April 4, 2025
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Final Four preview
Baker: 'We can't ignore what Paige Bueckers has been doing'
On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Natalie Heavren sits down with The Next’s BIG EAST beat writer Tee Baker to discuss everything at stake in the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four round. They discussed how the four teams — South Carolina, Texas, UCLA, and UConn — punched their tickets to the finals, and they make some predictions about who might prevail.
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
Order ‘Rare Gems’ and save 30%
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. “Rare Gems” follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.
If you enjoy Megdal’s coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX Sports, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout to save 30%!
Heavren opens the show by asking Baker how South Carolina and Texas were able to make it this far. “They made it to the Final Four relying on their culture in a lot of ways,” Baker says. “Defensive intensity is a standard at both of those programs, so I think that’s part of it. And elite talent, right?”
Later on, Heavren asks the same question to Baker, but this time, about UCLA and UConn. “UConn’s path to the Final Four was relatively smooth,” Baker says. “We can’t ignore what Paige Bueckers has been doing.
Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?
Subscribe now to The IX Sports and receive our daily women’s sports newsletter covering soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers. That includes Basketball Wednesday from founder and editor Howard Megdal.
Readers of The IX Basketball now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.
“I think for UCLA, this was a significant win for them,” Baker continues, referencing UCLA’s Elite Eight victory over LSU. “The narrative around [head coach] Cori Close and her program is that they’re always right there, but they can’t get there. So I’m thrilled that they broke through, just as a program.”
Heavren closes out the show by asking Baker if they have any final thoughts on the Final Four. “There are so many different storylines to the games,” Baker says. “There are so many stories to tell.”
Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
