Two-time defending national champion Connecticut drew the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament on Monday.
The other No. 1 seeds are Notre Dame, South Carolina and Maryland.
The Huskies (32-1) enter NCAA play riding a 31-game winning streak. Their lone defeat was an 88-86 overtime setback at Stanford on Nov. 17. Since then, Connecticut has gone 18-0 in American Athletic Conference regular-season play, then rolled through the league tournament, winning three tourney games by an average of 41.3 points.
Connecticut opens the tourney at home against 16th-seeded St. Francis (N.Y.) on Friday. The winner meets either Rutgers or Seton Hall for the right to advance to the regional semifinals in Albany, N.Y.
The other top teams in the Albany region are No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Louisville and No. 4 Cal.
Maryland (30-2) tops the Spokane, Washington, region. The Terrapins finished 18-0 in the Big Ten, then edged Ohio State to win the conference tournament.
The Terps open at home against New Mexico State on Saturday.
The only unbeaten women’s team in the nation, Princeton (30-0) received a No. 8 seed in the Spokane region. If the Tigers beat Green Bay in their tourney opener, they would face a second-round showdown at Maryland.
Also in the Spokane region are No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Oregon State and No. 4 Duke.
Duke, coached by former University of Maine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie, will play America East champ Albany, the No. 13 seed.
Notre Dame (31-2) took one of its defeats early in the season against Connecticut. The Irish went 15-1 to win the Atlantic Coast Conference’s regular-season crown, falling only to Miami (Fla.). Notre Dame blitzed Florida State in the ACC tournament final.
The Irish open at home against Montana on Friday, with the victor to face Minnesota or DePaul for the right to advance to Oklahoma City.
Other leading teams in the Oklahoma City region are No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Stanford.
South Carolina (30-2) also fell to Connecticut in the regular season. The Gamecocks went 15-1 to win the Southeastern Conference’s regular-season championship before cruising through the league tournament.
The Gamecocks play host to Savannah State in the NCAA opener on Saturday, with the winner to play Syracuse or Nebraska for a berth in the Greensboro, N.C., regional semifinals.
The Greensboro region also features No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Arizona State and No. 4 North Carolina.
The Final Four will be played April 5, followed by the title game on April 7 in Tampa, Florida.