Women’s college basketball has been on the rise these last few years, riding the wave of iconic players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins.

The journey has been more challenging than usual, but Dawn Staley and defending national champion South Carolina are still getting the job done.

Defending national champion South Carolina left no doubt it would return to the title game, getting 14 points from Te-Hina Paopao and overwhelming Texas 74-57 in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The women’s Final Four is full of star players, top seeds and historic programs.

Azzi Fudd scored 28 points and No. 7 UConn ended No. 4 South Carolina’s 71-game home winning streak with an 87-58 victory Sunday.

Te-Hina Paopao and Chloe Kitts each scored 11 points, and No. 2 South Carolina rolled past No. 5 Texas 67-50 for its 11th straight win on Sunday in front of a sold out crowd of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena.