WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR

GAME ONE

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (29-5) vs. PURDUE (30-6)

4, PST, ESPN

Purdue won it all in 1999 when Ukari Figgs, now with the Sparks, led the Boilermakers. They are 4-0 in the tournament against UC Santa Barbara, Louisiana State, Texas Tech and the conqueror of Tennessee, Xavier. Purdue lost freshman point guard Erika Valek in the Xavier game to a torn knee ligament. Purdue is 4-2 in games decided by five or fewer points. Jackie Stiles is a basket-making machine who always seems to be open. She averages 31 points, shoots 57% from the field, including 50% from behind the three-point line, and shoots 89% on free throws, sixth best in the NCAA. She has scored 30 or more points 31 times in her career, 40 or more 12 times.

GAME TWO

NOTRE DAME (32-2) vs. CONNECTICUT (32-2),

6:30, PST, ESPN

Connecticut seeks to be the first national champion to repeat since Tennessee won three in a row, 1996-98. This is a matchup of two top-seeded teams from the same conference. Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw sees it as a Big East showcase game, saying: “At the top, we are the very best conference in the country.” Ruth Riley, the 6-foot-5 center who has won player-of-the-year awards all week, has dominated the Huskies’ 6-5 center, Kelly Schumacher. In their two games (Notre Dame won at South Bend, Connecticut at Storrs), Riley had a combined 52 points and 21 rebounds. Schumacher, almost in free fall now in the WNBA draft, had 12 points and nine rebounds.