Top seeds South Carolina, UCLA women reach Final Four
At least two No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of women's NCAA Tournament.
Two more could book trips to Tampa, Florida, on Monday.
South Carolina kept its repeat championship hopes alive and reached its fifth straight Final Four with a grinding 54-50 win over Duke on Sunday. The Gamecocks will face the winner between top-seeded Texas and TCU on Monday in their bid to become the first repeat NCAA champion since UConn's run of four straight from 2013-16.
UCLA followed that up with an impressive performance, knocking off third-seeded LSU 72-65 behind another big game by Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 All-American had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots despite sitting out the second quarter.
UCLA will face the winner of Monday's Elite Eight game between No. 1 seed Southern California and No. 2 seed UConn.
Texas (34-3) vs. TCU (34-3), Birmingham, Alabama. Former Big 12 rivals will play for a spot in the Final Four. The Frogs are in the Elite Eight for the first time. Coach Mark Campbell's 'Under Frogs' went from having to hold open tryouts to find enough healthy players to the cusp of a Final Four behind the trio of Sedona Prince, Haley Van Lith and Madison Conner. Prince has been nearly unstoppable inside, the well-traveled Van Lith scored 26 points in a Sweet 16 win over Notre Dame, and Conner is shooting 45% from 3. The Frogs will need to click on all cylinders if they're going to beat the top-seeded Longhorns. Texas has one of the nation's best defenses and is holding NCAA Tournament opponents to 56 points per game. The Longhorns also have All-American Madison Booker. The 6-foot-1 forward was the Southeastern Conference player of the year and is averaging 16.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. She's part of a dominating front line that includes 6-4 Taylor Jones and 6-6 center Kyla Oldacre, so the Frogs will have their hands full inside.
USC (31-3) vs. UConn (34-3), Spokane, Washington. UConn All-American Paige Bueckers has been one of college basketball's best players during her time in Storrs, with the only missing part of her resume a national championship. The 6-foot guard has done her best to get that title, dominating throughout her final March Madness. She scored 34 points against South Dakota State in the second round and topped that with a career-high 40 in a Sweet 16 win over Oklahoma. USC will be without its best player, All-American JuJu Watkins. She suffered a season-ending knee injury against Mississippi State in the second round, but it didn't slow the Trojans in a Sweet 16 win over Kansas State. Freshman Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by Watkins, scoring 19 points in the 67-61 victory.
Every game of the women's tournament will be aired — here is a schedule — on ESPN's networks and streaming services with select games on ABC.
The top four betting favorites at the start Sweet 16 week were (in order): UConn, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
There were 31 automatic bids that went to conference champions and they were combined with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. Selection Sunday unveiled the bracket matchups.
First- and second-round games concluded Monday on campuses across the country. Sweet 16 weekend (March 28-31) put games at two sites once again: Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington.
The Final Four is in Tampa on Friday, with the championship game next Sunday. A year ago, the championship game drew a bigger television audience than the men's title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark.
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