Veteran players lead the charge to the women's final four
Veterans like Paige Bueckers and Lauren Betts are dominant, but have a supporting cast of talented youngsters.
As the NCAA Tournament moves to Tampa, Florida for the Final Four, the four teams that have made it this far have a few things in common. For starters, it’s three one seeds plus a two-seeded UConn, and it is never surprising to see the Huskies in the Final Four. Something else significant these teams all have in common, though, is that they have each relied on a crop of veterans to push their teams to this point. The game has been dominated the past few years by talk of impactful underclassmen, like JuJu Watkins of USC and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, but the teams that remain have made it this far largely because of their older players’ toughness and tenacity. Here’s a peek inside each team’s veteran squad that’s helping to get the job done:
South Carolina (No.1)
On Sunday, the Gamecocks outlasted the Duke Blue Devils, 54-50, to clinch their fifth Final Four berth in a row. Though tested by Duke at times, South Carolina was able to maintain its calm and secure the win via a handful of its older players – namely junior Chloe Kitts and senior Sania Feagin. Kitts, a 6’'2 post player who finished the game with 14 points, was the key to the Gamecocks’ win. And she had Feagin by her side, motivating her, grounding her, and finding her in the game’s most crucial moments. And earlier in the tournament, senior Te-Hina Paopao put up a heroic fight against the University of Indiana, serving as the fuel behind the Gamecocks’ rebound victory.
There are younger players at South Carolina who are certainly making a difference. Forward Joyce Edwards, for example, is growing into the future of the team. But, as Andrea Adelson from ESPN put it, when the game against Duke came down to the wire, head coach Dawn Staley “had those veterans with multiple Final Four appearances on the floor.”
UCLA (No. 1)
UCLA’s post player, Lauren Betts, has been the talk of the postseason. In the Bruins’ 72-65 victory over LSU in the Elite Eight on Sunday, the junior had 17 points and seven rebounds, regardless of the fact that she didn’t see the court for the entire second quarter. This also came after a 31-point, 10-rebound performance in the Sweet Sixteen and a 30-point, 14-rebound effort in the second round
Juniors Kiki Rice, Timea Gardiner, and Gabriela Jaquez, the last of whom helped secure the win with some crucially-timed buckets as the clock ran down, also had impactful performances UCLA was eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen by LSU last year; this reversal in outcome proves that oftentimes, when teammates age together, they improve together.
Texas (No. 1)
On Monday night, the Texas Longhorns advanced to their first Final Four since 2003, defeating the TCU Horned Frogs 58-47. This wouldn’t have been possible without the sturdy defense of senior Rori Harmon, who also scored 11 points in the first quarter. Junior Kyla Oldacre also made a massive difference for the Longhorns, successfully guarding TCU center Sedona Prince and notching seven points, five rebounds, two steals, and a block off the bench.
However, it’s sophomore Madison Booker who leads the team with support from upper classmen. Booker led Texas against TCU with 18 points, and is averaging just about the same throughout all her NCAA appearances this postseason. Unlike South Carolina and UCLA, Texas is a one-seed seed that probably wouldn’t have made it this far without their star younger player.
UConn (No. 2)
Paige Bueckers is rightfully the star of the UConn show as has been the face of the program for years. The fifth-year has been nothing short of great during her college career, and phenomenal in this year’s tournament, averaging 36 points in the last two games. Bueckers is solidly on the list for the best UConn players in history and her experience as a playmaker and a leader is the driving factor in how UConn has made it this far. Azzi Fudd, a senior as been Bueckers 1-2 punch for years and will return to Storrs for one final season.
When Bueckers leaves for the WNBA this month, UConn will be in good hands with freshman star Sarah Strong. Strong had 22 points and 17 rebounds against USC. Strong is not playing like a freshman, but knowing that someone like Bueckers has your back makes a big difference.
It’s worth noting that this would have been a much different competition had sophomore, and likely National Player of the Year, JuJu Watkins not torn her ACL in the second round of the tournament. Among her impressive stat lines this season, she became the first Division I player in 20 seasons with at least 35 points, five blocks, and five assists in a single game. The fact that the veteran force of UConn didn’t have to deal withWatkins and the future of basketball undoubtedly made their journey to the semifinals that much easier.
Star freshmen:
There were still many younger players this season that made massive, memorable impacts for their teams, though they weren’t able to push them all the way.
Duke’s loss to South Carolina in the Elite Eight really put the spotlight on Blue Devils freshman Toby Fournier, the team’s lead scorer this year and the ACC Freshman of the Year. Sunday’s loss included 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks from Fournier.
NC State’s Zamareya “Zam” Jones made a similar impression during her team’s Sweet 16 loss to LSU. The freshman had 13 points in the game, and appeared in 29 games in the regular season.
Vanderbilt freshman Mikayla Blakes, who won the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year Award, scored a mind-blowing 55 points in a single game, breaking the NCAA freshman scoring record.
These players, among a few others, like Edwards and Strong, are widely seen as the future of NCAA women’s basketball. But right now, this is the veterans’ tournament.