Eight of the nation's best women's college basketball teams will take to the MVP Arena court this weekend in Albany to determine half of the 2024 Final Four.
The Albany 1 and Albany 2 regions of the NCAA women's basketball tournament feature the defending national champion and runner-up, as well as the current No. 1 team in the country and the game's most prolific scorer. Games in Albany start Friday with regional semifinals, running through Elite Eight games on Sunday and Monday.
Here's a look at the teams in each region:
Albany 1
No. 1 seed: South Carolina (34-0)
Coach Dawn Staley's Gamecocks have not been tested in two tournament games thus far, rolling past both Presbyterian (91-39) and North Carolina (88-41). The top team in the AP poll was last tested in its conference tournament, needing a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer by Kamilla Cardoso to beat Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals before topping defending national champion LSU in the tournament final.
The Gamecocks are averaging just over 86 points per game and giving up a little more than 55 per game. They're led by second-team AP All-American Cardoso's 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, backed up by MiLaysia Fulwiley (12.2 PPG) and Te-Hina Paopao (11.2 PPG).
South Carolina tips off with Indiana at 5 p.m. Friday.
No. 2 seed: Notre Dame (28-6)
The Fighting Irish are certainly no strangers to bigger stages, having reached the national championship game six times since 2011, winning the 2018 national championship. Niele Ivey's Irish have won 10 in a row, claiming the ACC tournament championship with wins over Louisville, Virginia Tech and fellow Sweet 16 team North Carolina State. In the tournament, they've reached the round of 16 with wins over Kent State (81-67) and Mississippi (71-56).
Three Notre Dame players average double figures in scoring per game — freshman guard and AP first-team All-American Hannah Hidalgo (22.9), junior guard Sonia Citron (17.1) and senior forward Maddy Westbeld (14.2). Westbeld is the team's top rebounder at 8.9 RPG.
Notre Dame tips off against Oregon State at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The winner faces either South Carolina or Indiana in the Elite Eight.
No. 3 seed: Oregon State (26-7)
The Beavers are coming off a 10-point win over Nebraska in the round of 32, which followed an easy opening win over Eastern Washington. They entered the tournament after falling to Stanford in the semifinals of what will be the school's final Pac-12 tournament. Oregon State moves to the West Coast Conference in basketball next year following the unraveling of the Pac-12 — 10 members moved to different conferences, leaving only Oregon State and Washington State.
Raegan Beers leads the way for OSU; the sophomore forward averages a team-high 17.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Timea Gardiner (11.4) and Talia von Oelhoffen (10.9) also average double figures in scoring per game for the Beavers.
No. 4 seed: Indiana (26-5)
The Hoosiers will certainly miss playing in Bloomington, Ind., where they're 17-0 this season. They lost to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament before opening the NCAAs with wins over Fairfield (89-56) and Oklahoma (75-68). Next up: the unbeaten, top-ranked Gamecocks.
The offense runs through 6-foot 3-inch forward Mackenzie Holmes. A first-team All-American last year, Holmes averages 20 points a game this season, having played in all 31 games for Indiana. She's one of five Hoosiers averaging double figures in points, joining Sara Scalia, Yarden Garzon, Sydney Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil.
Albany 2
No. 1 seed: Iowa (31-4)
Caitlin Clark has done more for the Hawkeyes than possibly any player in program history. The 6-foot guard is now a four-time All-Big Ten player, and the consensus conference player of the year. She's a first-team AP All-American. She's the NCAA's all-time leading scorer — men and women — and is the first Division I player to record 1,000 points scored in consecutive seasons.
One thing she doesn't have: a national championship. That eluded her and the Hawkeyes last year as they fell to LSU in the national championship game.
Iowa held off a scrappy West Virginia team in the final minutes of a 64-54 win at Iowa's home gym, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in the second round. Clark is joined in Iowa's prolific offense by sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke (14.1 points per game) and 6-foot guard Kate Martin (12.8 PPG).
The Hawkeyes will face Colorado in the round of 16; the game tips off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
No. 2 seed: UCLA (27-6)
UCLA basketball is far more than a men's power. The Bruin women were stopped in their final Pac-12 tournament with a double-overtime semifinal loss to fellow Sweet 16 team — and fellow future Big Ten school — Southern California. UCLA, however, rebounded with tournament wins over California Baptist (84-55) and Creighton (67-63) to reach Albany and a matchup with defending national champ LSU. Interestingly enough, in its last season, the Pac-12 has five Sweet 16 teams.
Neutral-site games seem to work in UCLA's favor this season: Coach Cori Close's squad is 4-1 on a neutral court. Lauren Betts leads the way in the middle for the Bruins; the 6-7 sophomore center is averaging 14.9 points and 9 rebounds per game this year, and is one of four UCLA players scoring in double figures (the others being guards Charisma Osborne, Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones).
UCLA tips off with LSU at 1 p.m. Saturday.
No. 3 seed: Louisiana State (30-5)
Coach Kim Mulkey's Tigers are looking to defend their national championship, coming off tournament wins over Rice (70-60) and Middle Tennessee (83-56).
It hasn't seemed to affect the Tigers on-court to date: Star forward Angel Reese scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in LSU's second-round win over Middle Tennessee. Reese has averaged 18.7 points and 13.2 rebounds per game this season, earning a second-team All-America selection from the Associated Press. Junior guard Aneesah Morrow (16.5 points, 10 rebounds) is also averaging a double-double per game this season.
No. 5 seed: Colorado (24-9)
The Buffaloes opened the tournament with wins over Drake (86-72) and Kansas State (63-50) to reach Saturday's big test against top seed Iowa. They were 8-4 on the road this season, and 5-2 in neutral-site games. Colorado had a rough stretch to end the regular season, losing five of their last six before postseason play, and fell in double OT to Oregon State in the Pac-12 tourney.
Colorado has three players scoring in double figures this season: junior center Aaronette Vonleh (14 points per game), guard Jaylyn Sherrod (12.9 PPG) and senior guard Frida Formann (12.5 PPG).
The Buffaloes also have a famous name on the bench — redshirt freshman guard Shelomi Sanders, daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer and current Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders.