Women's NCAA Tournament: UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina make Final Four

Women's NCAA Tournament: UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina make Final Four

The women's Final Four is set, with some of the game's most storied schools and celebrated players set to face off.

NBC Universal Lauren Betts and Azzi Fudd. (Getty Images)

The four teams that will be playing in Phoenix this coming weekend are the No. 1 Connecticut Huskies, the No. 1 UCLA Bruins, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns and the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks.

Between the Huskies looking for their record 13th championship, Lauren Betts and the Bruins looking for their first, and the high-level players across all the teams (UConn's Azzi Fudd, the Longhorns' Madison Booker, South Carolina's Joyce Edwards), we should be in store for an intense final two rounds of hoops.

Here's a brief look at how each team got to the Final Four.

Connecticut Huskies

Surprise! The Huskies are back in the Final Four for the fifth time in six seasons. Once again, UConn has largely made light work out of its tournament foes, winning all of its tournament games by at least 18 points — including a 43-point beatdown of No. 9 Syracuse in the second round.

The Huskies are led by the inside-outside combo of senior guard Azzi Fudd and sophomore forward Sarah Strong. Combined, they are averaging 35.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists a night during the tournament, creating a severe matchup problem for defenses. Fudd and Strong have been efficient players this season, threatening to score from multiple areas on the floor.

After having won five titles in seven years in the 2010s, UConn is looking to start a new iteration of a dynasty after it won its record 12th national championship last season. Head coach Geno Auriemma, 72, doesn't appear to be losing even a fraction of his competitive edge. The Huskies are the villain everyone will be looking to take down.

UCLA Bruins

The Bruins are in the Final Four after having come from behind to take down No. 3 Duke in the Elite Eight. (Tough week for the Blue Devils!) Senior center Lauren Betts scored 23 points and collected 10 boards as UCLA overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to advance.

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Betts is in her third season with the Bruins after she began her collegiate career at Stanford, and she is one of the best players in the sport. She enters the semifinal round averaging 17.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and a career-best 3.2 assists a game. A trio of guards have been Betts' best allies, as Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens are all averaging double figures in scoring.

This is the second straight Final Four appearance for UCLA, which are also the only two in the program's history. This is a big moment for Betts and coach Cori Close, who last year suffered a blowout loss to the Huskies in the semifinal. The Bruins could earn a chance at revenge against UConn, but they'll have to go where their women's team has never gone before.

Texas Longhorns

The Longhorns went 35-3 this season, finishing second in the SEC, before wreaking havoc in the tournament. Texas has an average margin of victory of 35.5 in the postseason, including a 36-point statement win against No. 2 Michigan in the Elite Eight.

Junior forward Madison Booker and sophomore guard Jordan Lee have been the one-two punch for the Longhorns. Booker, who has won two straight Cheryl Miller Awards as the best small forward in women's college basketball, is averaging 22.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in the tourney, including a 40-point outburst against No. 8 Oregon in the second round. Lee has led the team in scoring in two of the last four games, adding 14.5 points a night since the first round.

Texas is playing in its second straight Final Four and the fifth overall in program history. After a blowout loss to South Carolina in last year's semifinal, Booker and the Longhorns should be incredibly motivated once they get to Phoenix.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Unlike in the previous six seasons, South Carolina never reached No. 1 in the AP poll this season. Yet the Gamecocks still have a chance to finish atop the country and win a national championship for the fourth time under coach Dawn Staley.

Since it was routed by 17 points by fellow No. 1 seed Texas in the SEC Tournament championship game on March 8, South Carolina crushed its tournament opponents Southern (by 69 points), Southern California (by 40) and Oklahoma (by 26) before it beat TCU, 78-52, in Monday's Elite Eight.

Five Gamecocks average double figures in scoring, led by Joyce Edwards, a forward averaging 19.6 points. They dare opponents to keep up offensively while averaging 87.4 points per game and shooting the nation's seventh-best percentage from deep. With Tessa Johnson, a high-volume 3-point shooting guard who shoots 45% from beyond the arc, and forward Madina Okot, who is averaging 10.9 rebounds per game, South Carolina can beat teams in multiple ways.

With a win in Friday's national semifinals, Staley would lead her team to the national championship game for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

 

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