2022 NCAA Softball Championship: No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners swing for second straight World Series title

By Lisa AntonucciMay 20, 2022, 10:27 AM EDT

Getty Images

The reigning national champion Oklahoma Sooners enter the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championships – which kick off Friday at 16 regional sites – as the No. 1-ranked team in the country. Boasting a 49-2 record with 35 run-rule victories, the Sooners appear poised to defend their 2021 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) title, and rank first in the country in batting average (.367), runs per game (9.26) and ERA (0.81).

Additionally, Oklahoma features a prolific offense that hit 125 home runs this season, led by Jocelyn Alo, the NCAA softball home run leader. They also bring a top pitching staff, which sports a stunning .75 ERA and is led by freshman Jordy Bahl.

MORE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS: No. 1 Stanford, reigning champion Rachel Heck take aim at 2022 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships

Four teams – Grand Canyon, Murray State, North Texas and the University of North Carolina Wilmington – will make their NCAA softball tournament debuts, while Clemson, Duke, University of Central Florida and Virginia Tech will serve as first-time regional hosts.

In 2021, Oklahoma captured its fifth national title with a 5-1 victory over Florida State in the third game of the NCAA championship series. The Sooners made history by becoming the first team to win six elimination games en route to their third national title in the last five championships.

How to watch the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship

ESPN will provide coverage from all 16 regional sites on one of the ESPN family of networks. ESPN will televise every game of the Super Regionals, as well as every game during the Women’s College World Series. For details on all future games, including locations, times and networks, visit the NCAA website broadcast info page.

What format does the NCAA Softball Championship use?

Thirty-two teams automatically qualified for the tournament by winning their conference or conference tournament, while the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the 64-team tournament field (see below for the complete bracket). The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and serve as hosts at campus sites for the regionals beginning Friday. Each campus-site regional will host a four-team, double-elimination tournament, with the 16 winning teams advancing to the super regionals.

Super regionals for the championship will be held May 26-29 on eight campus sites. At each site, two teams will play in a best-of-three tournament format. The winners from each super regional will advance to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) from June 2-9/10 at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

2022 NCAA Softball College Championship Bracket

The 2022 bracket! 🥎

🔗 https://t.co/m29SapfjX3
#RoadToWCWS pic.twitter.com/MaPAPwmvCq

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 15, 2022

2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship Regionals – Today’s Game Schedule:

DATE	SITE	ROUND	TEAMS	*TIME (all times ET, subject to change)**	NETWORK
Friday, May 21	Clemson, SC	Game 1	UNCW vs. Clemson	Noon	ACCN
	Durham, NC	Game 1	Liberty vs. Georgia	Noon	ESPNU
	Blacksburg, VA	Game 1	St. Francis vs. Virginia Tech	2 p.m.	ACCN
	Evanston, IL	Game 1	McNeese vs. Notre Dame	2 p.m.	ESPN+
	Gainesville, FL	Game 1	Wisconsin vs. Georgia Tech	2 p.m.	ESPNU
	Columbia, MO	Game 1	Missouri State vs. Missouri	2 p.m.	SECN
	Clemson, SC	Game 2	Louisiana vs. Auburn	2:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Durham, NC	Game 2	UMBC vs. Duke	2:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Orlando, FL	Game 1	South Dakota State vs. Michigan	3:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Tuscaloosa, AL	Game 1	Chattanooga vs. Alabama	4 p.m.	SECN
	Knoxville, TN	Game 1	Oregon State vs Ohio State	4 p.m.	ESPNU
	Blacksburg, VA	Game 2	Miami (OH) vs. Kentucky	4:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Evanston, IL	Game 2	Oakland vs. Northwestern	4:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Gainesville, FL	Game 2	Canisius vs. Florida	4:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Columbia, MO	Game 2	Arizona vs. Illinois	4:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Norman, OK	Game 1	Minnesota vs. Texas A&M	5 p.m.	ESPN2
	Seattle, WA	Game 1	Weber State vs. Texas	5:30 p.m.	LHN
	Tallahassee, FL	Game 1	South Florida vs. Mississippi State	6 p.m.	ESPNU
	Fayetteville, AR	Game 1	Princeton vs. Arkansas	6 p.m.	SECN
	Stillwater, OK	Game 1	North Texas vs. Nebraska	6 p.m.	ESPN+
	Orlando, FL	Game 2	Villanova vs. UCF	6 p.m.	ESPN+
	Tuscaloosa, AL	Game 2	Murray State vs. Stanford	6:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Knoxville, TN	Game 2	Campbell vs. Tennessee	6:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Norman, OK	Game 2	Prairie View vs. Oklahoma	7:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Los Angeles, CA	Game 1	Loyola Marymount vs. Ole Miss	7:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Tempe, AZ	Game 1	San Diego State vs. LSU	8 p.m.	ESPN2
	Seattle, WA	Game 2	Lehigh vs. Washington	8 p.m.	ESPN+
	Tallahassee, FL	Game 2	Howard vs. Florida State	8:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Fayetteville, AR	Game 2	Wichita State vs. Oregon	8:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Stillwater, OK	Game 2	Fordham vs. Oklahoma State	8:30 p.m.	ESPN+
	Los Angeles, CA	Game 2	Grand Canyon vs. UCLA	10 p.m.	ESPN2
	Tempe, AZ	Game 2	Cal State Fullerton vs. Arizona State	10:30 p.m.	ESPN+

