This could be a familiar Final Four.
The University of Connecticut, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina reached the national semifinals of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament last year. They were the top four seeds when the 68-team bracket was set this year. And they’ve all won convincingly through the first two rounds of this edition of March Madness.
That creates the possibility of the first repeat Final Four since 1996, when Georgia, Stanford, Tennessee and UConn all made the national semifinals for a second straight year. UConn captured the title in 1995 by beating Tennessee in the final, while the Lady Volunteers defeated Southeastern Conference border rival Georgia to win it all the following season.
While the results have been relatively predictable in this year’s tournament, aside from Virginia’s rise from the First Four to the Sweet 16, there have been plenty of notable performances.
Here’s a statistic worth noting for each of the 16 teams remaining heading into the regional semifinals taking place with four games each Friday and Saturday in two locations — Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, California — that will set up the Elite Eight games at those same venues on Sunday and Monday.
The survivors of that round are on to this year’s Final Four in Phoenix, where the semifinals are April 3 at the Mortgage Matchup Center and the title showdown is two days later.
REGION 1
No. 1 UConn: Only one of UConn’s victories during its current 52-game winning streak has been by single digits. That one close call for the Big East champions was a 72-69 triumph over Big Ten member Michigan on Nov. 21, and the Huskies’ 31 wins since have all been decided by at least 14 points — and each of their past eight had a margin of 32 points or greater.
No. 2 Vanderbilt: Mikayla Blakes’ 891 points this season are the most ever by a Division I sophomore. Aari McDonald previously held the record after scoring 890 points for Arizona in the 2018-19 season. Blakes’ average of 27 points per game this season leads D-I and has helped the SEC’s Commodores return to relevance even late in March.
No. 4 North Carolina: The Tar Heels allowed their first two opponents in this year’s NCAA tournament to shoot just 5-of-38 from 3-point range. The Atlantic Coast Conference program will face a much greater challenge dealing with the outside shooting of UConn, which has made 20 3-pointers through the first two rounds to tie for first place among all Sweet 16 teams.
No. 6 Notre Dame: Through the first two rounds, Hannah Hidalgo has collected 16 steals for the ACC’s Fighting Irish, more than twice as many as any player in the field. For the season, Hidalgo ranks third in Division I in scoring (25.2 points per game) and first in steals (5.6 per game).
Schedule: Friday, March 27 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth — Notre Dame (24-10) vs. Vanderbilt (29-4), 2:30 p.m. on ESPN; North Carolina (28-7) vs. UConn (36-0), 5 p.m. on ESPN.
REGION 2
No. 1 UCLA: The Bruins have outrebounded their first two tourney opponents by 21.5 per game, which constitutes the best margin for anyone in the field, including eliminated teams. The Big Ten champions rank second to LSU among all Division I women’s teams in rebound margin this season.
No. 2 LSU: The SEC Tigers have scored at least 100 points in 16 games this season, including their two tournament games so far. That breaks the Division I record formerly held by Long Beach State, which had 15 games with at least 100 points in 1986-87. Next up is Duke, which has allowed 65 points or fewer in each of its past five games. LSU won 93-77 at Duke on Dec. 4.
No. 3 Duke: Opponents have shot just 27.9% from the floor against ACC champion Duke in the first two rounds. In the Blue Devils’ regular-season loss to LSU, the Tigers shot 59.7%.
No. 4 Minnesota: The Big Ten’s Golden Gophers have gone 13-of-27 from 3-point range through the first two rounds for the best NCAA tournament 3-point percentage of anyone still playing. Mara Braun is 7-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Schedule: Friday, March 27 at Golden 1 Center at Sacramento — Minnesota (24-8) vs. UCLA (33-1), 7:30 p.m. on ESPN; Duke (26-8) vs. LSU (29-5), 10 p.m. on ESPN.
REGION 3
No. 1 Texas: Madison Booker has shot at least 50% in each of her past six games for the SEC tournament champions and has shot at least 60% in four of them. Her 40 points in a second-round NCAA victory over Oregon represented the highest NCAA tournament single-game total by any player in Longhorns history.
No. 2 Michigan: The Wolverines head into their regional semifinal matchup with Louisville already owning a 3-0 record against ACC programs this season. Those three wins all came against teams that made it to March Madness: N.C. State, Notre Dame and Syracuse. On the other hand, Louisville has faced Michigan twice before in the NCAA Tournament (2019 and 2022), and the Cardinals won both meetings.
No. 3 Louisville: The Cardinals’ second-round win over Alabama marked the first time all season they hadn’t outscored their opponent in points off the bench. Louisville entered that game ranked second among all Division I teams with 33.8 bench points per game.
No. 5 Kentucky: Clara Strack’s 29 rebounds for the SEC’s Wildcats through the first two rounds are the most for any player in the Sweet 16.
Schedule: Saturday, March 28 at Dickes Arena in Fort Worth — Louisville (29-7) vs. Michigan (27-6), 12:30 p.m. on ABC; Kentucky (25-10) vs. Texas (33-3), 3 p.m. on ABC.
REGION 4
No. 1 South Carolina: The Gamecocks’ 17 steals in a second-round win over Southern California represented their highest total ever in an NCAA tournament game. Now the SEC regular-season champions face fellow league program Oklahoma, which is coming off a 23-turnover performance in a tourney victory over Michigan State. Then again, South Carolina produced 13 steals and forced 21 turnovers against Oklahoma on Jan. 22, and the Sooners still won that game 94-82 in overtime.
No. 3 TCU: Olivia Miles is one of only three players ever to have two triple-doubles in NCAA Division I women’s tournament competition; the others were Sabrina Ionescu at Oregon and Nicole Powell for Stanford. Miles’ first triple-double came against Massachusetts in her March Madness debut with Notre Dame in 2022. Her second came last Friday, when she had 12 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists against UC San Diego. She was two assists shy of a triple-double for the Big 12’s Horned Frogs in an overtime win against Washington in the second round.
No. 4 Oklahoma: Raegan Beers has recorded double-doubles in all five of her NCAA tournament games with Oklahoma since transferring from Oregon State. The 6-foot-4 senior is averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks through the first two rounds of this tournament. She had 18 points and 14 rebounds when Oklahoma beat South Carolina during the regular season.
No. 10 Virginia: Kymora Johnson ranks third among all Division I players in 3-point attempts this season with 274, but she’s also shown a knack for getting to the foul line in this tournament. Johnson has gone 22-of-26 on free throws and 11-of-30 from 3-point range for the ACC Cavaliers while averaging 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and five assists through their three NCAA tournament games.
Schedule: Saturday, March 28 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento — Oklahoma (26-7) vs. South Caroina (33-3), 5 p.m. on ESPN; TCU (31-5) vs. Virginia (22-11), 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.