PHOENIX – As the temperature heats up in late March in the desert, so does the madness. With the Women’s Final Four scheduled for April 3 and 5 in Phoenix, here’s a look at the remaining teams in the Sacramento 4 Regional of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
With the Sweet Sixteen tipping off Friday and Saturday, the remaining teams in the Sacramento 4 Regional are No. 1 South Carolina, No. 3 TCU, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 10 Virginia.
South Carolina is the favorite. The Gamecocks went 33-3 in the regular season. Coach Dawn Staley has led South Carolina to five straight Final Four appearances. The Gamecocks have won two national championships in the past four years, and three total under Staley.
They’ve made quick work of their first two opponents. They beat No. 16 Southern University 103-34. Then in the battle of USC vs USC, beat No. 9 Southern California 101-61 in the Round of 32.
“I think we’re starting to connect,” Staley said in a tournament news conference. “I do think the excitement of playing in the NCAA Tournament has lifted them to play connected basketball, to know that the stakes are high at this point. It takes a win to advance. I think that it’s bringing out the ultra competitiveness in them.”
TCU lost in the Elite Eight last year. That was its first NCAA tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season. Coach Mark Campbell has led the Horned Frogs to back-to-back 30-win seasons, for the only 30-win seasons in program history.
TCU took down No. 14 UC San Diego 86-40 in the Round of 64. The Horned Frogs needed overtime to take down No. 6 Washington in the Round of 32, 62-59.
Oklahoma is another powerhouse. In its second season in the SEC, it went 26-7 overall, and 11-5 in the conference. One of those 11 conference wins was against South Carolina in Norman. So far in the tournament, the Sooners have beaten No. 13 Idaho, 89-59, then No. 5 Michigan State, 77-71.
The underdog of the group is Virginia. After needing to win a First Four game just to make the tournament, they are riding a wave of momentum since beating Arizona State 57-55 to get in. Virginia upset No. 7 Georgia in the Round of 64, winning 82-73. Virginia then took down No. 2 Iowa on the Hawkeyes’ home floor in a double-overtime thriller, 83-75.
“I think we had confidence going into the Georgia game, going into the Arizona State game,” Virginia guard Kymora Johnson said. “Just coming into March, we’re a confident team, and I think we believe in all the work that we’ve put in.”
Coaches
Dawn Staley (South Carolina): Staley is one of the most decorated women in the sport. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. That’s just for her work as a player.
She was a five-time WNBA All-Star and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, winning in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
She played collegiately at Virginia, which could make for an interesting storyline if the Gamecocks and Cavaliers both advance to the Elite Eight. She led the Cavaliers to the Final Four three times and the championship game once.
As a coach, she has built a dynasty at South Carolina. Since the 2014-15 season, the Gamecocks have won less than 30 games only three times. Since the beginning of the 2020s, they’ve lost a total of five conference games. Staley led the Gamecocks to an undefeated season in 2023-24. She was the first and only Black head coach to win multiple NCAA national championships.
Mark Campbell (TCU): Campbell has turned around the Horned Frogs program. TCU went 14 seasons in between NCAA Tournament appearances, but made it back in Campbell’s second year with the program.
He has led TCU to heights that the program has never seen before, and that has been his track record. Before TCU, he coached at Sacramento State. In the year before he was hired, the Hornets went 3-22. In his second season in Sacramento, the Hornets went 25-8, won their first ever Big Sky Championship and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time. That season led him to TCU.
Jennie Baranczyk (Oklahoma): Baranczyk is in her fifth season at Oklahoma. The Sooners have won at least one tournament game in every year of her tenure, but this is only the second time they’ve made it to the Sweet 16, following last year’s appearance.
Before Oklahoma, she was the head coach at Drake, leading them to the NCAA Tournament three times in nine seasons.
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton (UVA): Agugua-Hamilton is in her fourth season coaching at UVA. She’s a native of Herndon, Virginia, coaching in her home state. After three mediocre seasons, the Cavaliers went 22-11 this season. The Sweet Sixteen is as far as the program has advanced since the 1999-2000 season.
Before Virginia, Agugua-Hamilton was the coach at Missouri State. She led the Lady Bears to the NCAA Tournament twice and two MVC conference championships.
Key players
Joyce Edwards (South Carolina): Edwards has scored 27 and 23 points through the first two tournament games. The sophomore forward has earned All-SEC honors twice and was a second team All-American this season.
Tessa Johnson (South Carolina): Johnson has been one of the most consistent 3-point shooters in the country for her collegiate career, a career that started in South Carolina’s undefeated season. The junior guard has shot around 44% from 3-point range in her career, and has averaged 12.9 points per game this season.
