NCAA Women's Basketball Bracket 2016: Predicting Championship Game
The 2016 NCAA women's college basketball tournament is down to its Final Four, with a doubleheader set for Sunday and the national championship game to take place on Tuesday.
Though four teams have battled through a 64-team tournament to reach this point, only one, the Connecticut Huskies, is expected to win the national title on Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Huskies are looking to become the first women's college basketball team to win four national titles in a row. Head coach Geno Auriemma's team is riding a ridiculous 73-game winning streak, and their average margin of victory this season is at 40.3 points per game.
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No. 2 Oregon State will get the first crack at upsetting the Huskies' bid for immortality on Sunday, while No. 7 Washington and No. 4 Syracuse duke it out in the other semifinal.
Here's the remaining tournament schedule and predictions for the semifinal and championship games.
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV | Live Stream | Prediction |
| No. 1 UConn vs. No. 2 Oregon State | 6 p.m. | ESPN | WatchESPN | UConn 76-63 Oregon State |
| No. 4 Syracuse vs. No. 7 Washington | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN2 | WatchESPN | Syracuse 68-65 Washington |
| TBD vs. TBD | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN | WatchESPN | UConn 80-59 Syracuse |
Note: A full tournament bracket is available on NCAA.com.
Oregon State boasts a strong defense and can grind down most teams, but UConn certainly isn't most teams. Whether it's Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck in the post or Katie Lou Samuelson and Moriah Jefferson raining down threes from the outside, the Huskies' options on offense are simply overwhelming.
Stewart, a three-time AP National Player of the Year, has been particularly magnificent in this tournament. She's averaging 20.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game. She's capable of scoring in the half-court game or running the court in transition for an easy bucket. On defense, her wingspan and instincts help her to regularly snuff out attacks, whether it's swatting a shot at the rim or clogging a passing lane.
Oregon State isn't without its own stars. Not too long ago, the Beavers were an afterthought in the college basketball world, but coach Scott Rueck's coaching ability and recruiting acumen have turned this school into a force to be reckoned with.
Oregon State's defense is one of the best in the country, anchored by 6'6" center Ruth Hamblin. Guards Sydney Wiese and Jamie Weisner are efficient scorers on the perimeter, and Auriemma isn't taking them lightly, per ESPNW.com's Graham Hays:
"What worries me is what I think, because what I think is they're really, really good. They've got great size, obviously, inside, so that takes care of a lot of problems that a lot of teams ... have to worry about, and they don't have to. They've got two great guards on the perimeter that are just dynamic. I love watching the way they play. I love watching the way they interact. They're hard-nosed, tough kids, gritty. They're not all just -- you know, some kids love to play as long as it's not getting down and dirty. Those [Oregon State] kids are tough.
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The Beavers might be able to hold UConn to a reasonable scoring total by slowing down the runaway freight train that is the Huskies transition game, but there is little to nothing to suggest that they will be able to keep up. The Huskies will move on to the title game easily.
As for the other semifinal, look for Syracuse to edge out a win over Washington. FiveThirtyEight gives the Orange a 62 percent chance of winning that contest, but it won't be easy. Syracuse only narrowly beat out Washington 66-62 back on Nov. 27, and both teams are in excellent form at the moment.
The Pac-12 Huskies are on a remarkable run in this tournament, beating No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Stanford to reach the Final Four. Junior guard Kelsey Plum has been on a tear, scoring 26.3 points per game in the tournament. Chantel Osahor may be listed as a center, but she has a delightful twist to her game in the form of her set-shot three-pointers. Syracuse is led by point guard Alexis Peterson, who has stepped up her game in this tournament, per ESPN.com's Charlie Creme:
"The NCAA tournament has been a four-game tribute to her approach. An average of 16 points per game during the regular season has turned into 25 a contest in March's biggest games. Peterson stands just 5-foot-7, but she was the biggest player on the floor for the Orange in the two most important wins in school history, scoring 26 and 29 points, respectively, against South Carolina and Tennessee in the Sioux Falls Regional.
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Brianna Butler and Brittney Sykes have also made huge contributions to Syracuse on offense. They combined for 35 points to help the Orange upset No. 1 South Carolina in the Sweet 16.
However, pressure defense might be the key in this one.
“If we’re making shots, we’re able to get into our pressure,” Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said, per Newsday's Paul Shepherd. “If we’re not able to speed the game up and play fast, it’s not going to have any effect on the game at all.”
If the Orange can win the turnover battle like they did back in November—Syracuse was plus-11 in that contest—they should again come away victorious.
So, this sets up a championship game between UConn and Syracuse. Again, there isn't much sense in predicting anything other than the expected outcome. The Huskies should win in a romp, leaving the prognostication to deciding by just how much they will win.
UConn routinely wins by margins that make the Harlem Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals seem competitive, and the latter games are scripted and done for comedic effect. The Huskies' opponents are putting it all on the line, deadly serious, and still get laughed out of the building.
UConn will win its fourth national title in a row on Tuesday, and it won't be very close.
Championship prediction: UConn 82, Syracuse 63
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