Breathe, basketball fans.
After an exciting record-breaking evening of hoops that saw a 41-piece from Caitlin Clark, the continuation of the Paige Bueckers comeback season, NC State knocking top-seeded Texas out, and South Carolina handing the Oregon State Beavers a ticket home, the Final Four for the women’s NCAA tournament is finally here.
The four college clubs remaining—the NC State Wolfpack, the University of Connecticut Huskies, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks—begin play on Friday, April 5, to earn a spot in Sunday’s championship game (at 3 PM EST on ABC and ESPN) to finish up what has been a historic and energetic year for women’s college basketball.
The last four teams all offer different strengths: when thinking of NC State, you might think of their dogged defense as a key to victory for them; when thinking of South Carolina, their three-point shooting and pace could make them a no-brainer pick for the championship. Let us take a look at what could push each team over the edge and position themselves for a chance at a chip in Cleveland, Ohio… and what could be a drag as they seek that victory.
NC State Wolfpack
The Wolfpack has impressed throughout this entire tournament, and that is greatly thanks to their defensive effort. Junior guard Saniya Rivers has specifically shined, averaging 1.6 steals per game (SPG) for the team and contributing some huge scoring bursts, including a 20-point effort that helped topple Tennessee in the Sweet 16. That performance was crucial for Rivers and NC State, and it feels like she has made her teammates all better with her infectious energy on the court.
One of those teammates, junior Aziaha James, has been another spark plug for this NC State run. James has been on a tear, averaging 28 points per game (PPG) over her last two tournament games and averaging 57.1 percent shooting from three-point range on four made threes per game. Against the region’s top two seeds in Texas and Stanford, James has been the perfect complement to Rivers as the Wolfpack has seemingly cruised past tough opponents en route to the Final Four.
While these two will be the biggest factors for NC State’s success against South Carolina headed into their Friday night matchup with the undefeated SEC team, look for a fun back and forth between Gamecocks senior and soon-to-be lottery pick Kamilla Cardoso and the Wolfpacks’ senior center River Baldwin. Baldwin had a solid scoring game in the team’s victory over Texas, going for 16 on 5-7 shooting from the field and hitting all six of her shots at the charity stripe, despite averaging just 68.5 percent from there in her career. Cardoso will present a huge challenge to her as she tries to maintain that momentum.
South Carolina Gamecocks
Speaking of Cardoso, the entire South Carolina roster has been, well, perfect this year. They look to go 37-0 against NC State on Friday, and inch one step closer to the first perfect season from a women’s college team since UConn did it back in 2016 for a fourth time.
It is genuinely hard to choose just one player to highlight on this complete Gamecocks squad. Pick your poison: you can have Cardoso, the team’s leader in points, rebounds, and blocks be the reason why they can bulldoze any opponent, or you can look to super freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley as the team’s secret bench weapon who plays with starter energy—and puts up starter’s numbers, too. Raven Johnson has been big defensively for this team in the tournament, wreaking havoc in passing lanes and using her quick reads to average 2.0 SPG this season, and 2.5 over her four tournament games.
Johnson and Fulwiley will have their hands full on both ends of the floor battling with Rivers and James, and as other sharpshooters like Te-Hina Paopao and Bree Hall look to spread things out for Johnson and Fulwiley to work with. If they cannot get their three-point shot going, it could spell trouble for the team.
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UConn Huskies
The little team that could—if you can call them that, since they do have senior Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards at the helm despite injury woes—has pushed themselves all the way to a Final Four battle with Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. The storied Huskies have a chance to not only get back to glory and back to hoisting the tournament trophy above their collective heads, but an opportunity to seal a storybook comeback for Bueckers after she missed all of last year with a torn ACL.
After losing Azzi Fudd for the season to a knee injury, UConn managed to still win the Big East Tournament, their fourth straight. They have quite a squad led by Bueckers and Edwards, and with players like KK Arnold and Nika Mühl who have stepped up big time to replicate the offensive output, or at least attempt to, of Fudd. They have averaged 72.8 PPG during this tournament and have ceded just 61.5 PPG to opponents over that same span.
If UConn is to advance to the title game, it’s essential to get contributions from their role players and (very narrow) bench, so everything doesn’t fall on the shoulders of Bueckers and Edwards. It’s also worth keeping an eye on who Geno Auriemma chooses to defend Clark: look for Mühl to draw this assignment early on as the Huskies’ best perimeter defender.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The story of Iowa this season is a little different from last, when they were able to lean heavily on the efficient paint presence of Monika Czinano. Aside from Clark, the Hawkeyes have some solid shooting options in Kate Martin, and a big that has looked extremely comfortable working with Clark on the court in Hannah Stuelke. They were able to avenge their loss to last year’s champions, the LSU Tigers, in the Elite Eight with near ease. Aside from a first half back-and-forth highlighted by Clark, Angel Reese, and Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU could not overcome Clark’s nine three-pointers and the all-around effort from Iowa’s role players.
They have another strong opponent in UConn to face off with in Cleveland, and it should be interesting to see another battle of guards in Clark and Bueckers take off. Iowa managed to keep guard Hailey Van Lith cool, only allowing her nine points in the elimination game. However, it seemed like everyone else on LSU had it going offensively, especially Johnson and Mikaylah Williams. It was Clark’s 41-point performance that helped them pull away in the second half, but they cannot allow for either Mühl, Arnold, or Edwards to go off alongside Bueckers if they expect to win this contest.
It will be a Final Four to remember between these four squads, all of which offer such different skill sets and expectations. While two teams will be sent home tomorrow night starting at 7 PM EST with NC State and South Carolina’s bout before UConn and Iowa duke it out at 9 PM EST, it is hard to see how any viewers lose when getting to watch these battles.
