South Carolina is the defending champion after it beat Iowa last year in a title game watched by an audience of 18.7 million, record viewership for a women's college basketball game. South Carolina also won NCAA titles under coach Dawn Staley in 2022 and 2017.

UCLA is the top overall seed in the women's NCAA Tournament. The Bruins were joined by South Carolina, Southern California and Texas as the No. 1 seeds that the NCAA revealed Sunday night. It's the first time in school history that the Bruins are the top team in the tournament. They had two losses on the season, both of which came to the Trojans.

Both South Carolina and Texas had been likely one-seeds ahead of this game. But Texas, which had held the No. 1 overall seed coming into tournament play, will likely lose that spot. It would be surprising to see the Longhorns fall off the one-line, though. Despite the 19-point loss, their resume remains strong.