children like them. Gifted with a good memory, she wrote about the kinds of children she knew in her childhood in Portland, Ore. “I was so annoyed with the books in my childhood, because children always learned to be ‘better’ children and, in my experience, they didn’t,” she said. Cleary authored more than 30 books for children and young adults and sold more than 91 million copies of her books worldwide. Her books won numerous awards.

Died

George Gordon Liddy, a central figure in the Watergate scandal, died March 30 in Virginia at age 90. A former FBI agent and Army veteran, Liddy served as the special assistant to Treasury in President Richard Nixon’s administration. He also led a team of operatives known as “the Plumbers,” who were tasked with finding information leaks that could embarrass the administration. He was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping in 1973 for his role in Watergate. He spent more than four years in prison. Liddy remained pleased with his role in the scandal, once saying, “I am proud of the fact that I am the guy who did not talk.”

Killed

U.S. Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” Evans died after a driver crashed into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 2. Police shot and killed the driver, Noah Green, who exited his vehicle brandishing a knife and ran at two officers after crashing into them. Investigators focused on Green’s mental health. In online posts that have since been removed, Green described being under government thought control and said he was being watched. He described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its longtime leader, Louis Farrakhan. Police think the attack was an isolated incident and not terror-related.