After five seasons in a Huskies uniform and four trips to the Final Four, Paige Bueckers is ending her college career as a national champion.
UConn is back on the mountaintop, where they have not been in a while, and showed everyone this weekend how confident they were in taking down the number one seeds in Tampa. This group has gone through adversity in the past seasons and stayed healthy this year to accomplish the goal.
Now that the mission is complete, Huskies can celebrate the hard work of winning the title and being proud that they made it to the end with family, friends and UConn alums. Bueckers season might be over, but the standard remains the same for Connecticut and Geno Auriemma.
UConn’s 82-59 win over the Gamecocks was the second blowout win against South Carolina this season and Coach Staley’s first loss in the national championship game. The Huskies entered this game knowing that they needed to bring their semifinal performances against UCLA to beat the Gamecocks.
South Carolina was prepared to avenge an early season loss to the Huskies, who ended the team’s 71-home game win streak in Colonial Life Arena. Both teams have history, and this was a matchup where the one team that brought the most offense with less turnovers was going to win the game.
The first half saw the Gamecocks go 5-7 from the field to begin the game until the Huskies responded with a little run of their own leading South Carolina to go on a scoring drought for the final five minutes of the first quarter. Huskies entered the second quarter up five continuing their run going up seven points, but South Carolina battle back and constantly brought the lead down five to stay in distant with the Huskies.
At halftime, UConn led 36-26 against the Gamecocks with only 20 minutes left in the championship game. The Huskies are 91-0 when leading at the half by double digits. South Carolina, at times this season, has been down in halftime and is able to make a comeback in those games.
UConn began the second half on a 4-0 to push the lead from ten to thirteen. The Gamecocks found a way to stay in the game by attacking the paint, forcing the Huskies to commit five fouls early on the quarter. South Carolina would go to the free throw line for the entire quarter until they committed more fouls that gave UConn momentum. The Huskies ended the third leading by twenty and ready for the confetti to come down.
By the fourth quarter, the Huskies kept their foot on the gas and continued to extend their lead which stopped South Carolina from making a comeback. UConn got good minutes off the bench from KK Arnold, who scored nine points 3 for 3 in the quarter totaling the Huskies points to 80.
As the buzzer sounds off, the Huskies bench jumps on the court in celebration as the team finishes the job, and coach Auriemma now holds the record for most national titles. The Gamecocks gave UConn a battle in this game and should be proud of themselves for return to the title game in back-to-back years.
South Carolina (35-4) entered this season as the preseason number one team and have endure the journey of finding the team’s next step after losing an elite post player. The talent of this team will continue to grow over the next years and will lead to more opportunities for the program.
UConn on the other hand has been worthied of winning a national championship during Paige Bueckers seasons in Connecticut. From the injury bugs in the past three seasons to winning a title, the Huskies have put on one of their best seasons under Auriemma and have what it takes to play against top programs.
Azzi Fudd, Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player along with Sarah Strong have put on marvelous performances for the Huskies in Tampa to lead them at the end and will be special to the program next season to do it again. Coach Auriemma is leaving the tournament with a title rather than nothing in his hands.
Throughout the doubts this season, UConn is the national champions and there is nothing that can predict the hustle and belief in this group.
