NCAA Women's Tournament 2024: Dates, Tip Times, TV Schedule for First Four, 1st Round
The NCAA women's basketball tournament tips off Wednesday night as Presbyterian and Sacred Heart play for the right to in all likelihood get trounced by unbeaten South Carolina in the first round.
The First Four will also see UT Martin and Holy Cross face off Thursday in the other battle between No. 16 seeds, while Auburn vs. Arizona and Vanderbilt vs. Columbia will help to finalize the bracket in the Portland 3 regional.
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The first round proper gets underway at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday with No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 8 North Carolina.
The Gamecocks enter as the clear favorites after going 32-0 in the regular season. This is arguably Dawn Staley's best coaching job to date as she had to replace 2022 national player of the year Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and Brea Beal. Despite that, South Carolina ran the table on one of the toughest schedules in the country.
Center Kamilla Cardoso helped to fill the void left by Boston in the frontcourt, and fellow senior Te-Hina Paopao made an immediate impact after transferring in from Oregon. Freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, meanwhile, has been a walking highlight reel at times.
The scary thing for the competition is that this should've theoretically been a down year for the Gamecocks because of the production they lost. Instead, they've put themselves into position for a deep March Madness run while having an even brighter future ahead.
Iowa is at the opposite end of the spectrum in that this will be the program's best shot at a title for the foreseeable future. The selection committee didn't do the Hawkeyes any favors in that respect by giving them by far the toughest draw of any No. 1 seed.
Three of the top eight teams in the final Associated Press Top 25 regular-season poll (Iowa, UCLA and LSU) are in the Albany 2 region. Even advancing to the Elite Eight might require Iowa to beat Kansas State, which prevailed 65-58 in the teams' first meeting on Nov. 16.
A national title is the only thing missing on Caitlin Clark's résumé and delivering one to the Hawkeyes might be enough to truly elevate her into the upper crust of the upper tier historically.
Clark and Iowa have a tough road ahead to be the last team standing on April 7, though.
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