{"id":185702,"date":"2026-04-03T12:29:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=185702"},"modified":"2026-04-22T17:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T21:31:00","slug":"south-carolina-gamecocks-vs-uconn-huskies-womens-final-four-prediction-preview-and-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/03\/south-carolina-gamecocks-vs-uconn-huskies-womens-final-four-prediction-preview-and-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Gamecocks Vs. UConn Huskies: Women’s Final Four Prediction, Preview, and Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four<\/a> is ready to get underway later tonight, and the first game in Phoenix is a doozy. Unlike on the men’s side, all four of the women’s No. 1 seeds have advanced to the national semifinals.<\/p>\n

South Carolina Gamecocks Vs. UConn Huskies: Women’s Final Four Prediction, Preview, and Odds<\/h2>\n

In Game 1, the undefeated UConn Huskies (38-0) face the South Carolina Gamecocks (35-3). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix,<\/a> Arizona. The Huskies and Gamecocks are squaring off for the 17th time in program history, including for the fourth time in the NCAA Tournament.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

UConn leads the all-time series 11-5 and has won the last two matchups. The latest victory came in the 2025 national championship game, where the Huskies picked up their 13th national title with an 82-59dominating victory. Sarah Strong<\/a> and Azzi Fudd<\/a> led the way for the Huskies with 24 points, while current Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers<\/a> added 17. Strong also added 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and three blocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a different South Carolina team than the one we played last year,\u201d UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Thursday<\/a>. \u201cOur two wins against them last year don\u2019t really mean anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

UConn is favored by 6.5 points tonight. Meanwhile, the game total is set at 136.5. Six of the eight matchups this decade between the Huskies and Gamecocks have been decided by double digits. The average total score in those contests is 133 points, though the programs have gone over 140 points in four straight.<\/p>\n

@Kirby Lee, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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UConn Huskies (38-0)<\/h3>\n

UConn enters tonight’s game having won 54 straight contests and 75 of its last 78. The Huskies are the nation’s top offensive team and third in defensive ratings. The Huskies are also the second-highest-scoring team in the country at nearly 88 a game, as they are the top shooting and passing team.<\/p>\n

For the season, the Huskies shoot 52% from the field, including almost 60% from inside the arc, and make 9.3 threes (9th) at a 38.7% clip. The Huskies do an excellent job protecting the ball, and they are a strong offensive rebounding team (34.1%). However, they don’t get to the free-throw line often.<\/p>\n

Defensively, UConn holds opponents to 50.1 points per game, the best in the nation. The Huskies allow just 18.1 field goals per game, with 6.2 coming from the 3-point line, while holding opponents to 33.4 shooting from the field and 27% from the 3-point line. The Huskies also lead the NCAA with 15.7 steals and rank 22nd with 5 blocks. They are good defensive rebounders (73%) and don’t foul.<\/p>\n

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Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd Are The Huskies ‘ top players<\/h4>\n

Individually, Strong and Fudd lead the way for the Huskies. Strong, the 2025-26 USBWA Player of the Year, is the top two-way forward in women’s basketball. Strong, who is a three-level scorer, averages 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.4 steals with shooting splits of 59.4\/40.4\/ 84.8. She has totaled 78 points, 31 rebounds, 16 steals, and seven blocks in four Tournament games.<\/p>\n

Fudd, an AP All-American first-team selection, is one of the country’s top shooters. Fudd averages 17.5 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.6 steals while also making 3.0 threes a game with shooting splits of 48.9\/45.5\/95.5. However, the 5-11 guard has had an up-and-down NCAA Tournament thus far due to inconsistent shooting.<\/p>\n

Six-foot-2 freshman guard Blanco Quinonoz<\/a> has been outstanding in the NCAA Tournament, though she is the only Husky to average double-figures on the season. Overall, the Huskies go nine deep and get contributions from everyone.<\/p>\n

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South Carolina Gamecocks (35-3)<\/h3>\n

South Carolina has won four straight games. The Gamecocks, making their sixth straight Final Four appearance, are also a top-5 offensive and defensive team. They join UConn, LSU, and Texas as teams ranked in the top 5 on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n

USC is the third-highest scoring team in the nation at 87.1 points a game. The Gamecocks are also an outstanding shooting club, ranking in the nation in shooting percentage (50.8%), including connecting on 55.2% from inside the arc. While the Gamecocks don’t make many threes (6.2), when they do, they go in, connecting on 37.7% of their attempts (fourth best). They are a fantastic offensive rebounding team, an excellent passing team, get to the free throw line a ton, and don’t turn the ball over.<\/p>\n

Defensively, USC is 26th nationally, allowing 57.5 points per game. However, the Gamecocks have been terrific on that end, holding opponents to 34.7% shooting from the field and limiting 6.2 threes per contest to 28.6%. Like the Huskies, the Gamecocks force a ton of turnovers,\u00a0 are outstanding at protecting the rim, and they don’t foul. They are also a solid defensive rebounding team (71%)<\/p>\n

Joyce Edwards<\/a>, a second-team All-American selection in 2025-26, is a monster inside and leads a well-balanced offensive attack. Edwards, who has tallied 20 points in three of her four NCAA Tournament appearances, averages 19.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. She is also a strong defensive post player with 1.8 blocks and 1.1 assists.<\/p>\n

Raven Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson, and Tessa Johnson give the Gamecocks one of the top backcourts in women’s basketball.\u00a0 Tessa Johnson is third in the NCAA in 3-point percentage at 45.9%, and Raven Johnson, a third-team All-American choice, is an efficient shooter and strong facilitator. Meanwhile, 6-5 Madina Okot is a top-20 rebounder nationally at 10.6\u00a0 per game.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

Expect a hard-fought, exciting game between UConn and South Carolina. Both squads go nine players deep and excel on both ends of the floor. The Edwards -Strong matchup is the most intriguing; the winner of the game will likely be the one who controls the paint and wins the battle of the backboards.<\/p>\n

I have UConn as a nine-point favorite with 140 points scored. UConn is 13-0 versus quality opponents and 9-0 on a neutral court. Similarly, South Carolina is 20-3 against quality opponents, though two of its three setbacks have come on neutral courts.<\/p>\n

UConn -6.5 points and over 136.5.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four is ready to get underway later tonight, and the first game in Phoenix is a doozy. Unlike on the men’s side, all four of the women’s No. 1 seeds have advanced to the national semifinals. South Carolina Gamecocks Vs. UConn Huskies: Women’s Final Four Prediction, Preview, and Odds In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":186001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,49087,2,50440,3],"tags":[4263,2916,1744],"class_list":["post-185702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-basketball-betting","category-featured","category-ncaa-predictions","category-news","tag-ncaa-womens-tournament","tag-south-carolina-lady-gamecocks","tag-uconn-huskies"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185702"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186007,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185702\/revisions\/186007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}