For the second time in the last four seasons, the University of South Carolina and the University of Connecticut are set to meet for the women’s basketball national championship on Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks and Huskies were both victorious in the national semifinals on Friday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
National semifinal #1- South Carolina 74, Texas 57: The Gamecocks had seven players score six points or more, and outscored the Longhorns 20-9 in the third quarter to help pull away for the win. Te-Hina Paopao led the way for SC with 14 points, Joyce Edwards had 13, and Bree Hall put in 11 points. Edwards added 11 rebounds and six assists. Jordan Lee led Texas (35-4) with 16 points in the loss, as the Longhorns were appearing in their first Final Four since 2003.
National semifinal #2- UConn 85, UCLA 51: The Huskies built a 20 point halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way in a game that was never in doubt. Sarah Strong led UConn with 22 points, Azzi Fudd put in 19, and Paige Bueckers recorded 16 points. Strong also added eight rebounds as her team shot 55% from the floor. Lauren Betts had a game-high 26 points in the loss for UCLA, who committed 19 turnovers in the defeat. The Bruins (34-3) were in their first ever Final Four in what was their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance.
UConn (36-3) and South Carolina (35-3) will square off at 3 p.m. Sunday in Tampa for the title. The Gamecocks beat the Huskies in the 2022 national championship game in Minneapolis 64-49. South Carolina is going for their second straight title. UConn last won it all in 2016 when they capped off a sixth undefeated season (38-0) as they beat Syracuse in the final.
