TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Women’s Final Four will soon be underway in Tampa. During press conferences, the teams expressed excitement and an eagerness to fight for their spot in the championship.

On Thursday, UCLA, Texas, South Carolina, and UCONN got acclimated inside Amalie Arena.

“We are expectant. This is not a surprise for us to be here. We expected and believed that we would be in Tampa. And that being said, we’re really grateful, but we are ready to compete,” said Cori Close, UCLA’s coach.

UCLA is the number one seed this year. They’ll be taking on a popular UCONN team, with their leading scorer Paige Bueckers.

“But the possession that you’re in is the most important possession of the season. If you approach every possession like that, you’ll have a sense of urgency to get everything right. And just enjoying it, embracing it,” Bueckers said.

Bueckers told reporters anything less than a National Championship is a disappointment.

The defending champions, the Gamecock Women, say they are going to focus on staying present and out of foul trouble.

“It’s going to come down to heart, the little things of who wants to go get that loose ball, get the rebound,” said Raven Johnson, a guard for South Carolina. “So I think, you know, whoever bring it tomorrow is going to win, and I feel like we need to bring not just offense the defense, but the intangibles.”

It’s a battle in the SEC with South Carolina and Texas proving it to be a competitive conference. The Longhorns are aiming to be in it for the long hall.

“You don’t get a whole bunch of chances to go through this. So we do understand we want to enjoy the moment and stay loose. But when it’s time to step on the court, like Shay said, we know what’s at stake,” said Rori Harmon, a guard for Texas. “We want to stay here as long as we can.”

Texas and South Carolina play at 7 p.m. Friday. UCONN and UCLA follow at 9 p.m.