NCAA Tournament: Players to watch in the women’s Final Four
Connecticut, South Carolina, UCLA, and Texas were clearly the best four teams in the regular season, and they’ve all made the national semifinals. Here are their stars to know.
PHOENIX — If you read these pages after Selection Sunday, you were ready for a chalky women’s NCAA Tournament that could lead to a spectacular Final Four.
The first half that happened, and now we’ll see if the second half delivers on the promise at hand. Connecticut, South Carolina, UCLA, and Texas clearly were the best four teams in the regular season, earned the tournament’s four No. 1 seeds, and have all made the national semifinals.
UConn (38-0) and South Carolina (35-3) will meet in Friday’s first semifinal (7 p.m., ESPN), followed by UCLA and Texas (9:30 p.m., ESPN). The title game is Sunday (3:30 p.m., 6abc). Here’s a look at some of the top players on each team:
UConn: Sarah Strong
No UConn team, no matter how successful, has just one star. It’s true again this year, thanks to veterans Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold. But only one of these Huskies leads the nation’s No. 1 team in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks and is second in assists.
Strong is a force all over the court, and her turn at the top of the sport has arrived. The sophomore forward has won this season’s Naismith and U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association national player of the year awards, and on Thursday added the Associated Press’ title.
» READ MORE: UConn coach Geno Auriemma takes aim at the NCAA over women’s double-regional format in March Madness
South Carolina: Madina Okot
If you follow Dawn Staley’s team closely, you might expect to see Joyce Edwards’ name. She’s the Gamecocks’ leading scorer, with 19.7 points per game, and No. 2 rebounder, with 6.7.
It’s not Edwards’ fault that we didn’t pick her. It’s Strong’s fault. She’s such a force that it might take two players to defend her, and that brings in Okot. The 6-foot-6 senior is a major interior presence at both ends, and she averages 13.2 points.
Of course, if Strong steps out and starts hitting threes, that’s something no one in the game can stop.
» READ MORE: Dawn Staley didn’t want to play for Pat Summitt — ‘she’s too much like my mom’ — but didn’t mind losing to her either
UCLA: Lauren Betts
You need only be a casual viewer of the sport to see Betts in many places, from highlight reels to sponsors’ ads. She has earned that privilege as a frontcourt force, with 17.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game for UCLA (35-1).
Last year was her first Final Four. This year could bring her first national championship game. It might not bring a title (more on that in a moment). But her consolation prize will be a high place in the WNBA draft and perhaps many shots to win hardware there.
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Texas: Madison Booker
UConn-South Carolina will get the most hype, especially in Philadelphia, thanks to the latest Staley-Geno Auriemma coaching duel. But UCLA-Texas could be the better game, not just the closer one.
The Longhorns (35-3) are veteran-laden, terrifically coached by Vic Schaefer, and quite happy to play miserly defense. Oregon, Kentucky, and Michigan learned that the hard way: They were held under 60 points in earlier rounds, and Michigan scored just 41 in the Elite Eight on Monday.
They can also score, led by Booker’s 19.3 points per game. She and Rori Harmon have formed Texas’ inside-and-outside backbone for a while now, and also are in their second straight Final Four. It was tempting to give Harmon the nod here since she’s a graduate student and Booker’s a junior, but we’ll stay with the top talent.
» READ MORE: In a season of change for South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo, she led Notre Dame to new heights