2022 NCAA Softball Championship: What to watch for in the 16 regional matchups starting today

The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will host at campus sites beginning this Friday. Read on for fun facts from teams in each regional, as well as sites, pairings, seeding if applicable, and team records (*indicates host school).

Norman Regional – May 20-22 at Norman, Oklahoma

Game 1: Texas A&M (29-26) vs. Minnesota (26-24-1)
Game 2: No. 1 seed Oklahoma* (49-2) vs. Prairie View A&M (20-28)

NOTABLE: Texas A&M is making its 20th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Aggies are led by Haley Lee, who’s batting average is .410. Minnesota’s Natalie DenHartog has hit 18 homers this season, while Prairie View pulled off a remarkable comeback season after starting with an 0-19 record and finishing as the SWAC Champions.

Orlando Regional – May 20-22 at Orlando, Florida

Game 1: Michigan (36-16) vs. South Dakota St. (40-11)
Game 2: No. 16 seed UCF* (46-12) vs. Villanova (32-22)

NOTABLE: UCF will host its first-ever NCAA regional and aims to advance out of the regional for the first time in program history. Villanova, which repeated as Big East conference tournament champion, brings graduate pitcher Paige Rauch, who has 166 strikeouts and was named Most Outstanding Player for the second year in a row as well. The Wolverines boast pitcher Alex Storako, who ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA in strikeouts with 284 on the year and a 1.69 ERA.

Evanston Regional – May 20-22 at Evanston, Illinois

Game 1: Notre Dame (39-10) vs. McNeese (38-19)
Game 2: No. 9 seed Northwestern* (40-10) vs. Oakland (26-15)

NOTABLE: Northwestern’s Danielle Williams has a 1.53 ERA with 287 strikeouts, which ranks top 10 in the NCAA, while Rachel Lewis has 20 homers and won Big Ten Player of the Year honors. Katrina Gaskins leads the Fighting Irish with a .434 batting average (which ranked in the top 20 nationally), with 13 homers and an .822 slugging percentage.

Tempe Regional – May 20-22 at Tempe, Arizona

Game 1: LSU (34-21) vs. San Diego State (37-14)
Game 2: No. 8 seed Arizona State* (39-9) vs. Cal State Fullerton (36-20)

NOTABLE: San Diego State is back in the NCAA softball tournament for the first time since 2015 for its 12th overall appearance, and they boast Mac Barbara, a finalist for the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award, who batted .395 on the season with 15 home runs, 56 RBIs, 29 runs, 14 doubles, 33 walks and six stolen bases. Cal State Fullerton made the tournament for the first time in the last three seasons, making its 30th overall appearance. ASU enjoyed a 20-game winning streak this season, during which Cydney Sanders smashed nine home runs, and captured its first Pac-12 Championship since 2011.

Los Angeles Regional – May 20-22 at Los Angeles, California

Game 1: Ole Miss (39-17) vs. Loyola Marymount University (36-15)
Game 2: No. 5 seed UCLA* (43-8) vs. Grand Canyon (38-14)

NOTABLE: The Bruins making a tournament-record 37th appearance and have now hosted seven consecutive regionals dating back to 2014. Ole Miss is making its sixth consecutive tournament appearance and is chasing 40 wins for only the fourth time ever.

