Meet the Women's Final Four
- National semifinal games are Sunday, April 3
- National championship game is Tuesday, April 5
Here’s what you need to know about the four teams coming to Indianapolis for the NCAA Women’s Final Four. Connecticut will play Oregon State in one semifinal at 6 p.m. (ESPN), and Syracuse will play Washington in the other at 8:30 (ESPN2).
UConn is in the national semifinals for a ninth consecutive year. It is the first Final Four for each of the three other schools.
Sioux Falls Regional champion
School: Syracuse University.
Campus: Syracuse, N.Y.
Founded: 1870.
Enrollment: 11,800.
Basketball budget: $4.36 million (2014-15 figures).
Distance to Indy: 647 miles from Carrier Dome to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Record: 29-7.
Seed: No. 4.
Final AP ranking: No. 14.
Coach: Quentin Hillsman, 10th year (218-115).
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference.
Road to Final Four: Beat Army 73-56, Albany 76-59, South Carolina 80-72, Tennessee 89-67.
Final Fours: One. 2016.
Starters: G Brianna Butler, 5-11 sr., 13.6 ppg, 124 3s; G Alexis Peterson, 5-7 jr., 16.1 ppg, 4.7 apg; G Brittney Sykes, 5-9 sr., 10.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg; F Isabella Sims, 6-0 jr., 1.4 ppg. 2.0 rpg; C Briana Day, 6-4 jr., 10.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg.
Top reserves: G Cornelia Fondren, 5-8 sr., 7.0 ppg, 3.4 apg; G Maggie Morrison, 5-8 sr., 5.5 ppg, .813 FT; C Bria Day, 6-4 jr., 2.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg; F Taylor Ford, 6-0 sr., 3.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg.
Best wins: Beat third-ranked South Carolina, a No. 1 seed, in the Sweet 16 80-72; beat No. 7 Louisville 80-75 in ACC tournament.
Worst loss: Lost at home to No. 14 Louisville 71-53.
Crush of orange: Syracuse is the ninth school to send both men’s and women’s teams to the Final Four in the same year. Others are Connecticut (2014, 2011, 2009, 2004), Louisville (2013), LSU (2006), Michigan State (2005), Texas (2003), Oklahoma (2002), Duke (1999) and Georgia (1983).
Trey-mendous: Brianna Butler leads active players and is 14th in NCAA Division I history in 3-pointers (368). Her 124 3s this season are two off the NCAA lead.
Dutch treat: Isabella Slim helped the Dutch national team finish third in last year’s under-20 European Championship. The bronze was the Netherlands’ first major European basketball medal.
Historic feat: Before beating South Carolina, the highest-ranked team beaten by Syracuse was No. 2 Connecticut 62-59 on Jan. 2, 1996.
Orange put on the squeeze: Opponents have averaged 24.2 turnovers per game, making Syracuse No. 1 in the NCAA in that category.
Did you know? Syracuse is alma mater of prominent figures in TV sports, including Marv Albert, Len Berman, Anthony Calhoun, Bob Costas, Dick Stockton and Mike Tirico.
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Lexington Regional champion
School: University of Washington.
Campus: Seattle.
Founded: 1861.
Enrollment: 42,000.
Basketball budget: $3.38 million (2014-15 figures).
Distance to Indy: 2,229 miles from Alaska Airlines Arena to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Record: 26-10.
Seed: No. 7.
Final AP ranking: None.
Coach: Mike Neighbors, third year (69-34).
Conference: Pacific-12 Conference.
Road to Final Four: Beat Penn 65-53, Maryland 74-65, Kentucky 85-72, Stanford 85-76.
Final Fours: One. 2016.
Starters: G Kelsey Plum, 5-8 jr., 26.1 ppg, 4.2 apg; G Alexus Atchley, 5-9 sr., 5.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg; C Chantel Osahor, 6-2 jr., 10.3 ppg,11.2 rpg; F Katie Collier, 6-3 jr., 6-0 ppg, 5.5 rpg; F Talia Walton, 6-2 sr.,16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg.
Top reserves: G Brianna Ruiz, 5-10 so., 5.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg; Mathilde Gilling, 6-3 sr., 2.6 ppg, .567 FG.
Best win: Won 74-65 at fifth-ranked Maryland, a No. 2 seed, in NCAA tournament’s second round.
Worst loss: Lost at No. 9 Arizona State 77-57.
Breaking through: Washington is the lowest seed to reach the Women's Final Four since another No. 7 seed, Minnesota, in 2004. Washington is only the fourth to reach the Final Four with 10 or more losses.
Another “Big O:” Chantel Osahor wears “O” on her uniform, and she is nearly as versatile as Indianapolis’ “Big O” once was. Osahor is one of three players in the NCAA to average 10 rebounds and three assists. The 6-2 center had 24 points and 18 rebounds in the regional final against Stanford.
Plum loco: Kelsey Plum is No. 3 in the NCAA in scoring (26.1 ppg). If she finishes with that average, she would break the Pac-12 record of 26.1 set by Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike two years ago. Plum leads the NCAA in free throws made (260) and attempted (293). She is the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer with 2,401 points and was the seventh-fastest ever to 2,000, reaching that milestone in 88 games.
I’ll have a Danish: Mathilde Gilling is among three siblings from Denmark who came to the United States to play college basketball. Brother Jonathan played at Arizona State, and younger sister Caroline is at Cal State-Northridge.
