Coach ,

The ladies take center stage today for the Women’s Final Four with Stanford, Arizona, South Carolina, and UCONN. 

Will UCONN win their 12th or will one of the 3 be able to prevent the Huskies from it?

Let’s take a look at the matchups and what you can expect from these four programs tonight.

Stanford vs. Arizona

Stanford comes into this game as the overall number 1 seed. The Cardinal has made 50 3 pointers so far in the tournament and is the best 3 point shooting team in the tournament. 

On defense, Stanford will turn to 6’4 Brink to protect the paint as they are giving up only 39% FG percentage to their opponents. 

Look for Stanford to run their Princeton actions vs. Arizona and spread the court and continue to knock down the 3 pointer.

Arizona is making its first trip to the Final Four in school history. Arizona is led by 5’6 PG Aari MacDonald. She runs the show for the Wildcats and is one of the toughest on-ball defenders in the country. The two-time All Pac 12 Defensive player of the Year will look to slow down Paige Bueckers.

Arizona needs MacDonald to keep her hot shooting and are looking for a 2nd or 3rd player to help her out to keep this game close and to give them a shot in the 4th quarter vs. UCONN. 

On offense look for Arizona Coach Adia Barnes to run multiple horns set entries in their offense. 

More sets are available from Coach Schuck’s NCAA Women’s Tournament Playbook 

UCONN vs. South Carolina

UCONN has reached its 13th consecutive final four. The Huskies are led by Freshmen Paige Bueckers averaging 20 pts a game and looking to become the 6 freshmen on the men and women’s side to lead their team in scoring and win a NCAA championship.

Look for UCONN to mix up their defenses from Man to Zone Defensive coverages. On offense, they like to run various Chin Series Actions. 

South Carolina Coached by Dawn Staley is looking to ride their defense to a championship. The Gamecocks are holding their tournament opponents to 34% shooting. On offense, they will look to get the ball to their 6’5 post Aliyah Boston. 

If they can start knocking down some perimeter jump shots they will have a shot at beating UCONN because that will give Boston more opportunities down low.

Enjoy the Final Four,

Lason, Leigh, and Marc and the Coaches Community Team