Durham Regional – May 20-22 at Durham, North Carolina

Game 1: Georgia (40-16) vs. Liberty (43-16)
Game 2: No. 12 seed Duke* (41-8) vs. University of Maryland (Baltimore County) (31-10)

NOTABLE: Peyton St. George anchors the Blue Devils’ pitching staff with a 2.02 ERA and 171 strikeouts. Maryland’s Courtney Coopersmith ranks second in the NCAA with a 0.26 ERA, while Kya Matter also is in the top 10 with a .98 ERA.

Seattle Regional – May 20-22 at Seattle, Washington

Game 1: Texas (38-17-1) vs. Weber State (38-10)
Game 2: No. 13 seed Washington* (35-15) vs. Lehigh (30-18-1)

NOTABLE: Texas was the first (and just one of two) team to beat Oklahoma this season. The No. 1-ranked Sooners were undefeated when the Longhorns defeated them on April 16. Washington is head by Baylee Klingler, who hit .433 with 22 home runs, 65 RBI and a .955 slugging percentage.

Fayetteville Regional – May 20-22 at Fayetteville, Arkansas

Game 1: No. 4 seed Arkansas* (44-9) vs. Princeton (27-15-2)
Game 2: Oregon (31-17) vs. Wichita State (33-16)

NOTABLE: The Razorbacks backed up their regular-season crown with the program’s first-ever SEC tournament title this season. Wichita State’s Sydney McKinney leads the entire NCAA in batting average, hitting .511 with 13 home runs.

Blacksburg Regional – May 20-22 at Blacksburg, Virginia

Game 1: Kentucky (35-17) vs. Miami (OH) (39-15-1)
Game 2: No. 3 seed Virginia Tech* (41-7) vs. Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) (37-16)

NOTABLE: Virginia Tech boasts pitcher Keely Rochard, who has a 1.73 ERA and 293 strikeouts, which ranks top five in the NCAA. Kentucky is making its 13th consecutive appearance the NCAA tournament.

Gainesville Regional – May 20-22 at Gainesville, Florida

Game 1: Georgia Tech (37-16) vs. Wisconsin (28-19)
Game 2: No. 14 seed Florida* (43-16) vs. Canisius (32-16)

NOTABLE: Florida has hosted a regional for 17 consecutive tournaments, but this year marks the first time they’ll do it as the No. 14 seed. Canisius has won the past 12 straight games, including the MAAC championship, for the longest win streak in program history since 1999. The Yellow Jackets are appearing in their first NCAA tournament in more than a decade.

Knoxville Regional – May 20-22 at Knoxville, Tennessee

Game 1: Ohio State (35-15) vs. Oregon State (33-19)
Game 2: No. 11 seed Tennessee* (39-16) vs. Campbell (37-17)

NOTABLE: Not only are the Volunteers in the tournament for the 17th consecutive season, but also they are hosting a regional for the 17th consecutive year.

Tuscaloosa Regional – May 20-22 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Game 1: No. 6 seed Alabama* (41-11) vs. Chattanooga (29-25)
Game 2: Stanford (36-19) vs. Murray State (40-16-1)

NOTABLE: Alabama’s Montana Fouts, who threw a perfect game at the WCWS last season, leads the Crimson Tide this year with a 1.93 ERA and 259 Ks.

Stillwater Regional – May 20-22 at Stillwater, Oklahoma

Game 1: Nebraska (40-14) vs. North Texas (35-14)
Game 2: No. 7 seed Oklahoma State* (41-12) vs. Fordham (30-20)

NOTABLE: Oklahoma State is the second of just two team to beat Oklahoma this season. Fordham’s Rachel Hubertus smashed 17 homers this season. Nebraska won the 2022 Big Ten conference championship for its first tournament title since joining the conference.

Clemson Regional – May 20-22 at Clemson, South Carolina

Game 1: No. 10 seed Clemson* (39-15) vs. UNCW (32-13)
Game 2: Auburn (39-15) vs. University of Louisiana at Lafayette (45-11)

NOTABLE: Clemson is one of six ACC teams in the tournament this season. Auburn boasts standout freshman Bri Ellis, named SEC Freshman of the Year after hitting 18 home runs in the regular season, with 45 RBI and hitting .300. University of Louisiana is in the middle of a 13-game winning streak and have won 22 of their last 23 games since April 8.

