This could be a familiar Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
UConn, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas reached the Final Four last year. They’re the top four seeds this season. And they’ve all won convincingly through the first two rounds of this tournament.
That creates the possibility of the first repeat Final Four since 1996, when Tennessee, UConn, Georgia and Stanford all made the national semifinals for a second straight year. UConn captured the title in 1995, while Tennessee won it all in 1996.
While the results have been relatively predictable, aside from Virginia’s rise from the First Four to the Sweet 16, there have been plenty of notable performances. Here’s one statistical nugget you need to know about each team remaining in the women’s bracket heading into the Sweet 16.
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Vanderbilt: Mikayla Blakes’ 891 points this season are the most ever by a Division I sophomore. Aari McDonald previously owned the record after scoring 890 points for Arizona in 2018-19. Blakes has a Division I-leading 27 points per game.
Notre Dame: Through the first two rounds of this tournament, Hannah Hidalgo has collected 16 steals — more than twice as many as any player in the field. For the season, Hidalgo ranks third in Division I in scoring (25.2) and first in steals (5.6).
UConn: Only one of UConn’s victories during its 52-game winning streak had a single-digit margin. That one close call was a 72-69 triumph over Michigan on Nov. 21. UConn’s 31 wins since the Michigan game have all been decided by at least 14 points. Each of their last eight contests had margins of 32 points or greater.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels have allowed NCAA Tournament opponents to shoot just 5 of 38 from 3-point range. North Carolina 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.
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UCLA: The Bruins have outrebounded their first two NCAA Tournament opponents by 21.5 boards per game, which constitutes the best rebound margin for anyone in the 68-team field. UCLA ranks second to LSU among all Division I teams in rebound margin this season.
Minnesota: The 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 has gone 7 of 10 from beyond the arc.
LSU: The Tigers have scored at least 100 points in 16 games this season, including each of their two NCAA Tournament contests. 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 last five games. LSU won 93-77 at Duke on Dec. 4.
Duke: In the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, opponents have shot just 27.9% from the floor against Duke. In Duke’s regular-season loss to LSU, the Tigers shot 59.7%.
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Michigan: The Wolverines head into their regional semifinal matchup with Louisville already owning a 3-0 record against Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Those three wins all came against NCAA Tournament teams: Notre Dame, Syracuse and N.C. State. On the other hand, Louisville has faced Michigan twice before in the NCAA Tournament (2019 and 2022), and the Cardinals won both meetings.
Louisville: The Cardinals’ second-round win over Alabama marked the first time all season that Louisville hadn’t outscored its opponent in points off the bench. Louisville entered that game ranked second among all Division I teams with 33.8 bench points per game.
Texas: Madison Booker has shot at least 50% in each of her last six games and has shot at least 60% in four of them. Her 40 points in a second-round victory over Oregon represented the highest NCAA Tournament single-game total by any player in the history of Texas’ program.
Kentucky: Clara Strack’s 29 rebounds through the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32 are the most for any player in the Sweet 16.
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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 they face Oklahoma, which is coming off a 23-turnover performance in a 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.
Oklahoma: Raegan Beers has recorded double-doubles in each of her five NCAA Tournament games with Oklahoma since transferring from Oregon State. The 6-4 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.
TCU: Olivia Miles is one of only three players ever to have two career NCAA Tournament triple-doubles. The others were Sabrina Ionescu at Oregon and Nicole Powell for Stanford. Miles’ first triple-double came against UMass in her NCAA Tournament debut with Notre Dame in 2022. Her second came Friday when she had 12 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists against UC San Diego. She was two assists shy of a triple-double in TCU’s second-round overtime win over Washington.
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-throw attempts and 11 of 30 from 3-point range while averaging 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and five assists through Virginia’s three NCAA Tournament games.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
