As the NCAA women’s basketball tournament careens toward the Final Four in Phoenix, the Fort Worth 1 Regional has come down to its last four teams. There are major contenders to win the entire event, along with some huge underdogs who hope to break the sport’s status quo.
The remaining teams in the region are No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 4 North Carolina and No 6 Notre Dame, all of which are vying for a trip to the Valley for the Final Four April 3 and 5.
The Huskies were the top-ranked team in the country heading into the tournament, with a 30-0 record and off to their best start since the 2017-18 season, when they fell short to another team in this region, Notre Dame. A decade ago, the Huskies went a perfect 38-0, won their 11th title and now they hope to repeat.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment, what we’ve been able to achieve so far this year,” UConn guard Azzi Fudd said in a news conference after the Huskies won the Big East tournament.
“We have a couple days off, so we want to enjoy that, celebrate that, but like you said, our work isn’t done yet. So as much as we can enjoy this win, enjoy being undefeated this season, being undefeated, being a Big East champion, won’t really matter in a couple weeks.”
The Huskies are second in the nation in scoring with 89.1 points per game, but offense isn’t the only part of their repertoire. Their suffocating defense is also first in the nation, allowing 50.3 points per game, giving them the best point differential in the nation with plus-38.8.
While UConn is the huge favorite, two teams hope to disrupt the Huskies’ dominance, but first they have to go through each other to reach the Elite Eight. Vanderbilt finished the season ranked sixth in the AP polls, securing the No. 2 seed in Fort Worth 1. Vanderbilt has advanced past the round of 32 for the first time since the 2009 season. Under fifth-year coach Shea Ralph, the Commodores have become one of the best teams in the nation.
Within this region, there is history between teams who may want revenge. Notre Dame ended UConn’s perfect season in the 2018 Final Four, but the Fighting Irish have not always gotten the best of UConn in the tournament. UConn and Notre Dame met for the national championship in 2014 and 2015, with the Huskies winning both games. As the underdogs this year, Notre Dame hopes to spoil not only UConn’s perfect season but Vanderbilt’s historic season to get one step closer to winning the national championship, which they captured in 2018.
Coaches
Geno Auriemma (UConn): Auriemma is arguably the most successful coach in women’s college basketball, leading UConn to all 12 of the program’s national titles. Auriemma took over the reins in 1985 and turned the women’s team into a blue blood program. Auriemma has sent several of his players to the WNBA, where they continued to have success at the pro level.
Even after losing players to the draft and graduation, Auriemma coached the Huskies to a perfect regular season and they kept the momentum, cruising through the Big East tournament. He is faced with the task of completing what he did a decade ago: winning the national championship without recording a single loss.
Shea Ralph (Vanderbilt): In her fifth year as coach for Vanderbilt, Ralph has led the Commodores to their first Sweet 16 berth since the 2009 tournament. They finished the regular season in the AP Top 25 rankings at No. 6.
Ralph spent time at UConn as an assistant coach and now is faced with the challenge of defeating her teacher.
Niele Ivey (Notre Dame): In her sixth season as the coach for the Fighting Irish, Ivey has yet to lead the team into the Elite Eight. Ivey was tasked with continuing the success of the program that won the national championship in 2018.
Besides the ACC tournament win in 2024, Ivey hopes to coach Notre Dame back to the winner’s platform and guide her team to the Final Four in Phoenix the first weekend of April.
Courtney Banghart (UNC): Banghart is in her seventh season as the Tar Heels coach and in her 18th year overall as a head coach. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament’s cancellation in her first year, she has led the Tar Heels to the tournament every year since 2021. This marks their third time making it to the Sweet 16.
Key players
Azzi Fudd (UConn): Fudd is a graduate student with the Huskies, where she is averaging 17.8 points per game along with three assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals. The guard is an efficient shooter, averaging 49.5% from the field along with 45.4% beyond the arc and 95.1% from the free throw line.
Sarah Strong (UConn): A sophomore forward, Strong leads the team in several categories. She is the team’s leading scorer with 18.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. Strong and Fudd together are a lethal combination for Huskies’ opponents.
Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt): Blakes, a guard, has cemented herself in history this season, breaking the school’s all-time single-season scoring record for any class as a sophomore. She is averaging 27 points per game with four rebounds and 4.6 assists. She has kept the momentum from her freshman year to be regarded as one of the best guards in the nation.
Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame): The junior guard has kept the pace throughout the years, upping her offensive game each season. Hidalgo is averaging 25.2 points with 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 5.6 steals per game. The elite two-way player will try to guide her team once more and make her first Elite Eight appearance.
Nyla Harris (UNC): Harris, a senior forward, is trying to end her college career on top of the mountain. After transferring from Louisville last summer, she has been a crucial fit for the Tar Heels. Harris is the team’s leading scorer with 11.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Matchups
Vanderbilt vs Notre Dame: Both teams feel like a special run is on the horizon. Vanderbilt hasn’t made it past this round in 24 years. Notre Dame hopes to embrace the underdog mentality to push past the Commodores and play spoiler once again against UConn should they advance. With two elite guards on each team, this game will be decided by the backcourt.
“Just take it how we do every single game,” Blakes said in a postgame interview. “I think when we come into a tournament we have to continue to be us, and we’re going to make our game plan our game plan.”
After Notre Dame’s win over Ohio State in the second round, Hidalgo emphasized the Fighting Irish’ underdog mindset.
“Just to be able to be in this position and to keep dancing, because nobody believed in us, we’ve been through these moments,” she said. “We’ve been through moments where we’ve had rough starts and we had to crawl back.
”Because of that adversity, because of how we started this season, we’ve been able to figure it out. I’m so glad that we went through the adversity that we did in the beginning of the season, because right now is when it counts the most.”
UConn vs North Carolina: The second game of this region looks like a David vs. Goliath situation. UConn has been extremely dominant this season and has no hesitation to slow it down. After cruising through the first rounds, North Carolina hopes to put some pressure on the Huskies and pull off what would be a monumental upset.
“We’re a young team, and there’s a lot of trust in that locker room,” Banghart said after the Tar Heels’ win over Maryland in the second round. “Going to a Sweet 16 is so hard. I know it’s harder than is even put into words. These guys embraced hard this whole year. I was hard on them. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
With the stage set for the remaining four teams in the Fort Worth 1 Regional at a neutral site, the road to Phoenix is getting clearer. UConn is the big favorite and may already have its sights on the Final Four. Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are both trying to end their streak of not making it to the Elite Eight. North Carolina, meanwhile, has a huge battle ahead to keep its season alive.
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