This journey started with over 300 teams competing for the opportunity to be 1 of the 4 teams going to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH to compete for the 2023-24 NCAA Division-I women’s basketball championship. Then, that field was narrowed down to 68 teams on St. Patrick’s Day. After 2 weeks of women’s “March Madness” basketball, we have the 4 teams who will be competing for this season’s national championship.
Tonight, the South Carolina Gamecocks will compete against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. Then, the Iowa Hawkeyes will compete against the University of Connecticut Huskies. The winners of these 2 games will compete against each other on Sunday, when 1 team will be the 2023-24 NCAA Division-I Women’s Basketball Champions.
The Gamecocks are appearing in their 6th Final Four (including 4th year in a row). They’re looking to win their 3rd championship in school history. They previously won in 2016-17 (at American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX) & 2021-22 (at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota). They’re also looking to finish this season with an undefeated record, something they tried to do last season, until the Hawkeyes eliminated them in the national semi-finals of the Final Four. It could be possible for a rematch to happen in the championship game.
The road to Cleveland for the Gamecocks started at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC, where they defeated the Presbyterian Blue Hose (91-39) in the round of 64 & the North Carolina Tar Heels (88-41) in the round of 32. Then, it continued at MVP Arena in Albany, New York, where they defeated the Indiana Hoosiers (79-75) in the Sweet 16 & the Oregon State Beavers (70-58) in the Elite 8.
The key players for the Gamecocks are (guards) MiLaysia Fulwiley & Raven Johnson and (forward) Ashlyn Watkins. Fulwiley is the team’s leading scorer in the tournament, averaging 12.75 points per game. Watkins & Johnson lead the team in 2 respective categories. Watkins is averaging 7.25 rebounds & 2.75 blocks per game. Johnson is averaging 4.5 assists & 2.5 steals per game.
The Wolfpack are appearing in their 2nd Final Four. The previous time they made it this far was in 1997-98, when they lost a national semi-final game to the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters at Kemper Arena (now known as Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City, Missouri. NC State is looking to win their 1st women’s championship in school history.
NC State’s road to Cleveland started at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC, where they defeated the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (64-44) in the round of 64 & the Tennessee Lady Volunteers (79-72) in the round of 32. Then, they went to the Moda Center in Portland, OR, where they defeated the Stanford Cardinal (77-67) in the Sweet 16 & the Texas Longhorns (76-66) in the Elite 8.
The Wolfpack’s key players are (guards) Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers, & Zoe Brooks. James & Rivers lead the team in 2 respective categories. James is averaging 24.25 points & 4 assists per game. Rivers is averaging 6.5 rebounds & 1.5 blocks per game. Brooks leads the teams in steals, averaging 2 per game.
The Hawkeyes are appearing in their 3rd Final Four. They previously went in 1992-93 (when they lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia) & last season (when they lost the championship game to the Louisiana State University Tigers at American Airlines Center). They’re looking for their 1st championship in school history.
The road to Cleveland for the Hawkeyes started at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA, where they defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders (91-65) in the round of 64 & the West Virginia Mountaineers (64-54) in the round of 32. Then, at MVP Arena, they defeated the Colorado Buffaloes (89-68) in the Sweet 16 & (in a rematch of last season’s national championship game) LSU (94-87) in the Elite 8.
The key players for the Hawkeyes are (guards) Caitlin Clark & Kate Martin and (forward) Hannah Stuelke. Clark leads the team in 3 categories. She is averaging 32.25 points, 10 assists, & 2 steals per game. Martin is the board queen, averaging 9.75 rebounds per game. Stuelke leads the team in blocks, averaging 1 block per game.
The Huskies are appearing in their record 23rd Final Four. Shockingly, they failed to advance to the Final Four, last season, when the Buckeyes defeated them (73-61). It was the first time, since 2006-07 that UConn failed to make the Final Four. The Huskies will be trying to win their record 12th women’s championship. The 2015-16 season was the last time that they ended a season as champions.
UConn’s road to Cleveland started at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT, where they defeated the Jackson State Lady Tigers (86-64) in the round of 64 & the Syracuse Orange (72-64) in the round of 32. Then, at the Moda Center, they defeated the Duke Blue Devils (53-45) in the Sweet 16 & the University of Southern California Trojans (80-73) in the Elite 8.
The key players for the Huskies are (guards) Paige Bueckers & Nika Muhl. Bueckers leads the team in 4 categories. She is averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds, 3.25 steals, & 1.5 blocks per game. Muhl leads the team in assists, averaging 7 per game.
Can the Gamecocks have the perfect championship season? Will Clark end her record-setting college tenure with the only accolade that has eluded her? Could we see the possibility of UConn vs. NC State in the men’s & women’s championship game? Tonight, we start to answer some questions. It’s appropriate that this Final Four is in Cleveland, because Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is going to rock, tonight & Sunday.