However, champions have yet to be crowned, and there are still nets to be cut down in the Women's Final Four.

Tipping off on Friday, April 3, the semifinals feature the same four teams as 2025 with South Carolina (35-3, 15-1 SEC) matched up against UConn (38-0, 20-0 Big East) at 4 p.m. MST, and Texas (35-3, 13-3 SEC) against UCLA (35-1, 18-0 Big 10) at 6:30 p.m. MST for a chance to cement a spot in the national title game.

South Carolina 

The Gamecocks enter this portion of the tournament in quite an interesting scenario.

On one hand, they have great experience against this level of competition, having played against a fellow Final Four opponent three times in the regular season.

On the other hand that opponent is the Longhorns, against whom South Carolina has a 1-2 record, including a 17-point loss in the SEC Tournament championship game. 

It also doesn’t help the Gamecocks odds that they’re matched up against the seemingly invincible Huskies, who remain without a blemish on their resume heading into Final Four weekend. 

Despite UConn’s dominance, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley sees the team as the standard and almost a benchmark for the Gamecocks, as they look to continue their excellence. 

“It's almost impossible, but it's incredible the standard that they have had for the past 40 years,” Staley said.  

A leader on the Gamecocks is senior Raven Johnson, who despite averaging just over 10 points per game, Staley has given her full faith. 

“I don’t worry about winning cause Raven’s (Johnson) a winner,” Staley said. “It's a comfort knowing that Ravens on our team, and she gives us a really good chance of winning every time we step on the floor.” 

With the Huskies on the horizon, Staley remains confident in her team's ability should they execute properly on Friday.

“For us its just continuing bringing our practice habits to the game,” Staley said. “That's all we have to do to survive and advance in this tournament.”

UConn

Coming off the crowning moment in the career of legendary Husky guard Paige Bueckers, cutting down the nets in Tampa Bay, UConn looks to continue building upon its storied history, including 12 national championships all under head coach Geno Auriemma.

Sitting at a perfect 38-0, the Huskies are searching for their seventh perfect season under Auriemma and the first since 2016's title-winning team.

Similar to last year, the Gamecocks stand in UConn's way, with the two teams' last meeting in last year's national championship resulting in an 82-59 Huskies win. 

Regardless of past results, Auriemma holds firm in his praise of South Carolina, noting its additions and impressive size.

“Obviously, this is a different South Carolina team than the one we played last year. Our two wins against them don’t really mean anything going into tomorrow,” Auriemma said. “They’ve added some really key pieces. I think they're a much better team than they were last year.” 

Sharpshooter graduate guard Azzi Fudd leads the way for the Huskies, scoring 17 ½  points per game on ridiculous shooting figures of 48.9% from the field, 45.5% from three and 95.5% from the free throw line. 

Alongside Fudd is UConn's leading scorer and All-American, sophomore forward Sarah Strong, who followed up an already dominant freshman campaign last season with an even better one in 2026.

With Fudd graduating following the season, Strong is expected to take over as the face of the Huskies after averaging 18.6 points per game.

Fudd's departure from the program after a historic five seasons has brought a really melancholy feel to this weekend, as the guard knows that regardless of the result, it will be her last with UConn across her chest.

“I’ve been kind of in denial thinking about how this is my last weekend. … I'm really trying to just enjoy every single moment,” Fudd said. “I feel like this program has left such an impact on me.”

Along with the weight of this being her last weekend with the team, Fudd also has to shoulder the pressure, like many other Husky greats, of going out on top as a champion. 

“I think that the hardest part is being a senior in Connecticut and knowing what that means and what the expectations for you is,” Auriemma said. “So many of our players have ended their careers cutting down nets in the national championship game, and you desperately want to be one of those people"

Texas

Prior to last season, Texas hadn’t made the Final Four since legendary Longhorn head coach Jody Conradt's team in 2003.

Now, head coach Vic Schaefer finds himself in the national semifinal for the second year in a row, in an effort led by All-American junior forward Madison Booker. 

“Winning’s really hard, and people think it's easy until it isn’t,” Schaefer said. “The only thing harder than building it is sustaining it, and when you sustain it at the level that the teams that are here have done it over the course of years, it's just really incredible.” 

