South Carolina bullies and eliminates UConn women's basketball team 62-48 in Final Four
AP Even a fiery Geno Auriemma couldn’t spark enough life into the UConn women’s basketball team to prevent a season-ending loss to South Carolina in the Final Four. Make no mistake about it, the Gamecocks were the tougher team throughout Friday’s game in Phoenix, and the Huskies looked like the group that hadn’t played a top-five opponent all year. South Carolina’s length and size disturbed UConn, especially during their dominant second half.
Every time the Huskies tried to rally, the Gamecocks answered. They’ll go on to play the winner of Texas vs. UCLA in the national championship game Saturday afternoon.
UConn ends its season with a 38-1 record and a lot of what ifs. Auriemma, the Hall of Fame head coach with 12 national titles, will not get his 13th this year. The Huskies led by two points at halftime, but the final two quarters were all Gamecocks.
They exploded out of the break and quickly built a 10-point third quarter lead. While UConn trimmed the deficit to a point after three straight three-pointers, South Carolina staved off the rally and end the quarter with a five-point lead. The Gamecocks’ momentum continued into the fourth quarter, as they took total control of the game from UConn.
As the time ticked away, the Huskies looked rattled, couldn’t hit a shot and made uncharacteristic mistakes. Consensus National Player of the Year Sarah Strong, UConn’s sophomore forward, finished with 12 rebounds but struggled offensively, only scoring 11 points. In her final collegiate game, Huskies’ fifth-year guard and First Team All-American Azzi Fudd scored only eight points.