UConn women’s basketball, South Carolina face off for clash of dynasties in Final Four: How to watch
PHOENIX — For nearly 30 years, the UConn women’s basketball dynasty has stood at the center of the most iconic rivalries in the sport. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Huskies were all but guaranteed an annual battle with Pat Summitt’s Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament and traded championship runs every few seasons. Muffet McGraw’s Notre Dame became UConn’s new foil in the 2010s, and the programs faced off seven times in the Final Four or national title game from 2011-19.
Now in the 2020s, a new powerhouse has emerged to challenge UConn’s perennial dominance. For the third time in the the last five years, the No. 1 Huskies (38-0) will face Dawn Staley’s South Carolina (35-3) on Friday for a marquee March Madness matchup in the Final Four at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
The game will tip off at 7 p. m. ET airing on ESPN.
Though the programs also typically face each other during the regular season, the rivalry series took a hiatus this year due to scheduling conflicts for the Huskies after the Big East expanded to 20 conference games. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said seeing the Gamecocks for the first time in Phoenix adds another layer of intrigue to the showdown. “There’s excitement about playing in in the Final Four regardless of who you’re playing, but there is a different sense when you’re playing somebody completely new at this time of year,” Auriemma said Friday.
“I like that we haven’t played against each other. Neither of us have anything to go by. We didn’t get beat, we didn’t win, so I think there’s more uncertainty in this game than there have been other times when we knew each other really, really well.
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