Booker, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, echoes this sentiment regarding the toughness of winning.

“I think once it’s a hard task to do, but right now we’re just trying to take it day by day,” Booker said. “I think it's just a balance between telling yourself good job, but also telling yourself it's time to work.”

Texas enters the weekend as the most experienced team against the rest of the competition, boasting a 3-1 record against fellow Final Four teams, including two wins against South Carolina and an early-season victory against the Bruins, who the squad faces on Friday. 

However, after falling to Vanderbilt on Feb. 12, 86-70, the Longhorns have played their best basketball of the season, outscoring opponents by an average margin of 26.8 points on a 12-game win streak.

“I think we kind of increased that focus and increased that mentality right before the SEC tournament. We had our goals to still achieve, and we wanted to achieve it,” Booker said. 

This dominance has led many to wonder whether Texas could be in for a shock the next time it finds itself in a close game down the stretch, a theory that Schaefer finds no cause for concern, proclaiming the utmost confidence in his team. 

“I’ve stopped worrying about this group about three-to-four weeks ago. What they’ve done and how they’ve done it. At some point, you have to step back and go, okay, they’re good,” Schaefer said. “I've been telling them this now for a while; they're good enough.” 

A key player in calming Schaefer is graduate point guard Rori Harmon, who is the heart and soul of this Longhorns squad. 

While Harmon's stats may look unimpressive, only averaging 8.4 points per game, the guard's impact stretches far beyond scoring. Rather, she’s made her mark in the trenches, becoming Texas’s female all-time leader in assists and steals. 

Despite the success, Harmon's career wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, as she suffered an ACL injury in December of 2023.

The injury served as a setback and held Harmon out for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. 

Against the odds, Harmon returned to the court for the 2024-25 season and hasn’t looked back.

“I'm just really grateful to be back in the Final Four, and I feel really healthy. I'm really excited for this opportunity,” Harmon said. 

UCLA

UCLA enters Friday as one of the more intriguing teams left.

The Bruins sit atop the Big Ten with only one loss on the season; however, that loss came at the hands of Texas. 

Regardless of prior outcomes, head coach Cori Close holds immense faith in her team.

“I'm really confident in our team and how we're going to be ready to compete,” Close said. “Bottom line is, you have to show up and be the best versions of yourselves under the things that are under your control and take care of business.”

The Bruins' success revolves around their focal point, both offensively and defensively, in All-American senior center Lauren Betts.

Betts leads the team in points, rebounds and blocks, averaging 17.2 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game and two blocks per game.

In UCLA’s previous matchup with the Longhorns, Betts was held to one of her worst outings of the season, recording eight points on eight shot attempts, which changed her mentality. 

“I think the biggest difference, looking back at the film, is just creating opportunities to get the ball as much as I can. … ,” Betts said. “Just trying to help out my teammates as much as I can, because it's not one person versus Texas, it's a full team. We as a team are trying to beat them.” 

After a rough stretch to open the season, Betts really accepted her role heading up the offense and increased her chemistry with the guards around her.

“For me, coming out with a certain level of aggression that I'm just trying to get the ball regardless of how teams are playing us,” Betts said. “I think throughout the season, I've just worked harder and harder on that.”

Outside of Betts, the Bruins have a strong core of scorers, including three impact veterans in senior guard Kiki Rice, graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens and senior guard Gabriela Jaquez. 

In a similar sentiment to Betts, Jaquez believes the key to beating Texas resides in their ability to start on the right foot. 

“Coming out ready to dominate. I think that's the big one,” Jaquez said. "Coming out ready to play, coming out to get every loose ball, creating catches, playing as a team, and just play like we know how to play. 

“Play confident.”

With the Bruins' entire starting five composed of seniors and graduate students, this is the last weekend they will get to spend together as a team, and they’re trying to make it count.

“In the back of our heads, we all know that this is our last go at this,” Betts said. “It's all or nothing for all of us.”

Jaquez echoed this.

“We’re just fighting for more days with each other at the end of the day,” Jaquez said.