The Road to the Final Four is captivating college basketball fans. But it’s the women who are creating more memorable moments and setting watch and wager records.
No. 1 seeds Iowa and undefeated South Carolina along with No. 3 seeds Connecticut and North Carolina State are re-seeded and bracketed in the women’s Final Four starting Friday, April 5 in Cleveland.
Women’s College Basketball Final Four
Women’s college basketballodds and futures from BetMGM refresh periodically and are subject to change. That includes on props and live betting, which is most popular during March Madness. All times Eastern.
No. 1 South Carolina (-11.5) vs. No. 4 North Carolina State | Total: 139.5 | 7 p.m. | ESPN
No. 2 Iowa (-2.5) vs. No. 3 Connecticut | Total: 162.5 | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN
Sunday’s women’s championship game is at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.
Sports betting is legal in Ohio, where more than 19,000 fans will fill Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. But betting in Iowa at BetMGM and top online sportsbooks is driving the Hawkeye’s handle and support of Iowa women’s basketball.
Undefeated South Carolina (36-0) remains the favorite to win the national championship ahead of Iowa (33-4), Connecticut (33-5) and NC State (31-6)
-200: South Carolina
+300: Iowa
+700: UCONN
+1400: NC State
Iowa, South Carolina and Connecticut remain big liabilities in the futures market for the leading online sportsbooks.
“In the women’s tournament, we need a long shot to win it all — hopefully longer than a Caitlan Clark three,” said Seamus Magee, Trading Manager for BetMGM. “All of the favorites — South Carolina, Iowa and even Connecticut — are liabilities for BetMGM.”
Record Betting On Women’s College Basketball
“It was a special night for the game and for the sportsbooks, and BetMGM saw record handles in both pregame and live in-play action,” Magee said.
No. 3 seed LSU vs. No. 1 Iowa was a rematch of last year’s women’s national championship game won by the LSU Tigers. But this year’s LSU vs. Iowa was the most bet women’s basketball game ever. No. 3 UConn’s win over No. 1 seed USC on Monday was top 3.
“Both women’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight games (April 1) outperformed all six NBA games in total bets and and money wagered (handle),” BetMGM .
The LSU-Iowa Elite Eight contest also drew 12.3 million viewers – surpassing last year’s LSU-Iowa women’s championship game of 9.9 million viewers. ESPN said Monday’s figure was the highest viewership for any college basketball game ever on its platforms and the second-highest of any basketball game — college or NBA — since 2012.
Record Breaker Caitlin Clark Carries Iowa To Final Four
Iowa Hawkeye’s superstar guard Caitlin Clark led top-seeded Iowa to its second straight Final Four with another memorable performance scoring 41 points with 12 assists and 7 rebounds. That included a March Madness record-tying nine 3-pointers to knock out the defending champion LSU Tigers 94-87.
“It’s amazing to be back in the Final Four. It’s so hard to get back there,” Clark said. “This region was really hard, but we told ourselves we are the one seed for a reason.”
Ironically, Clark poured in 41 points in last year’s national semifinal win over top seeded South Carolina. Clark’s performance was the top scoring game in Final Four history.
A month ago, Clark became the NCAA all-time NCAA leading scorer in men’s or women’s major college basketball history. She passed “Pistol Pete” Maravich’s 54-year-old record. Clark became the NCAA Division I women’s basketball career scoring leader on Feb. 15. In the April 1 Elite Eight win over LSU, Clark became the all-time Division I leader in career made 3-pointers with 538.
“Like I said earlier, just enjoy this experienced,” Caitlin Clark said on arriving in Cleveland at the Final Four. “Women’s basketball is at its best right now, and we’re just lucky to be a part of it.”
The stars of women basketball’s Final Four include Clark and Iowa shooting for their first national title along with UCONN’s Paige Bueckers, who has lifted the Huskies while losing five players to injury this season. Connecticut is in pursuit of its 12th women’s basketball national championship and playing in its 23rd Final Four. Bueckers has three double-doubles in four tournament games and has shot 51.1% from the field and scored 28 points with 10 rebounds and 6 assists in UCONN’s Elite Eight win.
Following their opening round win, NC State has defeated the highest-seeded opponent in each round of all tournament teams including No. 6 Tennessee, No. 2 Stanford and No. 1 Texas. Aziaha James hit 7-of-9 three pointers in the Elite Eight win over Texas. She’s averaging 24.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament – 8.5 points more than during the regular season.
The team to beat is still undefeated South Carolina, who makes their fourth straight Final Four appearance. The Gamecocks girls have been the No. 1 team since the start of the season. South Carolina has had four different leading scorers in each tournament game and have had nine players score in each of the past three games. Senior center Kamilla Cardoso averaged 14.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season and more than 15 points per game and 62.5% field goal shooting in the tournament.
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