Only two of the regional one seeds are advancing to the Final Four, which begins tomorrow. The 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament has been a wild ride so far.
A Final Four without the University of Connecticut seemed impossible. Even though the Huskies haven’t claimed the NCAA title since Breanna Stewart graduated in 2016, the team has made the Final Four every year. Last year, UConn battled University of South Carolina in the National Championship game. Unfortunately, for all who love Huskies basketball, this year the team made history of another kind: falling in the Sweet 16 to Ohio State, snapping a 16-year streak of making at least the Elite Eight.
As one team takes a step back, another surges back to the front. Louisiana State University earned its first trip to the Final Four in 15 years. Under the masterful leadership of the late Sue Gunter and with All Americans like Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Seimone Augustus, and Sylvia Fowles, the LSU Tigers were a force to be reckoned with. Following Fowles’ graduation in 2008 and move to WNBA stardom, the team slipped down the rankings. Now under the leadership of head coach Kim Mulkey, the team has surged back to the front of the pack.
“It’s super exciting to see,” said Ferdinand-Harris. “It’s something we haven’t seen in so long…To see the fans coming out and how exciting it is to be a Lady Tiger, it’s something I wanted to see again.”
LSU, which had only the No. 3 seed in their region, will play Virginia Tech (the top seed in their region), which defeated Ohio State in the Elite Eight, in one semi-final.
Caitlin Clark posted the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history to lead the University of Iowa to its first Final Four in 30 years. “Iowa is playing with a chip on their shoulders,” said Lynn Milligan, head women’s basketball coach at Rider University. “Everybody knows what Caitlin is, and when those other players are stepping up and hitting shots and she’s throwing dimes, they become really tough to beat.”
The Iowa Hawkeyes, the number two seed in their region, will meet the overall top seed in the Tournament South Carolina Gamecocks in one semi-final. “South Carolina is really special. They’re fun to watch,” said Milligan.
