The Final Four Stage is Set
Between the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight, women’s college basketball fans were treated to even more great games. Friday brought another upset by Miami (FL) as they outlasted Villanova and won 70-65. The Hurricanes then moved on to the Elite Eight to take on LSU but came up short, losing 54-42. For LSU, they took on Utah in the Sweet Sixteen and won 66-63 before meeting up with the Hurricanes. Looking ahead to the Final Four, LSU will face Virginia Tech, making its first appearance in program history. Iowa faced Colorado in the Sweet Sixteen and won 87-77. Iowa then matched up against Louisville in the Elite Eight, which drew more viewers than any NBA game broadcasted on ESPN this season. Finally, Iowa will face the overall number one seed South Carolina in the Final Four, shaping up to beat the number of viewers from their Elite Eight game.
Although Louisville lost in their Elite Eight matchup, they were able to win 72-62 over Ole Miss in the Sweet Sixteen. Maryland met Notre Dame in the Sweet Sixteen and won 76-59 and was then faced with South Carolina. The Terps came up short and lost 86-75 to see their season end. In the Sweet Sixteen, South Carolina took on UCLA, winning 59-43, and then collected a win against Maryland and will now face Iowa in the Final Four. Ohio State took on UConn in the Sweet Sixteen to hand the Huskies a loss that came sooner than some may have expected. It has been eighteen years since the Huskies exited this early in the tournament. Finally, Virginia Tech faced Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen, beat them 73-64, and then took down Ohio State 84-74 in the Elite Eight.
Looking ahead to the Final Four, this is going to be an exciting one. South Carolina versus Iowa is going to break more viewing records. As the Gamecocks are still undefeated and Caitlin Clark is named the National Player of the Year, we all know that this will be a matchup everyone will discuss. Virginia Tech versus LSU might not be as talked about as Virginia Tech seems to more often than not be overlooked, but this game should bring just as much buzz as the second game of the night. Overall, women’s basketball fans have a lot to look forward to with the upcoming matchups, and hopefully, more records will be broken when it comes to viewers on Friday night.