By: Ashton Grennon and Kelly Wick
The women's March Madness Elite 8 round came to an end on Monday, clearing the way for two Final Four games tonight. The Final Four is the last stage of the tournament before the championship game, and it features some of the most exciting and prestigious games in women's college basketball.This year's semi final should be no exception. Let's take a look at the Elite Eight games that got us here in anticipation of what's to come tonight.
Miami vs. LSU
In the Greenville region, 9 seed Miami (22-13) faced off against 3 seed LSU (32-2) in the Elite Eight. Miami, looking to continue their Cinderella run during the tournament, faced an equal match–LSU has been taking care of business during their run as well. The Tigers came in ready to play, holding a red hot Miami team to just 42 points throughout the entire game. LSU went on to win, 54-42. Senior guard, Alexis Morris, led the way for the Tigers with 21 points. Sophomore forward, Angel Reese, added 13 points along with corralling 18 rebounds. The Tigers' intense defense caused all sorts of problems for Miami, as the Hurricanes only had one player finish the game with more than 4 points. Sophomore guard, Jasmyne Roberts, was that player for Miami, continuing her hot streak during the tournament, scoring 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. If you take away Roberts's performance, Miami as a team shot 8/37, a shocking 22%.
LSU head coach, Kim Mulkey, who is in just her second season at the helm for the Tigers, took the moment in. She said, “What really makes me smile is not cutting that net down. It's looking around out there at all those LSU people, looking at that team I get to coach experience it for the first time.” Miami's coach, Katie Meier, gave a lot of praise to LSU after the game, stating “I know we were exhausted because we were pouring our heart and soul into the defensive end and the rebounding effort. And that's all credit to LSU for being so hard to guard inside and for taking our legs out so much.”
LSU will go on to face number 1 seed Virginia Tech in the Final Four tonight at 7:00 ET.
Related: Can't Wait For the Big Dance? 10 Women's Basketball Players to Watch Out for During March Madness
South Carolina vs. Maryland
In the other Greenville Region matchup, the defending champions and overall number 1 seed, South Carolina, continued their undefeated season with a 86-75 victory over 2 seed Maryland. This game was the pure opposite of the LSU-Miami game, as South Carolina and Maryland both were shooting the ball at a high percentage throughout. South Carolina had three players lead the attack for them, senior forward Aliyah Boston (22 points and 10 rebounds), senior guard Zia Cooke (18 points and 8 rebounds), and senior guard Brea Beal (16 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists). The three seniors want to achieve an always-impressive undefeated season, and it clearly is shown from their play on the court.
As a team, South Carolina shot an incredible 46% from the field, which will be hard to outdo. Maryland gave the Gamecocks all they could handle, as they upped that percentage, shooting 50% from the field. Senior guard, Diamond Miller, led the way for the Terrapins, scoring 24 points.
South Carolina head coach, Dawn Staley, knows that her team has all the pressure on them to achieve the 10th undefeated season ever in women's college basketball. “I just want to enjoy this and just give our players an opportunity to be talked about,” she said after the game. “The joy that I feel for this team to be able to be where they are, I'm just really happy.” Aliyah Boston, the senior leader of this South Carolina team all season, added, “Not a lot of teams can say they are able to do this. So for us to be able to do it feels really good, and it's such a blessing we won't ever take for granted.”
South Carolina will face its toughest opponent of the season next, number 2 seed Iowa, led by the nation's best women's basketball player, Caitlin Clark. It's a matchup that all of America is eager to see take place. The two teams will throw down in tonight's late game at 9:00 ET.
Iowa vs. Louisville
In the Seattle Region, the Iowa Hawkeyes (30-6) advanced to the Final Four, defeating the Louisville Cardinals (26-12) in the Elite Eight. This marks their first trip to the women's Final Four in 30 years.
Caitlin Clark was the star of the show, scoring 41 points, handing out 12 assists and collecting 10 rebounds for her team, which was a performance that made history as the first-ever 40-point triple double in men's or women's March Madness history. Clark is currently the leading assist-per-game player in the nation, is third in scoring, and just won the Naismith Player of the Year trophy as her team continues their fight for a championship. Clark went on a solo 7-0 run, against Louisville, effectively shutting the Cardinals down in the first half. She tallied 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 8 assists, in the first 20 minutes. All of Iowa's 25 points in the first quarter were scored or assisted by Clark, and she maintained a high level of performance throughout the second quarter. Iowa shot 55% from the field and made nine 3-pointers in the first half.
Related: Triumph in Women's Sports: A Brief History of Women's March Madness
The Hawkeyes outperformed the Cardinals in nearly every area of the game on Sunday. They shot 54% from the field to the Cardinal's 43%. Additionally, Iowa hit 16 three-pointers, tallied 20 assists, and outscored Louisville by 30 points in the third quarter, leading to a victory.
Iowa is poised to take on South Carolina in the Final Four tonight at 9:00 ET.
Virginia Tech vs. Ohio State
The Virginia Tech Hokies (31-4) defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes (28-8) on Monday to move on to their program's first Final Four.
Senior guard Taylor Mikesell kept the Buckeyes in the lead for much of the second quarter with her great shooting. Mikesell achieved a 64% 3-point shooting percentage in her final game as an Ohio State Buckeye, nailing 5 out of 6 shots in the first half.
After halftime, Virginia Tech shut down Ohio State's offense, limiting them to 8-of-29 (28%) shooting. Georgia Amoore and center Elizabeth Kitley led the way for Virginia Tech in the second half, scoring a combined 31 points. Kitley also recorded a double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
With only a few minutes left, Amoore made her fourth 3-pointer of the game. This shot effectively ended any chance Ohio State had at a comeback. Mikesell's basket 3:38 minutes before the end of the game was her first since 2:38 of the second quarter, but it wasn't enough to save Ohio State.
The Buckeyes only made eight shots on 29 attempts in the second half, and hit just two of their 11 three-point attempts. Virginia Tech will take on LSU tonight at 7:00 ET. Stay tuned to 2aDays to keep track of the madness moving forward!
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Image Credit: Hawk Central/South Carolina Athletics/LSU Tigerwire/Basketball Insiders
* Originally published on March 31, 2023, by 2aDays Staff
