The excellent news for UConn is that the star sophomore guard Azzi Fudd, who has missed 22 complete video games this season due to knee accidents, is again in its lineup. Fudd was cleared to return simply forward of the convention match and scored 11 factors within the title recreation. UConn will face Fifteenth-seeded Vermont on Saturday.
“So many issues have occurred on and off the courtroom this previous season,” Auriemma mentioned. “Personally and team-wise, all the pieces, to get so far, you need to simply shut that guide and begin a brand new brand-new one.”
Then again, Stanford is stumbling into the match, having misplaced two of its final three video games. Its final loss got here within the Pac-12 Convention match semifinals to U.C.L.A. It was the primary time Stanford had not made the Pac-12 title recreation since 2016.
Nonetheless, Stanford, which received the nationwide title in 2021, has the expertise and expertise to be one of many hardest groups to remove from the match, however late-season inconsistency makes them appear extra weak than they’ve been in years previous.
“I don’t assume we’re wherever near our ceiling,” guard Haley Jones mentioned after the convention match loss. “So I believe that if we’re capable of get issues collectively in these subsequent few weeks and proceed to play collectively and make changes, then I believe we now have quite a lot of good things forward of us by March and the start of April.”
After which there are the groups that would get in the way in which of the historic juggernauts. They begin with Iowa, spearheaded by the sharpshooting guard Caitlin Clark. Iowa earned a No. 2 seed within the Seattle area the place Stanford is the highest seed. Clark has led Iowa to 4 straight wins, together with the Massive Ten Convention match championship, the place she recorded the one triple-double within the title recreation’s historical past.
Clark and Iowa are taking part in their finest as of late and have confronted a way more troublesome schedule than many different prime groups, making them a simple decide to make a deep run. Virginia Tech, the Atlantic Coast Convention match champion, comes into the match driving an 11-game successful streak and is buoyed by Georgia Amoore, a degree guard who averaged just below 22 factors per recreation and broke the A.C.C. match 3-point report with 14 over three video games.