NCAA Tournament: Players to watch in the women’s Final Four

PHOENIX — If you read these pages after Selection Sunday, you were ready for a chalky NCAA women’s tournament that could lead to a spectacular Final Four.

The first half of that happened, and now we’ll see if the second half delivers on the promise at hand. Connecticut, South Carolina, UCLA, and Texas were clearly the best four teams in the regular season, and they’ve all made the national semifinals.

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. The sophomore forward has this season’s Naismith and U.S. Basketball Writers’ national player of the year award, and the Associated Press’ title shouldn’t be far behind. As has been said here before, her turn at the top of the sport has arrived.

» READ MORE: UConn coach Geno Auriemma takes aim at the NCAA over women’s double-regional format in March Madness

If you follow Dawn Staley’s team closely, you might expect to see Joyce Edwards’ name here. She’s the Gamecocks’ leading scorer at 19.7 points per game, and No. 2 rebounder at 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 here, and that brings in Okot. The 6-foot-6 senior is a major interior presence at both ends, and she has scored 13.2 points per game.

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

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 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game.

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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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 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 all held to under 60 points in earlier rounds, with Michigan allowed just 41.

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 are also in their second straight Final Four. It was tempting to give Harmon the nod here since she’s a senior 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