Here’s the thing. For most of the Honey crew, we don’t really do sports. It’s rare, if ever, that we even cover it. But you know what we do do? Support the girls. You can catch us hyping strangers up in bar bathrooms and grocery store lines while also voting for more women in office, so when it comes to cheering on the girls in sports, you can count us in.

Friday is the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four and the hype is real. We wanted to get in on the action and encourage our readers to do the same. From equal pay, to receiving the same play/air time on TV as the men’s leagues, and the right to play them at all, we are rooting for the basketball girls this week. Keep reading for Honey’s Guide to the Final Four, complete with matching Cowboy Carter songs, notable stats and storylines to follow so you can chime in on ~the discourse~ online.

Honey’s guide to watching the Final Four

TLDR: The NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four is this Friday and it’s a big freaking deal.

We put together the girl’s guide to watching and participating in the women’s college basketball tournament. We’re not dumb; we just don’t know sports—probably because it hasn’t been marketed to us, or included us, or respected us. But that’s neither here nor there, because we’re learning for the girls!

This Friday, Iowa will play the University of Connecticut (UCONN) and North Carolina State (NC State) will play South Carolina to determine who qualifies for the national championship game. This year is THE year to join in on the buzz with records being broken left and right including Iowa’s win over LSU breaking the record for most-watched women’s college basketball game with 12.3 million viewers, Iowa’s Caitlin Clarkpassing the NCAA all-time scoring record (men’s and women’s) with 3,668 points; and tickets for the Final Four going for twice that of the men’s games.

The Breakdown

Watch No. 3 NC State vs. No. 1 South Carolina Friday at 7 p.m. (ET) on ESPN

NC State, 31-6 (wins-losses)

School: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Mascot: Wolfpack (lol ok)

Background: This is NC State’s first Final Four appearance since 1998. They’re kind of like the annoying little sibling to the Duke and UNC Chapel Hill basketball rivalries. Both the men and women’s basketball teams have beat out the historic powerhouse North Carolina teams to make it to the Final Four.

Key Players: Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers

If NC State was a Cowboy Carter track, it’d be: Just For Fun / Daughter

The Tea: NC State played Texas in the Elite Eight with different 3-point line measurements. The teams became aware of the mishap before the game but decided to play the game anyway. I dunno, we’re just girls, but this seems like a Really Big Deal and would only happen in women’s sports. Get it together! These women are professionals!

South Carolina, 36-0

School: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Mascot: Gamecocks (allegedly a bird)

Background: South Carolina is the only undefeated team remaining. They would be the first team to win a national championship with a perfect record since UConn in 2016. The Gamecocks (again, lol) are currently favored to win with Iowa a close second.

Key Players: Kamilla Cardoso, Te-Hina Paopao

If South Carolina was a Cowboy Carter track, it’d be: Spaghetti

The Tea: South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley is a style icon, rocking Louis Vuitton and Gucci on the sidelines. She breaks fashion rules and glass ceilings as the highest-paid Black female basketball coach.

Watch No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 1 Iowa Friday at 9 p.m.(ET) Friday on ESPN

UConn, 33-5

School: University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn.

Mascot: Huskies (cute, we love a dog moment)

Background: UConn is the most successful women’s basketball program in the country with 11 National Championships and has made the Final Four 15 of the last 16 seasons. They made it to the Final Four this year despite losing six players to injuries.

Key Players: Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards

If UConn was a Cowboy Carter track, it’d be: II Most Wanted

The Tea: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wanted to attend UConn growing up but was ultimately not recruited by the school. When UConn’s Paige Bueckers was named the best college athlete in women’s sports at the 2021 Espy’s, she used the opportunity to celebrate and honor Black women saying, “They don’t get the media coverage that they deserve. They’ve given so much to the sport, the community and society as a whole and their value is undeniable.”

Iowa, 33-4

School: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Mascot: Hawkeye (not a real bird)

Background: Iowa has the highest offensive rating in the country, due in part to Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking streak.

Key Players: Caitlin Clark, Hannah Stuelke

If Iowa was a Cowboy Carter Track, it’d be: Tyrant

The Tea: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese have been pitted against each other for the past two seasons as impressive athletes with confident, outspoken affects. Last year, Reese’s game-winning gesture at Clark was deemed cocky, and lacked class, pointing to the double standards Black women athletes are held to.

Required Reading:

• Emotional Angel Reese says she has been ‘attacked so many times’ and threatened since winning NCAA title in 2023 (CNN)
• The Kim Mulkey Way: The LSU coach holds grudges, battles everyone— and keeps winning. But at what cost? (The Washington Post)
• Togethxr’s Guide to College Hoops (Togethxr)
• Women’s March Madness 2024: Top 25 players in the Final Four(ESPN)
• The Celebrities Fighting for Gender Equity in Sports (The Cut)

Catch us in Togethxr’s “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” merch. We’re sports fans now.