2025 Women’s March Madness: Lauren Betts, Paige Bueckers help construct perfect lineup from teams remaining

The 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament has reached the Final Four, and there are no surprises in the field. No. 1 overall seed UCLA is in, as are fellow No. 1 seeds South Carolina and Texas. The only non-No. 1 seed in the mix is UConn, and the Huskies are actually the betting favorites to win it all. 

All of the action will tip off on Friday night in Tampa, Florida, and conclude on Sunday afternoon with the national championship game. 

Soon, the best players in the country take the court to try and lead their respective teams to glory. But what if they all played on the same team? As a fun experiment, let’s try and create the perfect starting five using only players participating in the Final Four. The only rules are that each team has to be represented at least once, and the lineup has to reflect a traditional 1-5 set-up. 

Without further ado, here’s the squad.

Women’s March Madness 2025: Ranking the Final Four teams UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and UConn

Isabel Gonzalez

Point guard: Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina

Paopao isn’t a true point guard, but she’s capable of running an offense and makes excellent decisions with the ball in her hands. She had just 44 turnovers in 37 games this season, and didn’t have more than three in any single game. In fact, in her college career, which has spanned five seasons and 151 games, she only has 14 games with more than three turnovers. 

Plus, Paopao’s ability to play off the ball is actually a benefit for a hypothetical All-Star lineup like this. Even in a down shooting year, she was still at 36% from downtown. For her career, she’s made 40.9% of her catch-and-shoot attempts and 44.4% of her unguarded catch-and-shoot attempts, per Synergy Sports. With teammates like this, she would get plenty of the latter. 

Shooting guard: Paige Bueckers, UConn

No player is perfect, but Bueckers is about as close as you can get on the offensive end. You know someone is special when the biggest criticism you can make is that they don’t look for their own shot enough. When Bueckers does, though, she’s nearly unstoppable, as we’ve seen in the last three rounds of the tournament with her back-to-back-to-back 30-point games, including a career-high 40 points in the Sweet 16. 

Since 1981-82, there have been 113 instances of a player averaging at least 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in a season. Bueckers’ 2024-25 campaign was the most efficient among them with a stunning 64.4 true shooting percentage. Her elite shooting, willingness and ability to pass and versatility on both ends makes her a good fit with any set of teammates. With an elite group like this, it would be unfair. 

Small forward: Madison Booker, Texas

Booker has played two seasons in college and has been named conference player of the year both times. First, as a freshman in the Big 12, and then as a sophomore in the SEC after Texas’ move. Throughout her career, she’s shown an ability to adapt to whatever situation arises, and not just in terms of opponents. Last season, she essentially played point guard when Rori Harmon went down with a torn ACL. Now that Harmon’s back, she’s reverted into a more traditional wing scorer role. 

That versatility bodes well for joining a group like this. Booker is most comfortable with the ball in her hands, and it would be fun watching her create in a lineup where she isn’t seeing multiple bodies on every single drive. Without the ball, Booker’s improved 3-point shot would help maximize spacing. She made 42.9% of her catch-and-shoot attempts this season. 

Power forward: Sarah Strong, UConn

Strong was the No. 1 recruit in her class, and she has spent all season showing why she deserved that recognition. She joined Cheryl Miller as the only freshman in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to have at least 500 points, 300 rebounds, 100 assists, 50 steals and 50 blocks in a season. Strong can quite literally do it all on both ends of the court. Look no further than the Elite Eight, when she put up 22 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and held Kiki Iriafen to 3 of 15 shooting. 

Strong is a reliable threat from behind the arc (37.5%) and an excellent playmaker from the high post. If anything, she’s too unselfish at times, though that would be a good trait on a team like this that has unlimited scoring options. Strong’s elite defensive capibilities would also be crucial on a team like this that is more geared toward the offensive end. 

Center: Lauren Betts, UCLA

No player in college basketball is a bigger mismatch than the 6-foot-7 Betts, who dominated the paint all season long for the Bruins as they went 34-2 and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. She is the 30th player in NCAA Division I history to average 20 points per game on at least 64% shooting from the field, and if you let her play one-on-one in the post she is going to score. The only way to slow her down is by sending multiple defenders her way, but good luck doing that when she has elite scoring and shooting around her at all positions. 

As impressive as Betts is on offense, she’s even better defensively. She was named Big Ten and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year after swatting a career-high three blocks per game. Her rim protection would anchor this lineup’s defense, and together with Strong she would form an extremely stout defensive frontcourt.