The two weeks of March Madness action we have seen has once again brought us to this point – where we are three games shy of crowning another national champion.
The question that remains to be answered is if that champion will be the same assembling that was the last team standing at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign or if another squad will ascend to the women’s college basketball throne.
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina is indeed back at another Final Four as is Geno Auriemma’s UConn. Joining the Gamecocks and Huskies in Central Florida will be Cori Close’s UCLA and Vic Schaefer’s Texas, taking the places of Iowa and NC State from last season.
Amalie Arena has become a well-known venue within the women’s basketball community for its hosting of Women’s Final Fours. It did so in 2019 as well as in 2015 and 2008. At the conclusion of that 2019, Kim Mulkey’s Baylor Bears prevailed over Notre Dame to claim women’s college hoops supremacy that season.
When a champion is crowned on Sunday, Tampa will pass the baton over to Phoenix and the Footprint Center for the 2026 festivities. Without further ado, here is a look at the four teams remaining that will vie for a national championship.
The Gamecocks may not have ran the table the way they did last season to an unblemished 38-0 record but a Dawn Staley-coached team is still a Dawn Staley-coached team.
And what do Staley-coached teams do? They find a way to the Final Four. It is the fifth consecutive Final Four South Carolina will participate in. That is a testament to a program that has had sustained excellence over a number of seasons.
One knows what the Gamecocks will throw at teams at the outset of games – a formidable starting five that features the likes of Bree Hall, Raven Johnson, Chloe Kitts, Sania Feagin and WNBA Draft prospect Te-Hina Paopao. Kitts has been the best player for South Carolina in this season’s tournament and Feagin has stepped up big time after Ashlyn Watkins’ injury.
Then – there is the Gamecocks’ bench which is a starting five in itself. That includes the likes of Tessa Johnson (a hero for South Carolina from last season’s championship win over Iowa), the rising freshman star that is Joyce Edwards and the hoops acrobatics of a MiLaysia Fulwiley.
When looking at the remaining field for this season’s Final Four, it may be extremely easy for many a pundit to look at Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns and think they are the underdog of this season’s championship quartet.
Except one thing – no average team is going to qualify for a Final Four – so overlook Texas at one’s own peril.
Texas is making its first appearance in a national semifinal since 2003 – and it is a guarantee that Sunday’s national championship will include a participant from the SEC. If that participant is the Longhorns, it more than likely means Madison Booker came through with a big game.
It also would have likely signified that Taylor Jones, Kyla Oldacre and Rori Harmon also are turning in big performances as well. Add in what talents such as Shay Holle, Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and Jordan Lee can provide and it equals a dangerous Longhorns bunch.
When one thinks about UCLA and basketball, one typically thinks about the success of its men’s basketball program via the glory days of John Wooden.
In many ways, the Bruins are a symbol of a changing sports climate – a men’s hoops blue blood finding success in women’s hoops. Cori Close has already made history with this season’s UCLA rendition as she has guided her Bruins to their first-ever Final Four.
For much of the season, UCLA was the consensus No. 1 team – and the Bruins were the overall No. 1 as March Madness commenced. One can coach talent but one cannot coach height – and the veteran big that is Lauren Betts provides plenty of it – and then some – at a towering 6-foot-7.
Add in names such as Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, Timea Gardiner, Janiah Barker, Londynn Jones and Angela Dugalić and one can see how this season’s version of UCLA has already cemented itself in its history books.
Arguably the women’s basketball blue blood of women’s basketball blue bloods is back for another opportunity at championship glory.
There are many programs that would love to have the opportunity to boast that its last national championship occurred in 2016 (thank you, Breanna Stewart). By the standards of Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies that is a drought.
And this season’s rendition of UConn is more than poised and motivated to end said drought. That especially applies to Paige Bueckers who is looking to conclude her collegiate career as a national champion before her name is called first at this month’s WNBA Draft in New York City.
The Huskies also feature one of the nation’s premier freshmen in Sarah Strong. Azzi Fudd, Ashlynn Shade, Kaitlyn Chen, Jana El Alfy and KK Arnold are among those that round out what is definitely a Final Four-worthy team.
