Women’s Final Four 2022 picks and predictions

MINNEAPOLIS — The 2022 women’s Final Four is full of some of the most recognizable stars in women’s college basketball. South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston. Stanford’s Haley Jones. Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith. UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

But for as much as those standouts have received attention for their double-double streaks, flashy plays or ability to come up with clutch baskets in key moments, that might not be how Friday’s national semifinals are won.

“I think whoever plays the best defense [Friday] is going to win the game, if I’m being completely honest,” UConn senior guard Christyn Williams said ahead of the Huskies’ matchup against defending national champion Stanford (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

All four teams advanced to the Final Four behind top-tier defenses. The four teams boast top-18 defensive ratings in Division I women’s basketball, per Her Hoop Stats, allowing between 73.7 (South Carolina) and 81.5 points (Stanford) per 100 possessions. All but Stanford are featured in the top eight.

What other factors or players could make the difference between winning and losing on the season’s biggest stage? ESPN’s Katie Barnes, Alexa Philippou and Mechelle Voepel offer their perspectives, break down the South Carolina-Louisville (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Stanford-UConn matchups and predict which teams will advance to Sunday’s NCAA title game.

If superstars Haley Jones and Paige Bueckers both have huge games but cancel each other out with big performances, which player steps up as the difference-maker in Stanford-UConn?

Voepel: Stanford senior Lexie Hull always has had go-to scoring ability, but on a team with so many threats, she can sometimes be more a “cog” than a star. Yet look who has led the way in scoring the past three games on the road to Minneapolis for Stanford: Hull with 36, 19 and 20 points.

The 6-foot-1 guard has averaged 22.0 PPG and 5.3 RPG while shooting 52.4% from the field so far in this NCAA tournament. Hull also can match UConn for playmaking hustle,…