One of the most significant big-picture sports stories of the last few years is the rise in popularity of women’s basketball. Though Caitlin Clark deserves much of the credit for capturing the hearts and minds of basketball fans, what she really did is shine a light on the fact that the women’s game is in the best place it’s ever been.
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Clark may no longer be March Madness’ main attraction as she readies for her second pro season with the Indiana Fever, but there are plenty of players, like JuJu Watkins of USC and Lauren Betts of UCLA, left to carry the torch.
If you’re a basketball fan of any sort, you’re going to want to tune in to every bit of bracket action this March, and to get you primed, today we’re going over three teams with a great chance to cut down the nets.
South Carolina Gamecocks
Let’s begin with the defending champs. Dawn Staley’s crew proved to be too much for Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes in a riveting championship game last year, and at 18-1 on the year, they’re in a great position to defend the crown.
The Gamecocks lost the dominant post presence of Kamilla Cardoso to the WNBA, but they returned many of the other pieces that keyed their championship run, including Te-Hina Paopao, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Raven Johnson, and Chloe Kitts. They also picked up Joyce Edwards, rated by most experts as the No. 2 recruit in the country.
South Carolina has been dominant on both ends of the floor this year, as they’re ranked in the top five in the nation in both offensive and defensive efficiency. On offense, they shoot the ball well but rarely turn it over, and they rebound more than 41 percent of their own misses. Defensively, they guard the paint as well as anyone in the country, and they do it without fouling.
South Carolina is so loaded with All-American level talent that 10 different players average at least 15 minutes per game, but none are over 25. That kind of depth will come in handy in March.
UConn Huskies
What a story it will be if Paige Bueckers is able to end her collegiate career with a championship. The senior became the first freshman in NCAA women’s history to win the Wooden Award, but knee injuries derailed her next two seasons.
She returned last year and regained her All-American form in leading the Huskies back to the Final Four, where they lost to eventual champion South Carolina.
UConn looks even better this year. The Huskies are undefeated in Big East play and 18-2 overall, and Bueckers has found a worthy running mate in aptly-named freshman Sarah Strong. No team shoots it as well as they do, as they’re 61 percent from inside the arc (first in the nation) and 37.1 percent from three (13th). They also have the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country.
The Huskies have just two losses this year, to Notre Dame and USC, but they haven’t been beaten when at full strength. Senior guard Azzi Fudd, arguably their most indispensable player behind Bueckers and Strong, was out against the Fighting Irish with a knee sprain and only played eight minutes against the Trojans in her first game back.
Even so, UConn nearly pulled off an 18-point comeback against JuJu Watkins and company before ultimately losing by two.
Everybody knows that Geno Auriemma knows what he’s doing in March. If the Huskies remain healthy, they have as good a shot as anyone to win it all.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
In assessing teams that are capable of winning a national championship, it’s crucial to look at more than just a team’s record. We want to know not only how many teams you beat, but whether those teams were any good. When it comes to quality wins, it’s tough to argue with Notre Dame’s resume.
The Irish have wins over USC, Texas, UConn, and North Carolina, proving they have the high ceiling that will be required to win six straight games in the tournament.
There are a lot of great players around the country, but for my money, none of them are better than Hannah Hidalgo. The 5-foot-6 sophomore has been a scoring machine, and she’s improved on her First Team All-American freshman season in pretty much every way.
She’s averaging 25.6 points per game, which is second in the country behind Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson. She’s shooting 42.7 percent from three, 50 percent overall, and 83.7 percent from the free throw line.
Hidalgo is also a defensive dynamo, and she leads the country for the second year in a row with an absurd 4.2 steals per game. Despite her singular excellence though, the Irish are more than just a one-trick pony.
This is an experienced team, with four seniors in the starting lineup. One of them is Olivia Miles, who scores 16.4 points per game herself and hands out 7.1 assists per game, the third-most in the country.
Notre Dame is the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the land at 41.3 percent, and if there’s anything modern basketball has told us, it’s that the three-point shot has become more important than ever. This team could not only be a giant slayer in the tournament, but the Irish could win the whole thing.
