No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina are headed to the 2025 women’s Final Four. Which teams will join them?
First, fellow No. 1 seed Texas beat TCU, sealing its first Final Four appearance since 2003. Will USC join the party of top seeds — or will UConn crash the party?
UConn and USC meet in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season, though Monday’s showdown isn’t the superstar matchup many anticipated on Selection Sunday, given JuJu Watkins‘ season-ending ACL injury.
We’re tracking Monday’s games, with live updates and analysis from courtside.
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Final: Texas 58, TCU 47
How Texas beat TCU: One word: defense. The Longhorns forced 21 turnovers and held TCU to 12 made field goals. This season, TCU has averaged 28.4 made field goals per game, shot 48% from inside the arc, and 38% from 3-point range. Not Monday: Texas held TCU to 26.7% from the floor and 20% from beyond the arc. On the offensive end for the Longhorns, neither Madison Booker nor Rori Harmon shot well, but they made shots when Texas really needed them, scoring 18 and 11 points, respectively.
The No. 1 factor that helped Texas reach the Final Four: The Longhorns’ composure was the difference. TCU entered this game riding high after beating Notre Dame, and Texas could have played tight — as the higher-seeded team and 7.5-point favorites, the pressure was on the Longhorns. Instead of letting that get to them, the Longhorns played like the top seed.
Texas’ key in the Final Four: This was an ugly offensive game for both teams. When they face South Carolina for the fourth time this season, the Longhorns’ biggest question won’t be whether they can stop the Gamecocks, but if they can score enough when it matters most. In their three meetings, Texas has averaged 53.7 points and broke 60 in only one of them — the one they won. Teams have mucked it up with South Carolina, but disrupting the Gamecocks’ offense and beating them are two different things. To pull off the upset, Texas’ offense likely will come from Booker. When these two teams met in the SEC championship, Booker struggled, scoring 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Texas will need more from her to earn a berth in a national championship game. –Katie Barnes
