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(CNN) — The UConn Huskies pulled away in the second half and didn’t look back, defeating the defending champions South Carolina 82-59 for a dominant victory in the women’s NCAA tournament national championship game.
With the victory, the Huskies secured a record 12th national title and improved to 12-1 all-time in NCAA tournament finals.
In a rematch of the 2022 national championship game between two of women’s college basketball’s premier programs, both teams got off to frenetic starts on offense, with South Carolina making five of their first seven field goal attempts.
The Gamecocks were in front early, but a flurry of UConn points in the paint from freshman forward Sarah Strong and senior guard Azzi Fudd sparked a 7-0 run for the Huskies to capture the early lead.
Fudd continued to torch the Gamecocks finishing with 13 points at the break, as the Huskies walked off the court with a 10-point advantage. South Carolina struggled to match UConn’s offensive firepower, shooting a season-worst 31.3% from the field in the first half.
UConn came out of halftime stringing together a 6-2 run and doubled their lead by the third quarter’s end, in part due to Fudd’s 11 points. The Huskies cruised in the fourth quarter, stretching their lead to as much as 32 points with the crowd at Amalie Arena standing as UConn inched closer to victory.
A teary-eyed Paige Bueckers, likely to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, walked off the court with 1:32 left. After being subbed off she approached head coach Geno Auriemma, with both exchanging a long hug near the scorer’s table.
“He told me he love me and I told him I hated him,” Bueckers said about the moment. “I love that man more than words can describe.”
The national title is the 12th for Hall of Famer Auriemma, with the NCAA’s women’s basketball all-time winningest coach closing his 40th season with the program by becoming the oldest head coach to win a championship.
“You just never know if you’ll ever be back in the situation again,” an emotional Auriemma told the ESPN broadcast after the game. “There were so many times when I think we all questioned like have we been here too long? Has it been time? And yet we kept hanging in there and hanging in there and it’s because the players make me want to hang in there every day.
“This team has changed so much from the beginning of the season. If people only knew we had a preseason scrimmage, we lost the scrimmage. I thought we wouldn’t make the NCAA tournament,” he added.
“This is I mean, they all been gratifying. Don’t get me wrong. But this one here, because of the way it came about and what’s been involved – it’s been a long time since I’ve been that emotional when a player has walked off the court.”
The dynamic backcourt duo of Bueckers and Fudd, along with Strong, combined to score 65 of the team’s 82 points.
The duo finish off the season delivering the Huskies a national title for the first time since 2016, after overcoming career-threatening ACL injuries during their collegiate careers.
“Much respect to UConn. They did a masterful job in executing on both sides of the basketball,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the game.
The Gamecocks, who were attempting to capture a third national championship in four years, were left disappointed of what could have been, while reflecting on a season of adversity for the Gamecocks.
“It did start getting away, but we just told each other to just keep fighting,” Bree Hall said after the game on if she felt the game got away from the Gamecocks. “We weren’t going to go down without a fight and I feel like we just got to keep fighting. It was tough but yeah.
Hall added: “We’re going to keep fighting, this is not the end for this team at all, for this program. They will be back here next year, or whenever it is, I believe in them.”
None of South Carolina’s starters tallied double-digit scoring figures in the loss. Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson scored 10 points each.
The-CNN-Wire
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