Columbia Regional – May 20-22 at Columbia, Missouri

Game 1: No. 15 seed Missouri* (32-14) vs. Missouri State (27-18)
Game 2: Illinois (34-20) vs. Arizona (33-20)

NOTABLE: Missouri State is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2011, while Arizona marks its 35th straight selection.

Tallahassee Regional – May 20-22 at Tallahassee, Florida

Game 1: Mississippi State (33-24) vs. South Florida (44-14)
Game 2: No. 2 seed Florida St.* (52-5) vs. Howard (31-22)

NOTABLE: The Seminoles look to make it back to the championship series after finishing runner up in 2021. South Florida boats Georgina Corrick, who leads the NCAA with 407 strikeouts – 50 more than the next pitcher.

Which teams earned automatic berths to the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship?

Thirty-two teams automatically qualified for the tournament by winning their conference or conference tournament (*indicates no tournament).

American Athletic – UCF
America East – UMBC
ACC – Florida State
Atlantic Sun – Liberty
Atlantic 10 – Fordham
Big 12 – Oklahoma State
Big East – Villanova
Big Sky – Weber State
Big South – Campbell
Big Ten – Nebraska
Big West – Cal State Fullerton*
Colonial – UNCW
Conference USA – North Texas
Horizon – Oakland
Ivy – Princeton
Metro Atlantic – Canisius
Mid-American – Miami (OH)
Mid-Eastern – Howard
Missouri Valley – Missouri State
Mountain West – San Diego State*
Northeast – Saint Francis (PA)
Ohio Valley – Murray State
Pac-12 – Arizona State*
Patriot – Lehigh
SEC – Arkansas
Southern – Chattanooga
Southland – McNeese
SWAC – Prairie View
Summit – South Dakota State
Sun Belt – Louisiana
WAC – Grand Canyon
West Coast – Loyola Marymount*

2023 March Madness: What to watch for as South Carolina faces Iowa, LSU takes on Virginia Tech in women’s NCAA Final Four

By Lisa AntonucciMar 30, 2023, 8:01 PM EDT

Getty Images

This year’s March Madness has lived up to the hype, with defending NCAA champions — No. 1-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks — riding a 42-game win streak dating back to the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. Also back for this weekend’s tournament finale are the Louisiana State Tigers, back in the women’s Final Four for the first time in 15 years, and the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are dancing for the first time in three decades and boast the nation’s top player in Caitlin Clark. The top-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies round out the Final Four, where they’ll play in the semis for the first time ever.

Of note, this year’s Final Four, set for Friday at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, marks the first time in 38 years without any of the sport’s longtime powerhouses — Tennessee, Stanford and UConn. Even South Carolina, who also won the title in 2017 and are making its third consecutive Final Four appearance, is a relative newcomer to tournament greatness: The Gamecocks made their first-ever Final Four appearance just eight years ago.

The fresh lineup — headlined by a matchup of the game’s top stars in South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston and Iowa guard Clark — is an opportunity to celebrate the women’s game and its depth of talent more widely, said Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley on Thursday.

“It’s great,” she told media from Dallas. “It’s been building towards this for a long time. Fortunately for us — not just South Carolina, but us as women’s basketball — we’ve got a lot of star power behind our sport. It increases. [Along with Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark), you’ve got Angel Reese; you’ve got [Georgia] Amoore; you’ve got [Elizabeth] Kitley. You’ve got all these players who have been incredible, just incredible — creating incredible stories for our game.”

Speaking of storylines to follow, Friday’s double-header kicks off at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN) with No. 1 seed Virginia Tech squaring off vs. No. 3 LSU. The Hokies haven’t lost a game since January, while the Tigers will aim to match the lowest seed ever to win the women’s tournament. The only two teams to have won before as the No. 3 seed are North Carolina in 1994 and Tennessee in 1997.

Drawing the biggest buzz to date is Friday night’s second semifinal, where the overall No. 1 seed South Carolina faces the formidable No. 2-seeded Iowa. In the Hawkeyes’ last game against Louisville, Clark set a new tournament record when she notched 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the first-ever, 40-point triple-double in the NCAA tournament — women’s or men’s.

