NCAA Women’s Final Four schedule, location, teams, how to watch

Women’s March Madness has reached its penultimate round. Here is a handy guide that answers the who, when, where and how to watch for this year’s Final Four.

This year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament has been incredible theater like No. 1 seeds Indiana and Stanford going down early or Miami’s run to the Elite Eight. The women’s tournament has long been dogged for its lack of parity, the same parity its men’s counterpart typically features (see this year’s men’s Final Four).

Yet, this year’s women’s Final Four offers a fresh lineup sure to attract plenty of fans.

Women’s Final Four teams

Defending champions South Carolina are back to defend their championship, having won 42 consecutive games since last season. This year, they’re joined in the national semifinals by a trio unfamiliar with this stage: LSU, Virginia Tech and Iowa.

The Tigers return to the Final Four for the first time since 2008. It’s been quite the impressive turnaround for LSU and head coach Kim Mulkey, now in her second year.

Mulkey turned over LSU’s entire roster in the offseason, bringing in nine newcomers. That group included players like Ohio State transfer Kateri Poole, freshman Flau’jae Johnson and perhaps most importantly, Angel Reese from Maryland. Reese has turned into one of the best players in the country, averaging 23.2 points and 15.7 rebounds.

The former Baylor coach Mulkey, who won a pair of national titles with the Bears, was quick to caution people this offseason to “not get your hopes up” and that building a title contender takes time. Not many thought the timeline she referred to was only four months long.

For Iowa, it’s been almost 30 years since the Hawkeyes were on this stage.

The Hawkeyes present a unique challenge to anyone in their path, and that challenge is named Caitlin Clark. Clark is fresh off a 40-point triple-double, the first-ever in tournament history — men’s or women’s.

“When I came here, I said I wanted to take this program to the Final Four, and all you gotta do is dream,” Clark said after Iowa’s recent win over Louisville.

In addition to her scoring, Clark tacked on 12 assists against the Cardinals. The guard had a hand in 70 of Iowa’s 97 points, a career-best according to ESPN Stats and Info. Since stat tracking of this nature began in 2000, only one other player scored and assisted on at least 68 of their team’s points in a tournament game – Washington’s Kelsey Plum in 2017.

Virginia Tech is here for the first time ever. The Hokies haven’t lost a game in two months, coming off a victory over Ohio State to get to the Final Four.

It’s an incredible response for a Virginia Tech team who fell significantly short of expectations last year. The Hokies were upset by No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast in last season’s NCAA Tournament. This year, VT earned its first-ever No. 1 seed, won both the ACC regular season title and tournament, and is one game away from playing for a National Championship.

Few, if any, are more deserving of this accomplishment than head coach Kenny Brooks.

Brooks arrived in Blacksburg in 2016, inheriting a team that had not made the NCAA Tournament in over a decade. The seventh-year head coach spent 14 seasons as the head coach of James Madison, winning three-straight CAA titles to close out his tenure in Harrisonburg.

Brooks now becomes the second black male head coach to lead a team to the women’s Final Four since 1994 and third black male head coach overall.

You may notice names like UConn, Tennessee and Stanford – giants of the women’s game – aren’t listed. Their absences in this year’s national semifinals underscores the historic parity of this tournament. It marks the first Final Four in 38 seasons that features none of the three.

“This is a new history that we’re venturing into, because there are so many great players and parity in our league that we need to start documenting,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said last week.

Staley’s Gamecocks have looked nothing short of impressive all season. South Carolina hasn’t lost since the SEC Championship game – last season. USC’s repeat chances have been bolstered by the play of players like Zia Cooke and reigning National Player of the Year Aaliyah Boston, as well as three other seniors in their lineup.

South Carolina has history on their side. The last time USC played in Dallas, they cut down the nets, beating Mississippi State in 2017 for their first title under Staley.

Now, Carolina sits four wins away from becoming the 10th team in NCAA history to run the table – go undefeated en route to a National Championship. If USC accomplishes the feat, it would be the first time since 2016 a team has done so, when UConn did it. The Huskies also achieved it in 2015.

Staley has now led South Carolina to their third-straight Final Four. Staley has now done that as both a player and a coach; she held Virginia to three straight Final Fours from 1989-92.

NCAA Women’s Final Four schedule and how to watch

• No. 3 LSU vs. No. 1 Virginia Tech – Friday, March 31, 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 1 South Carolina – Friday, March 31, 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Both Women’s Final Four games will be broadcast on ESPN. That means that fans can stream the action for March Madness on Watch ESPN or the ESPN app by logging in with a cable or satellite provider. Fans can also subscribe to ESPN+, which will have alternative streams of the game. Subscribing to FuboTV is also an option, which offers a 7-day free trial for new users upon signing up for the service.

Where is the Women’s Final Four being played?

All Final Four games will be played at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The arena is the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

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