TAMPA, Fla. – The second-seeded and third-ranked UConn women's basketball team (35-3) takes on No. 1 overall seeded and ranked UCLA (34-2) in the NCAA Tournament Final Four in Amalie Arena at 9:30 p.m. on Friday. The game will air on ESPN, Westwood One and the UConn Sports Network from Learfield (FOX Sports 97-9).

The Bird & Taurasi Show, an alternate cast of the game featuring UConn alums Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, returns to the Final Four this season on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

This is UConn's 36th overall and straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, dating back to the 1988-89 season. UConn is 140-24 overall in the NCAA Tournament, which is the winningest record in the sport. The Huskies have advanced to the NCAA Final Four for a record 24th time. UConn is 12-11 all-time in the Final Four.

Redshirt senior Paige Bueckers had 31 points, six assists and four steals to lead UConn past No. 1 seed USC, 78-64, to win the Spokane 4 Region. Freshman Sarah Strong had 22 points and 17 rebounds for her third double-double of the NCAA Tournament. Bueckers was named the region's Most Outstanding Player while Strong was named to the All-Tournament Team.

UConn is 7-1 all-time vs. UCLA, including 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament. The teams last faced off in the 2023 Cayman Islands Classic, which UCLA won, 78-67. Paige Bueckers led the Huskies in the game with 31 points.

Graduate student Kaitlyn Chen faced UCLA in Nov. 2023 when she was at Princeton. Chen scored 24 points in a 77-74 loss to the Bruins.

UCLA advanced to its first Final Four in program history with a 72-65 win over No. 3 seed LSU. This season, Lauren Betts leads the Bruins with 20.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Head coach Cori Close is in her 14th season at UCLA.