Clark said afterward that Iowa’s first Final Four since 1993 was the product of a very “Ted Lasso” principle: “When I came here, I said I wanted to take this program to the Final Four, and all you gotta do is dream,” she said. “Then all you gotta do is believe and work your butt off to get there.”

RELATED: Updated bracket, scores and schedule for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

No. 3 LSU

Current record: 32-2

Season wrap: LSU finished the regular season 27-1, tying the best regular-season record in program history, matching the 2004-05 team. That LSU team reached the Final Four, but fell to Kim Mulkey’s Baylor team en route to her first national championship as a head coach.

Final Four outlook: LSU is making its sixth Final Four appearance in program history and its first since 2008, which marked the last of five consecutive Final Four appearances for the Tigers with players like Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. Despite all of LSU’s previous success in reaching the Final Four, the Tigers have never won a national semifinal.

Probable starters: Angel Reese (F), LaDazhia Williams (F), Flau’jae Johnson (G), Kateri Poole (G), Alexis Morris (G)

About coach Kim Mulkey: This year marks Mulkey’s fourth Final Four appearance as a head coach. She holds a 3-1 record in national semifinal games and won three national championships as the head coach at Baylor. She’s the only person in men’s or women’s DI history to win national championships as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Spotlight on… Angel Reese: Reese, a transfer from Maryland, set an SEC record with her 32nd double-double of the season in the Elite Eight. Through four games in the NCAA Tournament, she’s averaging 22.3 points and 17.3 rebounds. She was extra dominant in the first two rounds, where she averaged 29.5 points, 19.5 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals. In LSU’s opening-round game against Hawaii, Reese tied Fowles’ LSU NCAA Tournament record with 34 points. In the second round, she became the first player to ever record 25 points and 24 rebounds (an LSU NCAA Tournament record) in a NCAA Tournament game.

Coach’s last word: “Last thing I shared with them in the middle of the floor was, you’re getting ready to play a No. 1 seed. We’ve not done that,” Mulkey told reporters in Dallas on Tuesday. “You’re getting ready to play a young lady who is the finalist for not one but two awards. We don’t have anybody on our team that’s a finalist for any award. Are we satisfied? Are we patting ourselves on the back and saying, ‘Hey, this is as far as we can go, or are you still hungry?’ And the responses that I received are, ‘Coach, we’re ready to move on and get to the next game.’

“When you have kids that are hungry and not satisfied to just be there, you’re going to go compete. Whether we win or lose, I know we will compete.”

No. 1 Virginia Tech

Current record: 31-4

Season wrap: This was a season of firsts for the Hokies, who are making their first Final Four appearance in program history after making their Elite Eight debut this past Monday night. The season also marked the first time recording 31 wins in a single season and the first time that Tech has had a two-time ACC Player of the Year.

Final Four outlook: The Hokies’s win in the Elite Eight over Ohio State moved VT to 13-11 in NCAA Tournament games (12 appearances) and marked their 15th consecutive victory, tying their longest win streak since they won 15 straight to open head coach Kenny Brooks‘ tenure at Virginia Tech. Tech is a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history, and their semifinal matchup vs. LSU will be their fourth. Tech owns a 1-2 record all-time vs. the Tigers, and the two sides last met Nov. 14, 2006, with LSU winning 70-40 in Baton Rouge, La.

Probable starters: Taylor Soule (F), Elizabeth Kitley (C), Georgia Amoore (G), Cayla King (G), Kayan Taylor (G)

About coach Kenny Brooks: Brooks is closing out his seventh season with Virginia Tech, which is 155-73 since he joined as head coach in March 2016 and 5-2 in NCAA Tournament games. Brooks is just the third Black male coach to lead a team to the Final Four, joining Winthrop “Windy” McGriff with Cheyney in 1984 and Syracuse’s Quentin Hillsman in 2016. In 2022, Brooks led the Hokies to a program record with 13 ACC victories and five ranked wins, and the team advanced to the ACC Tournament Semifinals for the first time ever.

Spotlight on… Elizabeth Kitley: In her last outing, Kitley scored a game-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and had three blocks, marking her 21st double-double of the season and 56th of her career. She now owns the program record for double-doubles and was recently named second-team All-American. On the season, the two-time ACC Player of the Year, who hails from Summerfield, N.C., is averaging 18.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game this season while shooting 56% from the floor.

