Two tickets have been punched for Minneapolis, two more to go, and one question:
Will the NCAA women's Final Four be another top-seed get-together or will Michigan and Connecticut have something to say?
Sunday, No. 1-seed South Carolina crushed Cinderella Creighton and defending champion, No. 1-seed Stanford, got past Texas. That keeps alive the potential rematch — this time in the finals — of last year's semifinal matchup in which Stanford beat South Carolina by a point, a game that has been a rallying cry for South Carolina ever since.
But wait.
Tonight, No. 3-seed Michigan will take on top seed Louisville, and No. 2 Connecticut and Paige Bueckers will play super-athletic, No.1-seeded North Carolina State for the right to play at Target Center later this week. And, perhaps, write their own title story.
The games are at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on ESPN
North Carolina State can't afford to come out as flat as it did against Notre Dame, and the Wolfpack's defense has to be better; if it lets UConn shoot better than 50%, it will be a Bueckers homecoming.
Michigan? Back in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, at Louisville, the Cardinals were able to rout the Wolverines because they were able to control Michigan center Naz Hillmon. Hillmon scored 12 points — her third-lowest point total of the season — and had eight boards (with five turnovers) in that game, during which she struggled against Louisville's size in the post. Will it be different this time?