Olivia Miles (TCU): Miles is the Horned Frogs’ leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game this season. She has been one of the top playmakers in the nation throughout her career. She led the ACC in assists per game three times during her time at Notre Dame, and averaged 6.6 this year for TCU.
Aaliyah Chavez (Oklahoma): Chavez is the leading scorer for the Sooners as a true freshman. The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 18.3 points per game this season. She has struggled with efficiency, shooting 38% from the field and 31% from 3-point range. Those efficiency problems have followed her into the tournament, but her 92.8% free throw percentage led the SEC.
Raegan Beers (Oklahoma): Beers is in her second season at Oklahoma following two seasons at Oregon State. She has been one of the most dominant bigs in the nation during her time in college, earning all-conference honors in all four of her seasons. She has been one of the most efficient scorers in the nation, shooting 62.2% from the field in her career and causing all sorts of problems for opposing bigs.
Kymora Johnson (UVA): Johnson has earned All-ACC honors in all three of her collegiate seasons. She averaged 19.5 points per game this season to go with an ACC-leading 5.8 assists. So far in the tournament, she has scored 28 points in both of the Cavaliers’ upset victories.
Paris Clark (UVA): Clark is tied with Tabitha Amanze as UVA’s second-leading scorer (9.4 points per game), and she came up big in the win over Iowa with 20 points. The former Arizona Wildcat also averaged three assists per game this season.
Matchups
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina: It’s an SEC battle to reach the Elite Eight. Oklahoma won the only meeting between these two teams, 94-82 in overtime during the regular season. Aaliyah Chavez led all scorers in that game with 26 points. Joyce Edwards was held to 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting.
“I thought they wanted it more,” Staley said when asked about the previous matchup. “I thought we played wanting it for about a two-minute stretch to get it tied up, and then we really had a chance to win it in regulation, but didn’t come up with a good look.”
Virginia vs. TCU: When this game tips, the Cavaliers and Horned Frogs will know which team is waiting for them in the Elite Eight. The second of the regional semifinals games is a rare matchup, one that’s only happened one other time in history. UVA won that game in November of 2010.
Both of these Sweet 16 games take place Saturday in Sacramento, with the regional final on Monday. The winners then head to Phoenix for a women’s Final Four that is shaping up to be as hot as a Valley sidewalk.
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Sacramento 4 Regional: Players, coaches, matchups to watch on road to Women’s Final Four in Phoenix
Jack Gross, Cronkite News
March 27, 2026
PHOENIX – As the temperature heats up in late March in the desert, so does the madness. With the Women’s Final Four scheduled for April 3 and 5 in Phoenix, here’s a look at the remaining teams in the Sacramento 4 Regional of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
With the Sweet Sixteen tipping off Friday and Saturday, the remaining teams in the Sacramento 4 Regional are No. 1 South Carolina, No. 3 TCU, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 10 Virginia.
South Carolina is the favorite. The Gamecocks went 33-3 in the regular season. Coach Dawn Staley has led South Carolina to five straight Final Four appearances. The Gamecocks have won two national championships in the past four years, and three total under Staley.
They’ve made quick work of their first two opponents. They beat No. 16 Southern University 103-34. Then in the battle of USC vs USC, beat No. 9 Southern California 101-61 in the Round of 32.
“I think we’re starting to connect,” Staley said in a tournament news conference. “I do think the excitement of playing in the NCAA Tournament has lifted them to play connected basketball, to know that the stakes are high at this point. It takes a win to advance. I think that it’s bringing out the ultra competitiveness in them.”
TCU lost in the Elite Eight last year. That was its first NCAA tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season. Coach Mark Campbell has led the Horned Frogs to back-to-back 30-win seasons, for the only 30-win seasons in program history.
TCU took down No. 14 UC San Diego 86-40 in the Round of 64. The Horned Frogs needed overtime to take down No. 6 Washington in the Round of 32, 62-59.
Oklahoma is another powerhouse. In its second season in the SEC, it went 26-7 overall, and 11-5 in the conference. One of those 11 conference wins was against South Carolina in Norman. So far in the tournament, the Sooners have beaten No. 13 Idaho, 89-59, then No. 5 Michigan State, 77-71.
The underdog of the group is Virginia. After needing to win a First Four game just to make the tournament, they are riding a wave of momentum since beating Arizona State 57-55 to get in. Virginia upset No. 7 Georgia in the Round of 64, winning 82-73. Virginia then took down No. 2 Iowa on the Hawkeyes’ home floor in a double-overtime thriller, 83-75.
“I think we had confidence going into the Georgia game, going into the Arizona State game,” Virginia guard Kymora Johnson said. “Just coming into March, we’re a confident team, and I think we believe in all the work that we’ve put in.”
