The Women’s Tournament was filled with mega teams and Mega Stars this season, but no stars will shine brighter than tonight’s historic matchups. Some say this will be the best night in Women’s College Basketball history. With South Carolina and NC State punching their tickets to Cleveland for the Final Four, the remaining team on Monday night will leave this Elite 8 with a bang. Here is what to expect tonight.

Regional 2 Final:

#1 Iowa vs #3 LSU:

This is the marquee matchup of the tournament.  Rematch of last season’s national championship. LSU got the better of Iowa 102-85 and The Hawkeyes have had this one circled on their calendar pretty much since the season started. Destiny always puts the greats together, especially when it comes to Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, two of the most prolific stars in the women’s game. With Iowa, this team goes as Caitlin Clark goes. Clark is the game’s best player by far and when she is scoring and creating for others Iowa can be very tough to beat. As a team on the season the Hawkeyes shoot 38.2% from beyond the arc, that is great for their drive and kick game when Clark penetrates the defense, that percentage has decreased some during the tournament. Hannah Stuelke is their second leading scorer this season at 14 PPG and has stepped up in a big way in the departure on Monika Czinano. For LSU, Balance is key for this team as they trout out 6 players who average double figures on the season. Angel Reese, the clear leader of this team, remains a double-double machine and a force in the paint. Last year in this matchup Alexis Morris, LaDazhia Williams, and Jasmine Carson played big for the Lady Tigers, but they are no longer there. This season you add Freshman Mikaylah Williams and two star transfers in Hailey Van Lith from Louisville and Aneesah Morrow from DePaul. This LSU team during the tournament has shot the ball increasingly better from beyond the Arc at over 40%, besting their regular season average of 32.1%. They don’t take many three pointers, but when they do, they are making them. A key matchup tonight will be Sophomore star Flau’jae Johnson vs Caitlin Clark, Johnson will have the primary defensive duties on Clark tonight, can she make it difficult on Clark to score and be the playmaker Iowa needs her to be and can she make Clark work hard defensively. In this matchup I believe LSU will have Iowa’s number once again, they are tenacious in the paint, a much better rebounding team, and their balance and multiple playmakers will make things very difficult for Iowa to defend. This should go down to the wire with the Lady Tigers prevailing.

Prediction: LSU over Iowa

Regional 3 Final:

#1 USC vs #3 UConn

If the first game we have tonight didn’t have you glued to your television, the second one will. This is Paige Bueckers vs JuJu Watkins, this is a powerhouse in UConn making their 28^th Elite 8 appearance and a USC team that hasn’t been to this stage of the tournament since Cheryl Miller was on the sidelines in 1994. The storylines lines are all around us tonight in this matchup and nation cannot wait. For UConn, Paige Bueckers has lifted this team back to the main stage after she didn’t play in last season’s tournament due to recovering from a major knee surgery. This season Bueckers, in her last 5 games Bueckers has averaged 27.6 PPG, a 6-point difference from her regular season average. This UConn team has had to overcome a lot of adversity this season, missing three key contributors in Caroline Ducharme, Aubrey Griffin, and Azzi Fudd. Freshman Ashlyn Shade and Senior Aaliyah Edwards have stepped their games up tremendously all season, while has paced this UConn Huskies team. For USC, JuJu Watkins has been everything as advertised coming into the season, a McDonalds All-American and the #1 best recruit in the nation, she is the games second best prolific scorer behind Caitlin Clark at 27 PPG and as a freshman, which makes her play even that much scarier. At 6’2 he has a developed frame and a developed game that is only going to get better as her career progresses. JuJu Watkins could end up being the game’s best player of all time when it’s all said and done. For this Matchup, both teams are similar, they both rebound well, and can shoot the three well. UConn does share the ball much better as USC can rely on JuJu to work in Isolation often during the game. A key matchup outside of Bueckers and Watkins is going to be the battle inside between Aaliyah Edwards and Rayah Marshall. Both players are Double-Double threats down low and winning the rebound battle in this one can be key to who wins this game. Extra possessions are going to matter in this one and USC is the better offensive rebounding team by far.

Prediction: USC over UConn