Women’s NCAA Final 4: UConn, Texas advance to meet UCLA, South Carolina

• The women’s NCAA Final Four is all set. On Monday, Texas and UConn advanced by winning games in the Elite Eight.
• Texas locked down on defense and beat TCU 58-47. They’ll take on South Carolina next.
• Connecticut got 31 points from Paige Bueckers to outlast USC, 78-64. They’ll meet UCLA in the Final Four.

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The women’s NCAA Final Four has its headliners, and like the men’s, it’s the favorites who continue to impress. No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed UConn are moving on to Tampa for the national semifinals.

How did Texas advance?

The Longhorns are in the Final Four for the first time in 22 years and improved their overall record to 35-3 after a strong third quarter helped them run past TCU in the Elite Eight on Monday, March 31. They got 18 points from Madison Booker and 13 from Rori Harmon to advance by a score of 58-47.

“Our press was the number one thing,” said head coach Vic Schaefer. “I thought it was really critical even if we didn’t get a turnover, we really made them work hard to get it in. Then, when they got it in then, they had to try to figure out how to run some offense. I thought we had them really pushed out on the floor quite well.”

TCU’s Hailey Van Lith scored a team-high 17 points, playing in her fifth consecutive Elite Eight game. The Horned Frogs, however, were 4 of 20 from three-point range.

Who will the Longhorns meet in the Final Four?

Texas has won 19 of their last 20 games and will face the only team that has beaten them in that stretch, the South Carolina Gamecocks, in the Final Four.  

“I’ve gotten to see like Rori’s whole career, I’ve gotten to see Coach Schaefer’s whole career at Texas, and I’m just so blessed and so grateful for the experience,” senior center Shea Holle said. “You know, we’ve made it. This is my fourth time in the Elite Eight, which is like, I mean, that’s a blessing in itself, but to be able to go to the Final Four with coach Schaefer my last year, it’s so special. This is something I’ll remember forever, tell your kids about like, it’s one of those moments.”

The Longhorns and Gamecocks split their regular-season series, but South Carolina won the SEC tournament final by 19 points. The Gamecocks advanced to the Final Four Saturday, March 29, by surviving a close game with Duke, 54-50.

How did UConn advance to the Final Four?

In the nightcap, in Spokane, Washington, No. 1 seed USC took on No. 2 UConn in a battle of teams with just three losses apiece. Southern Cal was the underdog, playing its second game without all-everything scorer and playmaker JuJu Watkins. Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Trojans Sweet 16 win over Mississippi State.

On Monday, however, they did not have the firepower to run with the Huskies. Paige Bueckers, the likely top pick in the April 14 WNBA draft, finished with 31 points. It was a five-point game with 2:41 to go in the second quarter when UConn went on an 11-2 run to close out the half. Bueckers hit two of her four three-pointers in the final 40 seconds of the half to get Husky fans cheering.

USC had a strong answer after the break with an 11-0 run to close out the third quarter. That cut the lead to just five, but Bueckers responded with five straight points to push the lead back to 13. Freshman Sarah Strong finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds, the final 78-64. UConn will make a record 24th appearance in the Final Four.   

“It’s a team win, it’s a team victory. The coaches did a really good job preparing us for this moment. We stepped up,” Bueckers told ESPN. “We just have come together throughout everything –– the injuries, all the adversity –– through everything we’ve come together, remained a team, remained connected. We’re not distracted by anything that’s going on; we just stayed together, and that’s how we got it done.”

What’s next for the Huskies?

Next up for the Huskies is the top overall seed, UCLA, which advanced to the Final Four with a 72-65 win over 3-seed LSU on Saturday. The game was tied at 17 midway through the second quarter when the Bruins stepped on the gas and never trailed. They have lost just twice this season, both games to a Watkins-led USC.

So, nearly a carbon copy of the men’s Final Four in terms of seeding, where all four No. 1s made it. Three of the four make it on the women’s side. You could also make the case that UConn was the top dog in their region after USC’s Watkins went down. In fact, the Huskies are the betting favorites to win the title at several online sports books.

The first matchup Friday, April 4, between Texas and South Carolina tips off at 7 p.m. EST from Tampa’s Amalie Arena. The second game between UConn and UCLA will follow roughly 30 minutes later.