Coaches
Dawn Staley (South Carolina): Staley is one of the most decorated women in the sport. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. That’s just for her work as a player.
She was a five-time WNBA All-Star and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, winning in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
She played collegiately at Virginia, which could make for an interesting storyline if the Gamecocks and Cavaliers both advance to the Elite Eight. She led the Cavaliers to the Final Four three times and the championship game once.
As a coach, she has built a dynasty at South Carolina. Since the 2014-15 season, the Gamecocks have won less than 30 games only three times. Since the beginning of the 2020s, they’ve lost a total of five conference games. Staley led the Gamecocks to an undefeated season in 2023-24. She was the first and only Black head coach to win multiple NCAA national championships.
Mark Campbell (TCU): Campbell has turned around the Horned Frogs program. TCU went 14 seasons in between NCAA Tournament appearances, but made it back in Campbell’s second year with the program.
He has led TCU to heights that the program has never seen before, and that has been his track record. Before TCU, he coached at Sacramento State. In the year before he was hired, the Hornets went 3-22. In his second season in Sacramento, the Hornets went 25-8, won their first ever Big Sky Championship and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time. That season led him to TCU.
Jennie Baranczyk (Oklahoma): Baranczyk is in her fifth season at Oklahoma. The Sooners have won at least one tournament game in every year of her tenure, but this is only the second time they’ve made it to the Sweet 16, following last year’s appearance.
Before Oklahoma, she was the head coach at Drake, leading them to the NCAA Tournament three times in nine seasons.
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton (UVA): Agugua-Hamilton is in her fourth season coaching at UVA. She’s a native of Herndon, Virginia, coaching in her home state. After three mediocre seasons, the Cavaliers went 22-11 this season. The Sweet Sixteen is as far as the program has advanced since the 1999-2000 season.
Before Virginia, Agugua-Hamilton was the coach at Missouri State. She led the Lady Bears to the NCAA Tournament twice and two MVC conference championships.
Key players
Joyce Edwards (South Carolina): Edwards has scored 27 and 23 points through the first two tournament games. The sophomore forward has earned All-SEC honors twice and was a second team All-American this season.
Tessa Johnson (South Carolina): Johnson has been one of the most consistent 3-point shooters in the country for her collegiate career, a career that started in South Carolina’s undefeated season. The junior guard has shot around 44% from 3-point range in her career, and has averaged 12.9 points per game this season.
Olivia Miles (TCU): Miles is the Horned Frogs’ leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game this season. She has been one of the top playmakers in the nation throughout her career. She led the ACC in assists per game three times during her time at Notre Dame, and averaged 6.6 this year for TCU.
Aaliyah Chavez (Oklahoma): Chavez is the leading scorer for the Sooners as a true freshman. The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 18.3 points per game this season. She has struggled with efficiency, shooting 38% from the field and 31% from 3-point range. Those efficiency problems have followed her into the tournament, but her 92.8% free throw percentage led the SEC.
Raegan Beers (Oklahoma): Beers is in her second season at Oklahoma following two seasons at Oregon State. She has been one of the most dominant bigs in the nation during her time in college, earning all-conference honors in all four of her seasons. She has been one of the most efficient scorers in the nation, shooting 62.2% from the field in her career and causing all sorts of problems for opposing bigs.
Kymora Johnson (UVA): Johnson has earned All-ACC honors in all three of her collegiate seasons. She averaged 19.5 points per game this season to go with an ACC-leading 5.8 assists. So far in the tournament, she has scored 28 points in both of the Cavaliers’ upset victories.
Paris Clark (UVA): Clark is tied with Tabitha Amanze as UVA’s second-leading scorer (9.4 points per game), and she came up big in the win over Iowa with 20 points. The former Arizona Wildcat also averaged three assists per game this season.
Matchups
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina: It’s an SEC battle to reach the Elite Eight. Oklahoma won the only meeting between these two teams, 94-82 in overtime during the regular season. Aaliyah Chavez led all scorers in that game with 26 points. Joyce Edwards was held to 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting.
“I thought they wanted it more,” Staley said when asked about the previous matchup. “I thought we played wanting it for about a two-minute stretch to get it tied up, and then we really had a chance to win it in regulation, but didn’t come up with a good look.”
Virginia vs. TCU: When this game tips, the Cavaliers and Horned Frogs will know which team is waiting for them in the Elite Eight. The second of the regional semifinals games is a rare matchup, one that’s only happened one other time in history. UVA won that game in November of 2010.
Both of these Sweet 16 games take place Saturday in Sacramento, with the regional final on Monday. The winners then head to Phoenix for a women’s Final Four that is shaping up to be as hot as a Valley sidewalk.
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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