NCAA Women's Final Four: How to Watch and Game Thread - #1 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #2 Seed UConn Huskies
The Bruins need a win to play for the national championship on Sunday.
Well, the Road to the Final Four is over, and the Women’s Final Four is here. Tonight, the Bruins continue their Road to the National Championship Game when they play UConn at 6:30 pm PT on ESPN.
There can be no doubt that UConn is coached by a legend. Geno Auriemma is right up there with Coach Wooden. He’s won one more national championship than Coach and he broke Coach Wooden’s record for the longest winning streak in college basketball. On top of that, they haven’t won a national championship since 2015-16. Coach Auriemma’s team hasn’t missed an NCAA Women’s Tournament since 1987-88, his third season at the helm.
No matter how you look at it, he’s had a remarkable run and his team’s are always excellent and well-prepared, but the fact of the matter is that the Huskies have won just one of their last six national semifinal games.
Last year, they went to the Final Four again, and they lost to national runner-up Iowa.
This year, they’ve struggled against Top Ten teams, going 2-2. In December, they lost at Notre Dame, when the Irish were ranked 8th, and they lost at home to then-#7 Southern Cal nine days later. Since that game against the Trojans, the Huskies have lost just one more game. Their third and final loss this season came against #19 Tennessee on the road on February 6th.
Since that loss to the Lady Volunteers, UConn has beaten then-#4 South Carolina on the road and, of course, they defeated #4 Southern Cal on Monday.
All this is to say that tonight’s game will be one of the Bruins’ toughest games of the season, if not the toughest game so far. UCLA is actually an 7.5-point underdog in this game.
Personally, I think that’s a bit nuts, even though the spread has decreased from 8.5 points earlier in the week. I won’t be surprised if that spread closes a little bit more before tip-off as basketball fans head to Vegas today for one of the biggest sports betting weekend of the year.
If I were a Vegas oddsmaker, I’d probably be saying that the Bruins should be a two-point favorite in this one. And, if a sportsbook is willing to give you the Bruins plus any points, do me a favor: Take the Bruins and the points and if you win, support TMB with a subscription! LOL
UConn Huskies’ Starting Five
Coach Auriemma will start a lineup with three guards, a forward and a center.
You cannot talk about the UConn starters without starting with Paige Bueckers. The redshirt senior from Hopkins, Minnesota has been one of the most talked about players in the Women’s Final Four—and rightfully so. Bueckers is averaging 20.1 ppg and she leads the Huskies with 171 assists. So, she scores and she shares. Along with Azzi Fudd, Buecker is also part of a 1-2 three-point punch from the Huskies. Bueckers is second behind Fudd in both three-point attempts and three-point percentage. She’s made 43.2% of her 162 attempts. She is also second on the team in shooting percentage, having made 54.3% of her 506 shots.
Fudd is the other UConn guard that presents the biggest threat to the Bruins. She’s averaging 13.1 ppg and she’s made 44.1% of her 170 three-point attempts. She’s third on the team in scoring.
The third starting guard for UConn will be grad transfer Kaitlyn Chen, who joined the Huskies this season after earning her bachelor’s degree in anthropology at Princeton. The San Marino native averages just 7.1 ppg, but she’s third on the team in assists with 126. As an aside, UCLA tried recruiting Chen when she entered the portal last year, but she chose to head to UConn rather than coming home to Los Angeles.
UConn’s starting forward will be freshman Sarah Strong. She is second on the team in scoring with an average of 16.1 ppg and she is the Huskies’ top rebounder with 8.8 rpg. It will be important for UCLA to slow down her inside game because she shoots 58% from the field. She’s a lot less deadly from outside. Her three-point percentage is 37.1%, which ranks her fourth on the team from long distance. She’s leads the team in blocks with 62 and steals with 89 while she’s second on the team in assists with 135.
The final starter for the Huskies will be redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy. The 6’5” center from Cairo, Egypt is statistically the weakest of UConn’s starters. She only has 22 blocks, despite being the team’s center and she averages just 5.1 ppg and 5.1 rpg. She will match up well height-wise with Lauren Betts, but I’d expect Auriemma to use Strong to defend Betts in the paint with help from El Alfy.
Analysis
Tonight’s game will definitely be the toughest game of the tournament yet as it should be. The talk all week has been UConn this and Huskies that. To be sure, UConn is a very good basketball team.
But I can’t help but feel that the Bruins are not getting the respect they have earned this season.
UCLA overcame something last game that they didn’t have to deal with once throughout the season. Lauren Betts got into foul trouble, and it happened early. It forced her to sit for 14 minutes in the first half.
How did the Bruins respond?
They played the best second quarter they have this postseason. You cannot underestimate the importance of that. UCLA had struggled in the second quarter against both Southern and Richmond.
If LSU had outplayed the Bruins in the second quarter, they may have won the game. Instead, Betts’ teammates picked up the slack. I’d argue that the second quarter of the LSU game was exactly what this team needed.
It proved they are amazing, even without Betts.
Without taking anything away from the legendary run of Coach Auriemma, both this season and over the course of his career, I don’t see the Huskies being able to stop these Bruins.
They are on a mission. Tonight’s game is just the next challenge. I expect them to rise to the occasion.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on ESPN with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online. To do that, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. UConn Huskies NCAA Women’s Final Four game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16
Opponents: #1 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (34-2) vs. #2 seed UConn Huskies (35-3)
Series Record: UConn leads, 7-1
When: 6:30 pm PT, Friday, April 4, 2025
Where: Amelie Arena, Tampa, FL
TV: ESPN with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 84 with Ryan Radtke, Debbie Antonelli and Ros Gold-Onwude (Westwood One)
Online Audio: uclabruins.com with Dave Marcus
Live Stats: NCAA Game Center
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!! Bring Home NC #125!!!
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Was wondering when we’d get to a point where UCLA would face a team they couldn’t out-talent and needed to win with scheme. Southern Cal got two out of three in that scenario (and you can wave off the UCLA win as taking advantage of a tired Trojan squad). Here’s another situation and UCLA does not look like they know what is happening.
(Also gonna say it, but if you think Cronin has no offensive system then you must really assume Close does not have one. This is pure caveman basketball where they hope they can get the ball to Betts and then hope she can do something with it.)