BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
There were a lot of great storylines at the 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa which was played at Amalie Arena.
There was only one that was missing. USC’s JuJu Watkins suffered a severe knee injury and the Trojans were doomed in the tournament.
There were two first timers with the UCLA Bruins and Texas Longhorns.
There were three No.1 seeds and a No.2.
The No. 1 seeds were UCLA, Texas, South Carolina while the U-Conn Huskies were the No.2 but definitely didn’t play like it. It’s hard to believe that UCLA was representing the Big Ten.
The true meaning of tough love between a coach and a player does exist as U-Conn Coach Gene Auriemma told guard Paige Beuckers “I love you, that’s all I can say. I love you.” This was after the Huskies thrashed the South Carolina Gamescocks in the Finals 82-59.
The U-Conn Huskies wasted no time extending Auriemma as he is now the highest paid women’s coach earning an $19.7 Million extension.
In January, Scouth Carolina makes Dawn Staley the sport’s new highest-paid coach with a historic 25.5 Million extension,
During the tournament, Sarah Strong set an NCAA record for the most points by a freshman in a single tournament with 114. The future looks bright for U-Conn. In the finals, she dominated with 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three block shots and two steals.
Going into this game, in Auriemma’s 12 previous National Title Appearances, he has won 11 times with the lone loss being to Staley’s Gamecocks.
This is a good accomplishment for Staley and during her post-game press conference in the video provided, I asked her what it’s like to compete against this coaching icon.
There were a lot of great videos throughout this tournament and we hope you enjoy each and every one of them,
We’re also including a video of Tampa local Girls/Women’s Basketball Icon, Jackie Eisenhauer , who I covered in the 1980’s for the Tampa Tribune, that was a standout player for Armwood High School and the University of South Florida Bulls as she talks about the rise in women sports especially on the hardcourt. I can only imagine what Jackie would have looked like in a WNBA uniform.
Unfortunately the all three games had lopsided outcomes.
Texas got crushed by South Carolina 74-57. U-Conn rolled by UCLA 85-51 and as forementioned, The Huskies hammered the Gamecocks 82-59.
There were no players drafted into the WNBA from UCLA and Texas. Our main interviews were with Close, Staley and Auriemma, in addition to a couple interviews with Gamecocks players after the final game.
To no surprise, Bueckers was the No.1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft taking her 19.8 PPG to the Dallas. She was the only player in the Final Four to be selected in the first round. Days earlier, she became an investor in Unrivaled, a 3on3 league. With Unrivaled she’ll earn $350,000 for one season, and during her four year deal with the WNBA, she’ll make $348,000 on her rookie deal.
In round No.2 with the sixth pick overall, Te-Hina Paopao was drafted by Atlanta and she averaged 11.4 PPG at South Carolina,
Two picks later in the second round, eight overall, Bree Hall was selected by the Indiana Fever and will have Caitlin Clark as a teammate. The South Carolina guard takes a 39.9 FG % to the Hoosier State.
In round three, fifth overall, U-Conn guard Kaitlyn Chen takes her 11,9 PPG to expansion, Golden State.
Another U-Conn Huskie, forward Aubrey Huskie will take her 7.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 53.3 FG% to Minnesota, This was a great move by the Lynx to bolster their front court.
Sn now it’s time to see how these young ladies perform at the next level.
It’s worth noting that Bueckers is the only athlete (male of female) to defeat six No.1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, In 2022, the Huskies downed NC State, and Stanford. In 2024, defeated USC and pulled the trick again versuses the Trojan in 2025. in 2025 it was UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four,
If you’re looking to see the first Bueckers vs Clark Math up, it will be on June 27.
ESPN will broadcast it first ever WNBA pre-season game.
I can only imagine what late Tennessee Volunteer head coach Pat Summitt must be thinking right now as Women’s Basketball is hitting unbelievable heights and let’s not forget she led her team to eight National titles.
This was truly an unbelievable experience covering the 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa and I’m grateful to USF Associate Athletic Director Brian Siegriest for making this happen!
When I woke up on January 1, 2025, this event wasn’t on my radar but it indeed turned out to be quite memeroable down the the final question to Auriemma when I asked him how does it feel to be mentioned in the same question as UCLA’s “Wizard of Westwood” John Wooden. You’ll have to listen to that in the video.
Ironically, 50 years ago in 1975, Wooden won his 10th National Title. A half century later, Auriemma racked up is 12th.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find us on X @TribuneSouth. To see all of his broadcasts and the company videos, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune YouTube Channel.
Finally, he has a book “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble. The audio book is coming out soon. This book talks about Old School Media vs New School Media and is extremely beneficial for students learning the business.