HARTFORD, Conn. — A familiar Final Four opponent will be waiting for the UConn women’s basketball team at the Target Center in Minneapolis Friday night.
Stanford, the defending national champion, avenged an early season loss to Texas in the Elite Eight game Sunday with a 59-50 win over the Longhorns to advance to its 15th Final Four, where the Cardinal will face UConn at 9:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
Two No. 1 seeds will face off in the early semifinal when South Carolina meets Louisville at 7 p.m.
It’s the sixth time Stanford and UConn will play in the Final Four. The first time was in Minneapolis in 1995, when UConn went undefeated and won its first national title. UConn beat Stanford that year, 87-60.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said the Cardinal (32-3) are ready for the Huskies (29-5).
“I think we match up very well,” VanDerveer said during a media call on Tuesday. “We’ve both played great competition. We’re experienced teams. I think we play similar styles. The team that does their thing better will win.”
Lexi Hull had 20 points, and point guard Haley Jones, the Most Outstanding Player at last year’s Final Four, had 18 points and four free throws at the end of the game to seal the victory over Texas Sunday. Stanford had lost to Texas on Nov. 14, 61-56, on the night the Cardinal celebrated their national championship by handing out rings.
Stanford has won 23 straight, with its last loss coming to South Carolina on Dec. 21.
Sophomore center Cameron Brink leads a balanced scoring effort, averaging 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds with 89 blocks, but she also gets into foul trouble a lot. Jones averages 12.9 points and 7.8 rebounds and is an 82% free throw shooter, while Hull averages 12.7 points.
“They have a great team,” VanDerveer said of UConn. “But they have to guard us. Our team has great weapons, Cam, Haley. Lexi’s playing extremely well. [Guard] Anna Wilson. We have a deep bench. Maybe our advantage might be we can go deeper and we can be more aggressive.”
VanDerveer said she watched UConn’s double-overtime win over NC State on Monday night.
“I thought they played really well last night,” she said. “Obviously, the game could have gone either way. Free throws down the stretch maybe were the difference. It’s very sad they had the injuries they have and having the injury last night, too, you never want to see a player go down. They’re playing very well, and we’ll have to play very well to beat them.”
