PHOENIX (AP) — Madison Booker has a midrange jumper that's almost unblockable, beats defenders off the dribble, plays in the post when she wants, shoots the 3 if she needs to.
NCAA Texas Basketball
The Texas junior has great court vision, is an adept passer and is a menace defensively, bullying smaller guards on the ball, jumping into passing lanes off it.
Had it been an earlier era in women's college basketball, Booker would have been a back-to-the-basket player.
But this is a new age, one where 6-footers are everywhere atthis year's Final Fourand Booker is a guard — at 6-foot-1.
"You look at Madison Booker and, I mean, she's like a mini-KD (Kevin Durant)," Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said after Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists against his team in the Sweet 16.
The average height for an American woman is 5-3, according to the CDC.
Women's college basketball has become the oversized outlier above the median, towering players spread across the Division I landscape, many of whom do more than just park under the basket.
This year's repeat Final Four has a large collection of large players, UConn, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas arriving with a combined 36 players 6-0 or taller — 55.6% of all the players in Phoenix.
UCLA's Lauren Betts is the tallest among the regular contributors at 6-7, anchoring a team with eight players at least 6-0.
The two-time AP All-American is a matchup nightmare, using her height and skill to score in a variety of ways — mainly shooting over smaller defenders. Betts is just as dominant on the defensive end, swatting shots, altering many more, deterring opponents from even thinking about going into the lane.
Betts averaged 18.5 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 60.1% from the field and leading the Bruins (35-1) with 71 blocked shots.
"It's just really hard to defend her an entire game," Duke coach Kara Lawson said after Betts scored 15 of her 23 points inUCLA's 70-58 comeback winover the Blue Devils in the Elite Eight.
Betts and the Bruins will face pair of Texas bigs in Friday's second Final Four game.
Kyla Oldacre is 6-6, Breya Cunningham 6-4 and the pair helped shut down Betts when the teams met in November in Las Vegas.
They've been doing it all season on a team that features nine players 6-0 or taller.
Behind the towering presence of Oldacre and Cunningham, Texas (35-3) was one of the nation's best defensive teams, holding teams to 55.9 points per game and 38% shooting from the field.
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The two biggest Longhorns are a handful on offense as well, both shooting at least 59% from the floor while combining to score 18.3 points and grab 11.8 rebounds per game.
"You can win a lot of games with just good guard play, no question, but you've got to have size to go with it," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.
The first Final Four game doesn't get any smaller.
Reigning national champion UConn (38-0) has two All-Americans in Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong — alsoThe Associated Press player of the year— as they've gone nearly untested through an undefeated season.
Fudd is 5-11, but Strong is a 6-2 forward who fits the mold of today's bigs on a team with 10 players 6-0 or taller.
Strong is a superb post player, yet can also beat defenders off the dribble and shoots 41% from 3. Like Booker, she also has great court vision and is a great passer.
Strong averaged 18.8 points on 60% shooting, 7.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists on a front line that includes 6-4 Serah Williams with 6-5 Jana El-Alfy coming off the bench.
"She is such a hard guard," North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said after Strong had 21 points and 10 rebounds and five steals against her team in the Sweet 16. "She's so unselfish. If she wants to score 40 the next game, she can."
South Carolina (35-3) got manhandled by UConn in last year's title game, but coach Dawn Staley retooled her roster to add versatility.
Second-team All-American Joyce Edwards played for Staley last season, but took a big jump this season, boosting her scoring average seven points to 19.7 per game. The 6-3 sophomore can play inside or out, has a strong midrange game and can guard multiple positions.
Madina Okot is 6-6, but is far more than a back-to-the-basket big.
The Kenyan center is an elite finisher at the rim, was the SEC's leading rebounder at 10.8 per game and shot 48% from 3 (58% overall). Her size and timing combined to make her a super interior defender, leading the team with 55 blocks while altering many more.
The pair anchor a team that has nine players 6-0 or taller and held its first four NCAA Tournament opponents to 32% shooting.
"They're a much better team than they were last year, really hard to prepare for," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "They've shot the ball exceptionally well this year. They've added the size that is hard to match up with."
Size can be found all across women's basketball these days, particularly at this year's Final Four.
AP March Madness bracket:https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracketand coverage:https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
PHOENIX (AP) — Madison Booker has a midrange jumper that's almost unblockable, beats defenders off the dribble, plays...
