March Madness: Ranking the women’s Final Four starters from 1 to 20

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It’s the final weekend of the college basketball season and the two best point guards in the class of 2020 are not only still playing, but will face off against each other.

Caitlin Clark, the No. 4 overall recruit in the class, carried Iowa into the Final Four with a 41-point, 12-assist performance. The Hawkeyes will face No. 1 overall recruit Paige Bueckers, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, and the powerhouse Connecticut program. The two have only played each other once in college, as freshmen in the Sweet 16. Bueckers and the Huskies won that initial meeting. Clark is playing for her second Final Four bid after Iowa lost to LSU in the national championship game last year.

Three more top-15 prospects in that class are also represented. Both are transfers. South Carolina forward Kamilla Cardoso ranked No. 5 and started her career at Syracuse. Te-Hina Paopao was ranked No. 11 and played three years at Oregon. UConn’s forward Aaliyah Edwards, a Canadian national team pool member, was ranked No. 23 in the class.

The Final Four tips off at 7 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland with NC State and South Carolina. Iowa and UConn tip afterward. The championship game is Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.

1. Caitlin Clark, G, Iowa

Dropping a stat line of 41 points (shooting 44.8%), 12 assists, seven rebounds, two steals and a block in an Elite Eight game against the reigning champs puts you at the top of the list, easy. Clark, the all-time NCAA leading scorer, is averaging 32.3 ppg in the tournament, right at her season-long average, with 10 assists per game as well.

2. Paige Bueckers, G, UConn

Bueckers is more of a 1.25, but someone has to be second (and Geno Auriemma will be happy). She returned from an ACL injury that kept her out of last season to reach her third Final Four in as many tries. Bueckers is carrying most of the scoring load on a depleted roster that had to start two freshmen. She’s packing the stat sheet, averaging 28 ppg, 9 rpg, 5 apg, 3.3 spg…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/march-madness-ranking-the-womens-final-four-starters-from-1-to-20-031509627.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-04-04 03:15:09

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