Bigger and better: Women's Final Four teams filled with multi-talented frontcourt players

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.

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 at this year's Final Four and 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 in UCLA's 70-58 comeback win over 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.

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 — also The 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-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Texas center Kyla Oldacre passes the ball during practice prior to the national semifinals Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

UCLA center Lauren Betts passes the ball during practice prior to the national semifinals at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Texas forward Madison Booker dribbles the ball during practice prior to the national semifinals Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against Justin Baldoni over the movie “It Ends With Us” were dismissed Thursday by a federal judge who left intact three claims, including retaliation, that will let a jury hear many of the allegations anyway.

The written ruling by Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan came after Lively, who starred in and produced the film, sued her co-star and director in December 2024. A trial is scheduled for May 18.

Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios had countersued Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of defamation and extortion. The judge dismissed Baldoni’s claims last June.

In his ruling, Liman determined that Lively was an independent contractor rather than an employee. On that basis, he said she was not entitled to bring sexual harassment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law prohibits employment discrimination on various grounds, including gender.

As to retaliation, the judge said some evidence might enable a jury to conclude that Baldoni's production company planned not only to damage Lively's reputation but to destroy her career amid fear she'd file a discrimination claim. Lively alleges a smear campaign has been “devastating for her reputation and career,” the judge noted.

In an analysis of the sexual harassment claims, the judge said Lively's claims had to be viewed in the context of the movie they were working on.

“Lively claims that during filming, Baldoni leaned in and gestured as if he was intending to kiss her, and that he kissed her forehead, rubbed his face and mouth against her neck, put his thumb to her mouth and flicked her lower lip, caressed her, and leaned into her neck, saying ‘it smells good,’” the judge wrote.

He said there was no question that the conduct would support a hostile work environment claim if it happened on a factory floor or in an executive suite.

However, the judge noted, Baldoni was “acting in the scene” and his "conduct was not so far beyond what might reasonably be expected to take place between two characters during a slow dancing scene such that an inference of hostile treatment on the basis of sex would arise. At least in isolation, the conduct was directed to Lively’s character rather than to Lively herself.”

Liman added: “Creative artists, no less than comedy room writers, must have some amount of space to experiment within the bounds of an agreed script without fear of being held liable for sexual harassment.”

Despite those findings, the judge said some sexual harassment claims may be put to a jury to support two retaliation claims that survived the ruling, including one against It Ends With Us Movie LLC and Wayfarer Studios, and a third claim that was left intact alleging breach of a contract rider agreement against It Ends With Us Movie LLC.

The judge noted that Baldoni once said “pretty hot” after asking Lively to remove her jacket, exposing a lace bra underneath, and that when he was warned that it was inappropriate and distracting to make such comment, he allegedly rolled his eyes and responded: “Sorry, I missed the sexual harassment training.”

Liman also cited a scene in which Baldoni pushed for Lively to perform a birth scene naked and then the scene was filmed over several hours without the set being closed to nonessential personnel.

In a statement, Lively attorney Sigrid McCawley wrote that Lively “looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it become easier to detect and fight.”

She added: “This case has always been and will remain focused on the devasting retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial.”

A lawyer for Baldoni and his production company did not immediately comment.

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August 2024, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.

This combination of images shows Blake Lively at the London screening of the film "It 'Ends With Us" on Aug. 8, 2024, left, and Justin Baldoni at the world premiere of the film in New York on Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)