Coach’s last word: “I knew we had the talent this summer, and watching them and how quickly they were starting to gel,” Brooks told reporters Tuesday. “They weren’t a cohesive unit during the summer, but we knew we had the makings of it just because we had so many mature kids. And then really we hit our stride obviously with the winning streak (10-0 to start the season), but when we lost to Duke (on Jan. 26), we learned a lot about ourselves. There was no yelling in the locker room after that game. I told the kids, ‘Let this sting. We’ll get another opportunity to play them,’ and I said, ‘Don’t let it bother us. Let it kick us forward.’

“From that moment, the look in their eyes, they’ve been pure professionals. They’ve gone out, everyone understands their roles, and they’ve done them, and they’ve starred in their roles. The way these kids play for each other is something special.”

Past champions of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

YEAR	CHAMPION (record)	COACH	SCORE	RUNNER-UP	SITE
2022	South Carolina (36-2)	Dawn Staley	64-49	Connecticut	Minneapolis, Minnesota
2021	Stanford (31-2)	Tara VanderVeer	54-53	Arizona	San Antonio, Texas
2020	Baylor (37-1)	Kim Mulkey	82-81	Notre Dame	Tampa, Florida
2019	Notre Dame (34-3)	Muffet McGraw	61-58	Mississippi State	Columbus, Ohio
2018	South Carolina (33-4)	Dawn Staley	67-55	Mississippi State	Dallas, Texas

For a complete list of champions, visit NCAA.com.

No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes

Current record: 30-6

Season wrap: With its win over Louisville in the Elite Eight, Iowa set a program record for the most wins in a single season as the Hawkeyes prepare for their second Final Four in school history. Earlier this season, Iowa won its third Big Ten Tournament title since 2019, beating Ohio State by largest margin of victory in BTT Championship history (33 points). Iowa’s 87.6 points per game this regular season is the best in program history, and the Hawkeyes’ made 313 three-pointers this season set a Big Ten Conference record, eclipsing the prior mark set by Ohio State (300) in 2017-18. Iowa leads the nation in points per game, assists per game (21.1) and field goal percentage (50.9).

Final Four outlook: The Hawkeyes were tabbed a No. 2 seed for the fifth time in school history, and they hold a 13-4 record in the NCAA Tournament on the No. 2 Seed line.This will be the second meeting between the two programs, which

Probable starters: McKenna Warnock (F), Monika Czinano (F), Caitlin Clark (G), Gabbie Marshall (G), Kate Martin (G)

About coach Lisa Bluder: Bluder ranks fourth all-time among Division I active coaches with 849 career wins (first among Big Ten active coaches), and she’s also the all-time leader for Big Ten regular season conference wins with 247. The Hawkeyes have made postseason tournament appearances in 21 of Bluder’s 23 seasons at Iowa, receiving 17 NCAA Tournament and four WNIT (2003, 2005, 2016, 2017) bids, including four Sweet 16 appearances.

Spotlight on… Caitlin Clark: Tabbed as the Naismith National Player of the Year on Wednesday, Clark became the first player in DI women’s basketball history to notch a 950-point and 300-assist single season. This season, Clark added to her Big Ten Conference record with her 11th career triple-double in Iowa’s Elite Eight win over Louisville, tying for second-most in NCAA women’s basketball history. She joined Marquette men’s basketball All-American Dwyane Wade as the only NCAA Division I players since 1999-2000 with a triple-double against an AP Top-2 opponent when she accomplished the feat in January vs. a then-No. 2-ranked Ohio State (Wade did it vs. No. 1 Kentucky in the 2003 NCAA Tournament), finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high 15 assists, the latter total tying for the third-most assists ever in a conference game. Clark’s stretch this season of four consecutive 20-point, 10-assist games is the most by a Division I player in the past 20 seasons (Jan. 11-23). Her 11 career triple-doubles is the most by a male or female in Big Ten history.

Coach’s last word: “America gets to see two fabulous, spectacular basketball players in the same 40 minutes with (Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston). It doesn’t get a lot better than that,” Bluder told media earlier this week. She followed up Thursday by adding, “I’ve been coming to the Final Four for a long, long time, but my seats are finally going to be pretty good tonight. So I’m excited about that. … I’m just trying to convince my team 40 minutes of basketball and a lifetime of memories, and that’s all we have to focus on.”

