The Weekly Fast Break: One final stop

The path to the 2025 Final Four began three weeks ago with a field of 68 teams that each had their own unique story and journey to the NCAA Tournament. There were twists and turns, injuries and healthy returns, blowouts and buzzer-beaters and individual performances that we will be talking about for years to come. As the women’s basketball world descends on Tampa Bay for the final songs of this year’s Big Dance, we wonder who has the right playlist to be the last team with their dancing shoes still on. 

Coaches have long said that to win a championship of any kind you need talented players, a cohesive team that is locked in, and a little bit of luck. Here at The Weekly Fast Break know that the teams in the 2025 Final Four must push all the distractions and fanfare aside, turn down the volume on the outside noise and prepare to win a championship. Tampa Bay has long been known as “Cigar City” from the arrival of the cigar industry that blossomed there in the early 1900s. On Sunday, April 6, only one team will raise a trophy and light celebratory cigars in honor of their win – who has the most spark left to be crowned national champions?

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National Semifinal #1: South Carolina vs. Texas

7 p.m. EST on April 4 (ESPN)

South Carolina entered the 2024-25 season with a target on their back. As the reigning national champions and a team that was undefeated a year ago, the Gamecocks were destined to get everyone’s best shot. While they only lost three games all season, South Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament with a chip on their shoulder. They now are into their fifth straight Final Four as the champions of the Birmingham 2 Regional. They scored 108 points in their first game of the Big Dance, battled by No. 9 seed Indiana in the round of 32 and outlasted No. 4 seed Maryland in the Sweet 16, 71-67. Head coach Dawn Staley called her team “a resilient group” after their win over the Terrapins, which set up a showdown with No. 2 seed Duke in the regional final. The Blue Devils won the Sweet 16 Tabacco Road battle by locking down No. 3 seed North Carolina 47-38. Not a single Tar Heel reached double figures against the relentless defensive pressure of Duke.

The Gamecocks took a four-point lead into halftime over Duke (26-22) but steadily managed the pressure of Duke’s defense and executed on offense when they needed it the most. While this South Carolina squad is much different than a season ago, the balance and experience of the Gamecocks was the difference down the stretch. All five starters played over 30 minutes and forward Chloe Kitts finished with a team-high 14 points. The 6’2 junior sliced the Blue Devil defense for a layup with under two minutes to go and then calmly sank two free throws with five seconds left to seal the win. She finished the day 7-for-10 from the charity stripe and South Carolina advanced with a 54-50 victory. 

The three losses on the Gamecocks’ resume this year are against the other three teams in the 2025 Final Four. They have beaten their national semifinal opponent twice already this season, most recently in the SEC Tournament (64-45). In their four games in the NCAA Tournament, South Carolina is holding teams to 54.5 points per game. Are the Gamecocks playing their best basketball of the year? If they continue to get the consistency they have had the past three weeks from their starters and boost the scoring punch from their bench, there is no question this South Carolina squad is difficult to beat.

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Texas entered the 2024-25 season in a new conference but with the same swagger that the Longhorn program has had for five years now under head coach Vic Schaefer. They finished as co-champions of the SEC (sharing the title with South Carolina) and entered March Madness as the No. 1 seed of the Birmingham 3 Regional. They dispatched with William & Mary in round one and dominated Illinois in the round of 32, setting up a matchup with No. 5 seed Tennessee in the Sweet 16.

This was the second meeting between these conference foes this season and it did not disappoint. The Longhorns went into the locker room up 34-30, doing their best to manage and match the chaotic pace of the Lady Vols. Texas turned it over just 14 times against Tennessee’s defense and forced them into 18 of their own. Tennessee shot just 19% from behind the arc and did not have an answer for super sophomore Madison Booker. The SEC Player of the Year led all scorers with 17 points to push Texas into the Elite 8.

The road to the Longhorns’ first Final Four since 2003 ran through another team from the Lone Star state, No. 2 seed TCU. The Horned Frogs, which had lost just three games all season and riding a string of firsts for the program, found themselves on the verge of their first-ever Final Four. Their win over No. 3 seed Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 meant that one of the top two seeds in this regional would be moving on. TCU came into the matchup averaging 76.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, but the relentless pressure of the Longhorn defense was the difference from the jump. Texas scored 17 points off 21 TCU turnovers and dominated the game inside, outscoring TCU 24-8 in the paint. 6’4 senior Taylor Jones and 6’6 Kyla Oldacre combined for 16 points and 11 rebounds and held TCU’s Sedona Prince to just four points on the night. The 6’7 Prince, who came in averaging close to 18 points per game, fouled out after 29 minutes of play.

TCU trailed by just two at the break (23-21), but Texas would control the second half as their talented backcourt took over when needed to survive with a 58-47 win. Booker finished the game with 18 points and six rebounds, while senior point guard Rori Harmon, who missed last year’s tournament with an ACL injury, added 13 points and five assists in 35 minutes. A season ago, Texas entered the Elite 8 as the No. 1 seed but was upended by NC State. This time around, they shake the dirt off their cowgirl boots and two-step their way to Tampa Bay.

