The Post breaks down the women’s NCAA Tournament regions.
The Post breaks down the women’s NCAA Tournament regions:Albany 1
Can anyone stop undefeated South Carolina? Dawn Staley’s gold-standard program somehow got even better after graduating the entire starting five from last season’s Final Four team. There’s nothing in this region to remotely trouble the Gamecocks until the Elite Eight, where they can expect to face shorthanded No. 2 Notre Dame or No. 3 Oregon State, a stealth Pac-12 threat that will be awfully far from home.
Hannah Hidalgo: The electric 5-foot-6 Notre Dame point guard, a New Jersey native, rapidly entered the inner circle of best players in the country as a freshman. She puts up 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and — get this — 4.6 steals per game.
No. 13 Fairfield: The Stags head to face No. 4 Indiana with a 31-1 record and the country’s fifth-ranked scoring defense. Fairfield has never won an NCAA Tournament game, going 0-5 in previous trips. The shoe fits. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast also looks frisky.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks still have the nation’s best defense, anchored by towering center Kamilla Cardoso. This season, with transfer Te-Hina Paopao, improved point guard Raven Johnson and highlight-reel freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley, they also can shoot the 3 and score in bunches, too.Albany 2
No one can accuse the committee of making things easy for Caitlin Clark, the sport’s main attraction and TV ratings driver. There are dire threats for Iowa from the second round on out. No. 4 Kansas State, a potential Sweet 16 opponent, already beat the Hawkeyes once this season. Then it gets really interesting. No. 3 LSU, which throttled Iowa in last year’s indelible title game, could await in the Elite Eight.
