The women’s tournament comes to a dramatic close.
The NCAA women’s tournament has been excellent yet again after a year off, with multiple dramatic finishes and just enough upsets while still maintaining a high quality of play throughout.
And today, for the first time in tournament history, two Pac-12 teams will face off for the national championship, as the no. 1 overall seed Stanford takes on no. 3 seed Arizona. The Cardinal were expected to be here, but the Wildcats had to upset no. 2 Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 and no. 1 Connecticut in the Final Four to get to this point.
As a result, the conference of champions will produce the winner for the just the fifth time ever and the first since 1992. Stanford has won two titles as a program (USC holds the other two for the Pac-12), and Arizona is here for the first time. Aari McDonald of the Wildcats was Pac-12 player of the year, and she shared defensive player of the year honors with the Cardinal’s Anna Wilson.
Cal missed the tournament for the first time in four tries, but the strength of this conference makes it clear that the Golden Bears will have every opportunity to test themselves in the upcoming regular season and prepare for a return to the postseason. Cal lost its four games to Stanford and Arizona this season by a combined 129 points, so there is definitely room for improvement.
As for this particular matchup, Bear Down.
How to Watch Stanford vs. Arizona:
When: Sunday, April 4, 3 p.m. PT
Where: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
How to watch: ESPN, FuboTV