Three No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. It’s the No. 2 seed favored to win the title in Tampa, Florida.

South Carolina reached its fifth straight Final Four with a 54-50 win over Duke. The Gamecocks will face fellow top seed Texas on Friday in their bid to become the first repeat NCAA champion since UConn’s run of four straight from 2013-16.

The tourney’s overall 1 seed, UCLA, knocked off LSU 72-65 to advance to its first women’s Final Four behind another big game by Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 All-American had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots despite sitting out the second quarter.

The Bruins will face No. 2 seed UConn, which is BetMGM Sportsbook’s favorite to win it all. The Huskies advanced to the program’s record 24th Final Four with a 78-64 win over USC.

Games to watch

Texas (35-3) vs. South Carolina (34-3), Friday 7 p.m. Eastern. An all-SEC showdown and the teams are familiar with each other even though the Longhorns are new to the league this season. The teams split two regular-season meetings but the Gamecocks beat Texas for the SEC Tournament title by 17 points.

UConn (35-3) vs. UCLA (34-2), Friday 9 p.m. Eastern. UCLA will ride the play of Betts, who has been virtually unstoppable during the tournament. Paige Bueckers is pursuing her first national title after a storied career at UConn but the Huskies have standout players to help in Azzi Fudd and freshman Sarah Strong.

How can I watch the tournament?

Every game of the women’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule — on ESPN’s networks and streaming services with the championship game on ABC.

Who are the favorites?

The top four betting favorites going into the Final Four were (in order): UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

Who is playing?

There were 31 automatic bids that went to conference champions and they were combined with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. Selection Sunday unveiled the bracket matchups.

When are the games?

The Final Four is in Tampa on Friday on Friday night, with the championship game at 3 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. A year ago, the the title game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark.

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By BETHAN SEXTON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 18:48 BST, 31 March 2025 | Updated: 20:14 BST, 31 March 2025

Two parents and their nine-year-old daughter have mysteriously been found dead at their stunning South Carolina home.

The bodies of Richard Samarel, 54, his wife Lina, 45, and little Samantha were discovered on Friday morning.

Police from Spartansburg County Sheriff’s Office arrived at their Greer residence following a 911 call from a concerned neighbor.

Upon entering they discovered the three bodies inside the $783,000 five bed, six bathroom home and determined there was no threat to the public.

In a statement, police said that other residents of the home were in school at the time of the incident.

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No further information has been shared on how the three died and if the deaths were the result of a crime or some other circumstance. 

Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office did tell WYFF that they did not believe there was any threat to the public.

But they refused to say whether that meant they were investigating the deaths as an accident or murder-suicide. 

A social media profile for Lina Samarel indicate the couple also has a young son and another daughter, who have likely been orphaned by the terrible tragedy. 

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The bodies of Lina Samarel, 45, and her nine-year-old daughter Samantha were among three discovered at their South Carolina home on Friday morning

Richard Samarel, 54, was also found dead at the property after police entered the residence

The family were found dead at their $780,000 Greer home after a concerned neighbor called the police

The family were identified by the coroner’s office which put their time of death between 10:20 am and 11:29 am Friday.

‘More information will be released at the appropriate time once both the Coroner’s Office and this agency can further their respective investigations of this incident,’ the police said in a statement.

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Richard Samarel’s Facebook profile indicates he is originally from Cream Ridge, New Jersey.

He previously worked as an equities manager at Bloomberg LP.

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office deputies are pictured at the scene of the disturbing deaths 

 His wife is Colombian and said she used to work for the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

The high-flying couple married in December 2009, according to Richard’s Facebook profile.

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They lived in a 5,100 square foot home which was built in 2019, according to Zillow.

Family and friends regularly left glowing comments under the young family enjoying their lives and the social media profiles give no indication as to any trouble.  

The property is in Greer, a city nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains which combines historic buildings and small town charm with city living.

According to NextDoor, Greer has a significantly lower crime rate of 17.86 per 1000 people, compared to the national average 33.37 per 1000 people.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With an Elite Eight victory over Duke, South Carolina seniors Sania Feagin and Bree Hall have now made it to four straight Final Fours during their time as Gamecocks.

When asked if they thought their careers would “come out this way” when they signed with Dawn Staley four years ago, Feagin had a very simple answer.

“Yes, I did.”

Hall had a different perspective about being a part of the historic South Carolina era.

“I really can’t believe it,” Hall said. “When I committed here, I didn’t really expect it to be this good. This is definitely an experience that people dream about, and I’m just really glad I made the right choice.”

Playing alongside Feagin and Hall throughout the dominant run is Raven Johnson, a junior guard who redshirted as a freshman. Feagin and Hall have one year of eligibility left and have not yet announced if they plan to stay at South Carolina.

But that’s a decision for another day. The Gamecocks are focused on the Final Four next weekend and extending their run.

“We’re not done,” Johnson said. “We can set history winning a national championship, and that’s the plan. We all know what it takes, and we know it’s not gonna be easy.”

She already knows the path ahead will be a challenge because getting this far was one.

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No. 1 seed South Carolina survived No. 2 Duke 54-50, scoring a season-low paired with 16 turnovers. The matchup had four lead changes and four ties. Feagin and Hall each had three key rebounds in the fourth quarter. 

“The margin of error is very little,” said Johnson, adding that a missed shot can turn “the momentum of the game” to the other team.

This is now the third-straight nailbiter the Gamecocks have endured. They trailed at halftime in matchups against No. 9 Indiana in the second round and No. 4 Maryland in the Sweet 16. 

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Gamecocks had won 33 games with a 22.9-point margin of victory, so it’s safe to say they are usually comfortable on the court.

“I don’t know why everybody expects us to just blow everybody out,” Hall said. “These teams are coming to play. It’s not gonna be easy, every team is gonna be ready for us.”

The trio is ready to bring its experience to a familiar setting – the Final Four – and live up to its own expectation: winning.

Olivia Noni is a student in the University of Georgia’s  Sports Media Certificate program.