South Carolina The Gamecocks, who represent the
University of South Carolina and play their home games at
Colonial Life Arena in
Columbia, came to the championship game after being ranked No. 1 in every poll from the preseason through this matchup, the final game of the year. Led by
coach of the year Dawn Staley and
player of the year Aliyah Boston, South Carolina defeated a healthy UConn team in November's
Battle 4 Atlantis tournament final, 73–57. South Carolina lost only two games during the season: one in overtime against unranked
Missouri in December, and one in the SEC Tournament, where the unranked
Kentucky Wildcats surprised the Gamecocks in the finals. In the NCAA Tournament, South Carolina drew a No. 1 seed in the Greensboro Regional, where they won handily against
Howard and
Miami on their home court, then defeated a scrappy No. 5 seed
North Carolina team. They then dominated
Cinderella No. 10 seed
Creighton in Greensboro to advance to the Final Four. The Gamecocks defeated
Louisville, who never led after the second quarter, to advance to their second consecutive
March Madness finals. The Gamecocks entered this game with no injuries which affected their lineup. UConn started the season ranked No. 2 behind the Gamecocks. Coached by
Hall of Famers Geno Auriemma and
Chris Dailey and led by last year's player of the year
Paige Bueckers, UConn utilized eleven different starting lineups; eight different players led the Huskies in scoring in games during the season. In December, Bueckers suffered a broken bone in her knee, which kept her out of play for nineteen games, but she rejoined the team in late February with limited minutes until the NCAA Tournament. Bueckers's injury gave Auriemma and Dailey unexpected opportunities to develop blue-chip freshmen as scorers, while three seniors and several experienced sophomores anchored the team. UConn lost regular season games against unranked
Georgia Tech,
Oregon, and
Villanova, while losing to No. 6
Louisville in December. A healthy UConn dominated the Big East Tournament, defeating Villanova in the finals. In the NCAA Tournament, the No. 2 seed Huskies beat
Mercer and struggled on their home court against a physical
UCF team. At the Bridgeport regional, UConn defeated
Indiana, then emerged victorious in a game that announcers called an "instant classic", a two-overtime 91–87 contest against No. 1 seed
NC State. In a Final Four contest against
Stanford, UConn out-rebounded the taller Cardinal squad and the Huskies' stifling defense held the defending national champions to a 34.8% shooting percentage to advance to this final with a 63–58 win. Senior forward Dorka Juhász suffered a wrist injury during the NC State contest and was the only starter injured for this contest. ==Starting lineups==