UConn, Notre Dame reach Final Four full of No. 1s

When UConn and Notre Dame won their Elite Eight games Monday night it meant all four No. 1 seeds have reached the women’s Final Four.

UConn (36-0) beat defending national champion and No. 2 seed South Carolina 94-65 to advance from the Albany Region while Notre Dame (33-3) beat No. 2 Oregon 84-74 in the Spokane Region.

The Huskies, who were shocked by Mississippi State in last year’s Final Four, will have a chance to enact some revenge if they can get by Notre Dame in the national semifinals Friday.

The winner of that game will face the winner of the other national semifinal between Mississippi State (36-1) and Louisville (36-2).

UConn will be playing in its 11th straight and 19th overall Final Four. The Huskies are seeking their 12th national title after seeing their run of four straight championships and 111-game winning streak come to an end last year at the hands of the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame is playing in its seventh Final Four and seeking the program’s second national title, with their previous championship coming in 2001.

Mississippi State is playing in the Final Four for the second straight year. After shocking UConn in the national semifinals last year, they fell to South Carolina in the title game.

Louisville is making its third Final Four trip under coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals lost to UConn in the national championship game in 2009 and 2013.

The Final Four will get underway Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, with the championship game set for Sunday, April 1.