Women's Tournament 2017: Schedule, Bracket Ahead of Final Four
In what is becoming an annual rite of spring, the Final Four for the women's NCAA basketball tournament again features top overall seed Connecticut on the prowl for a national championship.
The Huskies are two wins away from winning a fifth-straight national title, and 11th since the turn of the century. This is their 10th-straight Final Four. With the program riding an unbeaten streak that dates back to November 2014, there appears to be little chance of stopping head coach Geno Auriemma's juggernaut.
Three other teams will have a chance to usurp the favorites and win the title. No. 2 Mississippi State—making its program debut in the Final Four—draws the Huskies in one semifinal, while No. 2 Stanford will take on No. 1 South Carolina in the other Final Four matchup.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Here's a look at the schedule for the Final Four. Both games are slated to be played at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
| No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 1 South Carolina | Mar. 31 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 2 Mississippi State | Mar. 31 | 10 p.m. | ESPN2 |
Full bracket available at NCAA.com
The Huskies appear to be at the peak of their extraordinary capabilities heading into the Final Four. They trounced No. 10 Oregon 90-52 in the Elite Eight and have won their four NCAA tournament games by an average margin of 36 points.
The Huskies appear primed to roll over their next opponent, as they beat Mississippi State by 60 points in last year's Sweet 16, but Auriemma is not taking the Bulldogs lightly.
"That's not the same Mississippi State team we played last year here," he said, per Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press (via ABC News). "That's a whole different team. A lot of the same players, but that's a whole different team."
UConn sophomore guard Napheesa Collier is the top individual scorer remaining in the competition. She averages 20.6 points per game and poured in 28 on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor against the Ducks. Mississippi State ranked 27th in the nation in scoring defense this year, but they will be hard-pressed to stop the likes of Collier, 6'3" Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams from pouring in points.
The Bulldogs will have their own challenge putting up points against the Huskies' eighth-ranked scoring defense (54.6 points allowed per game). However, they have topped 90 points in three out of four games in this tournament and showed great perseverance to beat Baylor 94-85 in overtime. Junior guard Morgan William scored 41 points in a brilliant display that held plenty of meaning, per ESPN:
The Bulldogs will be looking for more explosive scoring from her if they are to beat UConn.
Should the Bulldogs fail to upset the Huskies, perhaps UConn will find a tougher test in the final. No. 1 South Carolina has established itself as a power program in recent years, reaching the Final Four in 2015 and the Sweet 16 in five of the past six years.
The Gamecocks beat the Bulldogs twice this season to establish themselves as the top program in the SEC. Head coach Dawn Staley is wrapping up her ninth season in charge of the team, and the Gamecocks have notched two blowout victories during this tournament.
South Carolina did lose to the Huskies 66-55 earlier this season, which is a double-digit loss but still a notable performance for the defensive effort. It was one of just two games in which UConn failed to reach 70 points. Williams and Collier accounted for 44 of the team's 66 points in that effort. If South Carolina can do a bit better with turnovers (17 in that game) while feeding the ball down low to A'ja Wilson, they might stand a chance.
Of course, this all assumes the Gamecocks get past No. 2 Stanford, an excellent team in its own right. The Cardinal don't do a ton of scoring compared to the other teams in the Final Four, ranked 49th in the nation at 72.2 points per game. However, they rebound well and have shown toughness in this competition, knocking off No. 3 Texas in the Sweet 16 and surviving No. 1 Notre Dame 76-75 in the Elite Eight to book a trip to Dallas.
Of course, Stanford would be perhaps the unlikeliest team to topple UConn should their paths eventually converge in the national championship. The Huskies are on a 111-game winning streak, and though they rely on a pair of sophomores to do much of their scoring, they should have another championship by Sunday evening.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