National Semifinal #2 – UCLA vs UConn

8 p.m. CST on April 4 (ESPN)

A year ago, UCLA put together a 27-win season but could not get out of the Sweet 16. Fast forward to 2024-25, where the expectations and pressure were at an all-time high as they spent much of the season at No. 1 in the AP Top 25. They then secured the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament after avenging their two regular season losses by beating cross-town conference rival, USC, in the Big Ten Tournament final. The Bruins won their first two games of the Spokane 1 Regional by an average of 27.5 points and then survived a Sweet 16 rockfight against a very physical and athletic Mississippi squad, 76-62. 6’7 center Lauren Betts went 15-for-16 from the field for 31 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the Bruins, who torched the net as a team, shooting 60% from the field. As it has done all season, UCLA’s defense stymied any momentum the Rebels tried to generate, holding them to just 32.4% shooting on the night.

Head coach Cori Close, whose team advanced to just the third Elite 8 in program history, was now looking at a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16. No. 3 seed LSU advanced to the regional final by disposing of No. 2 seed NC State 80-73. The Tigers held UCLA to just nine points in the first 10 minutes, but then the Bruins erupted for a 22-point second quarter to lead 31-25 at the break. When the lights are brightest, the stars rise to occasion and that was the case in this Elite 8 showdown. Betts controlled the paint and stayed out of foul trouble, finishing with 17 points, seven boards and six blocks. Junior guard Gabriella Jaquez blistered the Tigers from deep, going 4-for-5 from behind the arc to lead UCLA with 18 points on the night. Junior Flau’Jae Johnson did everything she could to keep LSU in it, posting a game-high 28 points, but it was not enough to derail the Bruins. With their 72-65 victory, UCLA now advances to their first-ever Final Four appearance in the NCAA era. 

The 2023-24 season was one filled with adversity and injury, of which the likes head coach Geno Auriemma had rarely seen in his career at UConn. Season-ending injuries plagued the Huskies, and yet they managed their short bench and relied on their star talent to make it to the 2024 Final Four. A two-point loss at the hands of Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the national semifinal ended UConn’s quest for a twelfth national title. With the departure of veteran players but the return of old and new talent to the locker room, the question always has been – is this the year All-American Paige Bueckers gets her national championship? The Huskies dropped just three games all season, captured the BIG EAST regular season and tournament crowns but were slotted as the No. 2 seed in the Spokane 4 Regional. They steamrolled through their first two games of the NCAA Tournament by an average margin of 51.5 points per game and then routed No. 3 seed Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, 82-59. Bueckers came alive in the second half against the Sooners, scoring 29 of her career-high 40 points and tying her career-high of six made three’s in a game. 

From the moment the bracket was announced on Selection Sunday, the college basketball world was waiting for a possible rematch of last year’s Elite 8 – UConn and USC. The most anticipated part of that matchup would be Bueckers against the nation’s top scorer and fellow player of the year candidate, JuJu Watkins. The No. 1 seeded Trojans blasted their first-round opponent but after just five minutes into the game against No. 9 seed Mississippi State in round two, Watkins suffered a season-ending ACL injury. USC rallied to advance to the Sweet 16, beating the Bulldogs 96-59.

Lindsay Gottlieb’s team entered their game in Spokane against No. 5 seed Kansas State with a new starting lineup and a new game plan. Her fearless freshmen delivered, scoring 45 of the Trojans’ 67 points, led by 18 from 6’1 guard Kennedy Smith.  While K-State presented some issues for USC, the Huskies would be another story, especially without the playmaking abilities of Watkins to spread the floor and attack the UConn defense. The Huskies led at halftime 39-25, but a 21-point third quarter let USC stay within striking distance. The Trojans dominated UConn on the glass (42-31) but they went just 3-for-13 from behind the arc, missing critical open looks down the stretch. When her number was called, Bueckers took over, scoring 31 points with six assists and led UConn to a 78-64 win. It is their 16th Final Four appearance in 17 years. Huskie freshman Sarah Strong was not at all intimidated by her first trip to the Elite 8, posting a double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds in a full 40 minutes of work. 

It has been nine years since UConn cut down the nets at a Final Four. The only hardware that does not reside in the trophy case of Bueckers is a national title. Is this the team that finally gets it done? They will have to get by the wizardry of Westwood first to find out.

Prediction Time

We have spent the season here at The Weekly Fast Break guided by a quote from the late Pat Summitt– offense sells tickets; defense wins games; and rebounding wins championships. Our endless pursuit of long rebounds and easy putbacks have led us to the stellar stories that make women’s college basketball so special. Whether it has been outstanding team accomplishments, record-setting individual performances, fearless freshmen who became stars and even difficult topics, we see the parity that is growing the women’s game and the interest in it as well. This year’s Final Four will be a showcase of players, coaches and teams who have absolutely earned their way into this moment. We spent the regular season shying away from game predictions and only told you who you should keep an eye on throughout the year. But the playlist has shifted, and the music is just right for this one last run in the Big Dance. Enjoy the final moments of the 2025 college basketball season – and a celebratory cigar if you so choose.

National Championship Game: South Carolina vs. UCLA on Sunday, April 6

2025 National Champions: UCLA Bruins

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