Did you know? In 1981, a former yell leader and marching band director at Washington came up with the idea for the Wave at sports stadiums.
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Bridgeport Regional champion
School: University of Connecticut.
Campus: Storrs, Conn.
Founded: 1881.
Enrollment: 30,474.
Basketball budget: $6.66 million (2014-15 figures).
Distance to Indy: 866 miles from Gampel Pavilion to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Record: 36-0.
Seed: No. 1.
Final AP ranking: No. 1.
Coach: Geno Auriemma, 31st year (953-134).
Conference: American Athletic Conference.
Road to Final Four: Beat Robert Morris 101-49, Duquesne 97-51, Mississippi State 98-38, Texas 86-65.
Final Fours: 17. 1991; 1995 (champ); 1996; 2000 (champ); 2001; 2002 (champ); 2003 (champ); 2004 (champ); 2008; 2009 (champ); 2010 (champ); 2011; 2012; 2013 (champ); 2014 (champ); 2015 (champ), 2016.
Starters: (Statistics don’t include Monday’s game) G Moriah Jefferson, 5-7 sr., 12.7 ppg, 5.4 apg; G Kia Nurse, 6-0 so., 9.3 ppg, 2.7 apg; F Katie Lou Samuelson, 6-3 fr., 11.2 ppg, 74 3s; F Morgan Tuck, 6-2 sr., 13.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg; F Breanna Stewart, 6-4 sr., 19.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg.
Top reserves: G Saniya Chong, 5-8 jr., 4.1 ppg, .857 FT; G Gabby Williams, 5-11 so., 9.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg; F Napheesa Collier, 6-1 fr., 6.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg; C Natalie Butler, 6-5 jr., 6.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg.
Best win: Won at No. 3 Notre Dame 91-81.
Worst loss: None.
Chasing Wooden: UConn is seeking its 11th national championship under Geno Auriemma, who is tied with UCLA men’s coach John Wooden for the most in major college basketball with 10 each.
Streaking: UConn has won 73 games in a row and is aiming at its own record of 90 in a row, set from Nov. 16, 2008, to Dec. 30, 2010. The Huskies have reached nine straight Final Fours and won the past three national championships.
And more streaking: UConn has won 22 consecutive NCAA tournament games, breaking the record it had shared with Tennessee. Auriemma has 107 tourney wins, five fewer than the record held by Tennessee’s Pat Summitt.
Going for cash and gold: Breanna Stewart is expected to be the No. 1 pick of the WNBA draft and could be chosen to the U.S. Olympic team by Auriemma, who is the USA Basketball coach.
Huskies or piranha? “They’re like piranhas on a roast. When they go in transition, you can’t get the bone out of the water fast enough.” – Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer on UConn.
Did you know? UConn graduate Rick Mastracchio has been an astronaut since 1996 and is a veteran of nine spacewalks. He recently served as flight engineer aboard the International Space Station.
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Dallas Regional champion
School: Oregon State University.
Campus: Corvallis, Ore.
Founded: 1868.
Enrollment: 23,761.
Basketball budget: $2.65 million (2014-15 figures).
Distance to Indy: 2,348 miles from Gill Coliseum to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Record: 32-4.
Seed: No. 2.
Final AP ranking: No. 6.
Coach: Scott Reuck, sixth year (122-75).
Conference: Pacific-12 Conference.
Road to Final Four: Beat Troy 73-31, St. Bonaventure 69-40, DePaul 83-71, Baylor 60-57.
Final Fours: One. 2016.
Starters: (Statistics don’t include Monday’s game) G Gabriella Hanson, 5-11 jr., 7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg; G Jamie Weisner, 5-10 sr., 17.6, .451 3FG; G Sydney Weise, 6-0 jr., 12.6 ppg, 5.1 apg; F Deven Hunter, 6-3 sr., 6.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg; C Ruth Hamblin, 11.9 ppg; 9.9 rpg.
Top reserves: G Marie Gulich, 5-6 sr., 4.2 ppg; 4.1 rpg; F Katie McWilliams, 6-2 fr., 3.1 ppg, 2.1 apg.
Best win: Won 60-57 over fourth-ranked Baylor, a No. 1 seed, in Elite Eight.
Worst loss: Lost 71-51 at UCLA.
Swish Sisters: Jamie Weisner and Sydney Wiese have combined for more than 500 3-pointers in their career. Weisner is shooting .413 from the arc in her career and Wiese .407. Weisner is Pac-12 Player of the Year, and Wiese is a three-time All-Pac-12 selection. Weisner scored a career-high 38 points against DePaul in the Sweet 16.
Batting 1,000: Ruth Hamblin, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Weisner and Wiese make Oregon State one of three teams in the nation with three active 1,000-point scorers (others are Connecticut and Southern Illinois).
Beavers' dam is holding: Oregon State has held 14 opponents to less than 30 percent shooting and leads the NCAA in field goal percentage defense at .315.
Hungry Beavers: Oregon State is 22-1 over the past 23 games.
Four-pac: The Pac-12 placed four teams in the Sweet 16 – Washington, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA – for its most ever.
Just pretend: “To overcome all those mental hurdles of believing that you belong takes a lot of courage. You have to believe things that aren't really believable." – Oregon State coach Scott Reuck on building a program.
Did you know? Douglas Engelbart, inventor of the computer mouse and developer of early incarnations of e-mail, is an Oregon State graduate. He died in 2013 at age 88.
Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.