Women's Final Four 2025: Full Breakdown, Predictions, Stars to Watch

The women's Final Four has something for everyone.

You want star wing scorers? Connecticut and Texas have you covered.

You want star bigs? All four teams have something to offer here, but UCLA has the most dominant one.

You want star coaches? South Carolina's Dawn Staley and UConn's Geno Auriemma shine brighter than anyone else in the sport.

With the Final Four tipping off from Tampa on Friday night, let's identify each team's star(s) to watch before providing a preview and prediction for each game.

Record: 34-2 (No. 1 seed in Regional 1)

Path to Final Four: 84-46 vs. No. 16 Southern, 84-67 vs. No. 8 Richmond, 76-62 vs. No. 5 Ole Miss, 72-65 vs. No. 3 LSU

Star to Watch: Lauren Betts

Betts was unstoppable against Richmond and Ole Miss, combining for 61 points on 29-of-33 shooting.

She got into foul trouble against LSU, but she still finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks in 25 minutes, leading UCLA to its first NCAA tournament Final Four.

The 6'7" junior leads the nation in blocks per game (3.0) to go along with 20.0 points and 9.6 rebounds. UConn's Jana El Alfy (6'5") and Sarah Strong (6'2") will have their hands full containing Betts.

Kiki Rice (12.9 PPG and 5.1 APG) and Gabriela Jaquez (9.9 PPG and 5.2 RPG) are capable of a star-level impact as well.

Record: 34-3 (No. 1 seed in Regional 2)

Path to Final Four: 108-48 vs. No. 16 Tennessee Tech, 64-53 vs. No. 9 Indiana, 71-67 vs. No. 4 Maryland, 54-50 vs. No. 2 Duke

Star to Watch: Chloe Kitts

The Gamecocks have eight healthy players averaging at least 5.0 points per game, and any of them are capable of being the team's star in any game.

We'll go with Kitts, who is third on the team in points (10.4), first in rebounds (7.9) and third in assists (2.0).

The 6'2" forward has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games.

To illustrate the Gamecocks' depth, they've had a different leading scorer in every NCAA tournament game: Joyce Edwards (22) vs. Tennessee Tech, Bree Hall (11) vs. Indiana, MiLaysia Fulwiley (23) vs. Maryland, Kitts (14) vs. Duke.

Record: 35-3 (No. 1 seed in Regional 3)

Path to Final Four: 105-61 vs. No. 16 William and Mary, 65-48 vs. No. 8 Illinois, 67-59 vs. No. 5 Tennessee, 58-47 vs. No. 2 TCU

Star to Watch: Madison Booker

Booker has been a model of consistency in the tournament, scoring at least 17 points in every game.

The 6'1" forward uses her combination of ball-handling and size to score at will in the mid-range and paint.

In three games against South Carolina this season, Booker has flopped in two losses (a combined 17 points) and starred in one win (20 points, 11 rebounds).

Taylor Jones (11.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG) and Rori Harmon (9.4 PPG, 6.0 APG) must give Booker consistent support for the Longhorns to win their first national title since 1986.

Record: 35-3 (No. 2 seed in Regional 4)

Path to Final Four: 103-34 vs. No. 15 Arkansas State, 91-57 vs. No. 10 South Dakota State, 82-59 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma, 78-64 vs. No. 1 USC

Stars to Watch: Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong

Bueckers has been the biggest star of the tournament, scoring 105 points in UConn's last three games.

But Strong is a star in her own right, averaging 16.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. She was named second-team All-America, while Bueckers got a first-team nod. UConn is the only team remaining with two players on the All-America teams.

Bueckers averages 20.1 points per game on an efficient 54.3 field-goal percentage (43.2 three-point percentage), and Strong is even more efficient at 58.0 percent (37.1 three-point percentage).

Azzi Fudd has been cold the last two games (7-of-27 shooting), but if she gets hot like she did in an 87-58 February win against South Carolina (28 points, 6-of-10 from three), the Huskies will likely be hoisting the championship trophy.

Start time: 7 p.m. ET

Spread: South Carolina -4.5

South Carolina started the tournament with the best national championship odds, but UConn has since overtaken the Gamecocks as the favorite. That has everything to do with the defending champion's last two games.

The Gamecocks trailed Maryland by one point with two-and-a-half minutes to go before MiLaysia Fulwiley made two clutch buckets to propel them. Two days later, South Carolina trailed Duke entering the fourth quarter before going on an 8-0 run and never looking back.

What those two games had in common was the Gamecocks defense was stifling when it mattered most.

Texas' defense has also been excellent. The Longhorns forced 21 TCU turnovers en route to a 58-47 Elite Eight win.

Though the Gamecocks haven't inspired much confidence this tournament, they match up well against the Longhorns, with two blowout wins and one close loss in three games against them this season.

Texas averages just 10.4 three-point attempts per game, so South Carolina can pack the paint and double Madison Booker without much worry. That game plan worked in the SEC tournament title game, as the Gamecocks rode their defense to a 64-45 win.

It'll be closer this time, but South Carolina has more scoring options—Sania Feagin, Chloe Kitts, Joyce Edwards, Te-Hina Paopao, Tessa Johnson and Fulwiley are all major offensive threats—and the scoring burden on Booker and Taylor Jones will be too heavy to overcome.

Prediction: South Carolina

Start time: 9 p.m. ET

Spread: UConn -7.5

The big storyline coming into this Final Four is whether Paige Bueckers can win a national title in her last chance. The stars seem to be aligning.

She's playing the best basketball of her career, including a career-high 40-point game against Oklahoma. But it's not all on her, as Bueckers has more offensive help than she's ever had.

The Huskies are sixth in the nation in three-point percentage, shooting 38.3 percent as a team. Their five leaders in minutes per game shoot at least 36.7 percent from three.

That will be a problem for UCLA, a team that frequently plays two bigs at the same time (often Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic) who may be slow to cover the perimeter.

UConn's bread-and-butter play is Bueckers coming off a high ball screen to shoot threes and mid-range jumpers, and the UCLA bigs will have trouble defending those sets.

The Bruins have a size advantage, and it's not just the 6'7" Betts. UConn guards Azzi Fudd (5'11"), Ashlynn Shade (5'10"), Kaitlyn Chen (5'9") and KK Arnold (5'9") could have trouble with the size and athleticism of Kiki Rice (5'11") and Gabriela Jaquez (6'0").

The Huskies will likely get outrebounded, but they'll make up for it by scoring more efficiently.

Bueckers are Betts will get most of the attention leading up to this matchup, but expect Sarah Strong to be the difference. The freshman has the talent to be the National Player of the Year as soon as next season, and this Final Four could vault her into a new level of stardom.

Prediction: UConn