No. 1 South Carolina

Current record: 36-0

Season wrap: The Gamecocks opened this season atop both the AP and the USA Today/WBCA Coaches’ Polls for the third time in as many seasons and have remained there. Going wire-to-wire in the AP Poll in back-to-back seasons, South Carolina joins UConn and Louisiana Tech as the only programs to do so in the history of that poll.

Final Four outlook: The Gamecocks have played in the NCAA Final Four five times in the last eight NCAA Tournaments, including winning the 2017 and 2022 National Championships. This year marks South Carolina’s 19th NCAA Tournament appearance and its 11th straight under head coach Dawn Staley. They hold 44-16 record overall in the tournament with 13 Sweet 16 appearances and seven Elite Eight showings.

Probable starters: Aliya Boston (F), Victaria Saxton (F), Brea Beal (G), Zia Cooke (G), Kierra Fletcher (G)

About coach Dawn Staley: In her 23rd season as a head coach, Staley has a .756 (574-185) winning percentage, which ranks ninth in the nation among active head coaches with at least 10 seasons of experience and seventh among those with at least 20 years in the position. The unanimous 2020 National Coach of the Year, she became the first person to win both a Naismith Player of the Year and a Naismith Coach of the Year and the first Black head coach to win multiple national championships in men’s or women’s basketball. She has been named national coach of the year by at least one organization four times, including three times in the last four seasons.

Spotlight on… Aliya Boston: Boston, who earned Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors this week, is just the fifth four-time AP All-American in the history of the award and just the 10th player to earn first-team honors at least three times. She is the first multi-year winner of the Lisa Leslie Award, vying for the award for a fourth time this season. She’s also a four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year and two-time SEC Player of the Year. Additionally, Boston is the GAmecocks’ record holder with 1,483 rebounds (fourth in the SEC, 16th in NCAA), 514 offensive rebounds, 969 defensive rebounds, 82 double-doubles (second in the SEC; eighth in NCAA) and 137 consecutive games started. Her 329 career blocked shots are second in program history and sixth in the SEC.

Coach’s last word: “I feel pressure,” Staley told reporters Tuesday. “Pressure for our team to be successful, pressure to have our team perform as they performed all season long, pressure as a Black coach to win. Then just the pressures that come with being the No. 1 team, being the No. 1 overall seed. You don’t think it impacts you, but it does. It’s not the driving force, though. It’s not the very thing that I say, ‘I feel this pressure.’ I don’t feel it in that way. I feel it in that I don’t want to let whoever’s looking at us in a way that lends hope to them. I don’t want to let our fans down. I want what this team is supposed to have. Obviously we think it’s a national championship, and there lies more pressure to win.”

2023 DIO Implant LA Open: How to watch, who’s in the LPGA tourney at Palos Verdes GC

By Lisa AntonucciMar 29, 2023, 12:39 PM EDT

Getty Images

The LPGA’s fifth stop of the season features the fifth edition of DIO Implant LA Open, which moves to Palos Verdes Golf Club this year after being played at Wilshire Country Club since its debut in 2018. Japan’s Nasa Hataoka looks to defend her 2022 title, however, two-time LPGA winner Marina Alex is the reigning champion of last year’s event played at Palos Verdes GC, and the two will play together in the first two rounds.

World No. 1 Lydia Ko will make her first start in the United States this season. The New Zealander finished T-6 in her season debut in February at the Honda LPGA Thailand, and that same month she won the LET’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International for the second time, taking home the $750,000 first-place prize. Skipping this week is last week’s LPGA Drive On champion, France’s Celine Boutier, who bested Solheim Cup teammate Georgia Hall of England in a playoff at Superstition Mountain in Arizona to secure her third LPGA title. Hall will play in the LA Open, no doubt looking to keep the momentum rolling as the 144-player field competes for the $1.75 million prize purse, with the winner earning $262,500.

