Gamecocks get on the board first
The first points of the night go to the South Carolina Gamecocks, with guard Te-Hina Paopao sinking the first shot and helping get the team to a quick 5-0 start.
Girl power takes center court during intro videos
The Final Four teams introduced themselves in fresh female fashion, with teammate voiceovers hyping up "my girls" in pre-game videos that feature everything from beauty and lash tips to favorite on-court moves and nicknames.
Oh, and a sparkly basketball, of course.
Millions expected to tune in to the action
The Final Four is officially underway for the women, and more people than ever are expected to watch this weekend's games.
Ratings for the tournament are expected to reach well into the double-digit millions.
Soaring interest in the women’s game is the product of two main phenomena, experts say: a new batch of stars, including a once-in-a-generation player; and the increasing coverage those players now receive, thanks to greater investment from networks in broadcasting the games.
At the top of the star wave stands Caitlin Clark, Iowa guard who has broken not only the most records for scoring in the women’s game, but earlier this year surpassed Pete Maravich as the all-time leading NCAA career basketball scorer, period. Yet other stars are primed to keep the momentum going for the women’s games.
Fans already feeling inspired
CLEVELAND — Rebecca Eskow said the women’s tournament “feels bigger this year,” adding that it’s “special” the women are getting so much attention.
AmberConnolly, from Iowa and a Hawkeyes fan, said “it’s pretty incredible” to see the excitement around women’s hoops.
“We grew up playing basketball and there was never this hype and following of it, so it’s pretty incredible to see it, see kids be able to see this stuff now too, it’s pretty cool,” she said.
Addyson McDermott said she thinks this hype will be an inspiration for young girls everywhere.
“I think it’s gonna really inspire them to work harder,” McDermott said.
Their paths to the Final Four: South Carolina and NC State
The undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks beat Presbyterian in the first round, North Carolina in the second round, Indiana in the Sweet 16 and Oregon State in the Elite Eight to arrive at the Final Four stage.
NC State had to knock out Chattanooga in the first round, Tennessee in the second round, Stanford in the Sweet 16 and Texas in the Elite Eight to make it to this year’s Final Four.
A not-quite-perfect tourney: Racism hurled at Utah team
The University of Utah women’s basketball team found themselves the victims of multiple racist attacks while they were staying in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, ahead of their first NCAA Tournament game in Spokane, Washington, on March 23.
Coach Lynne Roberts said at a news conference on March 21 that her team of Black, white and Latina athletes were subject to a series of “racial hate crimes.”
On Wednesday, Coeur d’Alene police said a racial slur was used against the team, possibly on more than one occasion.
“We’ve identified an audio recording where the use of a racial slur was clearly audible,” the police department said on Facebook. It added that it “appears the use of a racial slur occurred more than one time.”
The team was relocated to a hotel closer to Spokane for their safety, Roberts said.
South Carolina and Iowa head into gametime as the favorites
South Carolina is a heavy favorite tonight over NC State in the booming world of sports gambling.
Most sportsbooks favor the Gamecocks by 11 or 11.5 points.
Iowa vs. UConn is much closer.
Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes are favored by 2.5 to 3.5 points over Paige Bueckers and the Huskies, depending on the sportsbook.
The books are also expecting Iowa v. UConn to be a higher scoring affair. The over/under for that game (a prediction for the points scored in the game on which bettors wager whether total points will be over or under that number) has been around 162.5.
The over/under for Souther Carolina v. NC State has been around 139.5.
Fans are psyched about the hype around women's hoops this year
CLEVELAND — Fans are already reveling in tonight's Final Four glory at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, psyched to see all of the hype the women's game is finally getting.
For Jennifer Dunn, who said she played college basketball, seeing arenas sell out and knowing that tickets to the games are being sold for hundreds, if not thousands, "is generational and it’s one of those things that is super cool for these girls to see."
Makenna Dunn said it's "amazing" and "cool" to watch the women excel on the court.
"I want to be like them someday," she said.
The Dunns are rooting for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
More eyes than ever on women's hoops
No matter which team is crowned the national title, there's already one clear winner: women's basketball.
Earlier in the week, a record audience watched Iowa’s Caitlin Clark face off against LSU’s Angel Reese.
The Elite Eight game on Monday drew 12.3 million viewers, the most ever for a women’s college basketball game, easily topping the previous high of 9.9 million viewers who tuned in to last season’s championship matchup between the two teams, according to ESPN.
The Iowa-LSU game was also its biggest betting event of all time for women’s sports, FanDuel told CNBC.
Final Four count: How many times has each team been to the semifinal round?
None of these four teams are strangers to the Final Four, but some are more familiar with it than others.
UConn has been to the Final Four 23 times since their first appearance in 1991.
This is Iowa’s third Final Four appearance; their first was in 1993.
N.C. State is in the Final Four for just the second time, with their only other appearance in 1998.
And South Carolina has been quite familiar with the big stage recently — this is their sixth appearance since 2015.