How to watch the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open

You can watch the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open on Golf Channel, Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Check out the complete TV and streaming schedule:

Thursday, March 30: 6:30-10:30 p.m. ET, Peacock; 7-9:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel
Friday, March 31: 6:30-10:30 p.m. ET, Peacock; 7-9:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel
Saturday, April 1: 6-10 p.m. ET, Peacock; 6-9 p.m. ET, Golf Channel
Sunday, April 2: 6-10 p.m. ET, Peacock; 6-9 p.m. ET, Golf Channel

Who’s playing in the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open

The field includes six of the top 10 players on the Rolex Rankings:

No. 1 Lydia Ko
No. 2 Nelly Korda
No. 3 Jin Young Ko
No. 4 Atthaya Thitikul
No. 9 In Gee Chun
No. 10 Hyo Joo Kim

Winners and local Southern California connections: Also playing this week are two of the four winners on tour so far this season — Jin Young Ko and Lilia Vu — and two past champions of this event, Moriya Jutanugarn and Nasa Hataoka. Seven players in the field attended nearby attended USC — Jennifer Chang, Karen Chung, Allisen Corpuz, Annie Park, Lizette Salas, Jennifer Song and Gabriella Then — while six attended UCLA: Bronte Law, Allison Lee, Ryann O’Toole, Patty Tavatanakit, Mariajo Urib, and Vu). World No. 15 Danielle Kang, who grew up in Southern California, attended Pepperdine.

Past winners of the LA Open

YEAR	WINNER	SCORE	MARGIN	RUNNERUP
2022	Nasa Hataoka (Japan)	15-under 269	5 strokes	Hannah Green (Australia)
2021	Brooke Henderson (Canada)	16-under 268	1 stroke	Jessica Korda (USA)
2020	No event	N/A	N/A	N/A
2019	Minjee Lee (Australia)	14-under 270	4 strokes	Sei Young Kim (South Korea)
2018	Moriya Jutanugarn (Thailand)	12-under 272	2 strokes	Inbee Park (South Korea), Jin Young Ko (South Korea)

Last year at the DIO Implant LA Open

Japan’s Nasa Hataoka shot rounds of 67-67 over the weekend at Wilshire Country Club to win by five strokes over Australian Hannah Green. The then-23-year-old Hataoka opened with rounds of 67-68 and was tied with Jin Young Ko after 36 holes, but Hataoka broke through on Saturday when her third-round 67 gave her a four-stroke lead over Green heading into the final round. Ko fell back following a 72 on Sunday that included a quadruple-bogey on the 17th hole. The win marked LPGA title No. 6 for Hataoka, who was the only player to card all four rounds in the 60s, and she finished just one off the tournament scoring record at 15-under 269.

Of note, Wilshire CC is hosting a different LPGA event this season — the JM Eagle LA Championship set for April 27-30.

The last player to win an LPGA event at the Palos Verdes Golf Club was New Jersey native Marina Alex, who won the 2022 Palos Verdes Championship by a single stroke over Ko. Alex posted rounds of 70-68-70-66 to finish at 10-under 274, marking her second win on tour and breaking a four-year win drought.

More about Palos Verdes Golf Club

Located in Palos Verdes Estates, California, Palos Verdes Golf Club was originally designed in 1924 by George C. Thomas and William P. “Billy” Bell, who also designed Riviera Country Club, Bel Air Country Club and Los Angeles Country Club North. The tournament’s back nine is known to members as a “perfect nine,” as there are no two consecutive holes of the same par. In 2013, the course underwent a renovation overseen by Todd Eckenrode that included several new greens, tees and chipping areas, all new bunkers, and the removal of hundreds of trees to restore the ocean views. Par is 71 (36-35), and the official scorecard yardage is 6,258 yards.

The NBC golf research team contributed to this report.

MORE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS: No. 1 Stanford, reigning champion Rachel Heck take aim at 2022 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships

How to watch the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship

What format does the NCAA Softball Championship use?

2022 NCAA Softball College Championship Bracket

2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship Regionals – Today’s Game Schedule:

2022 NCAA Softball Championship: What to watch for in the 16 regional matchups starting today

Which teams earned automatic berths to the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship?

More Women's Sports News

RELATED: Updated bracket, scores and schedule for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

No. 3 LSU

No. 1 Virginia Tech

Past champions of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes

No. 1 South Carolina

More Women's Sports News

How to watch the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open

Who’s playing in the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open

Past winners of the LA Open

Last year at the DIO Implant LA Open

More about Palos Verdes Golf Club

MORE FROM ON HER TURF: Before return to Augusta National, Rachel Kuehn reflects on growth of women’s golf

More Women's Sports News