UConn is back on top of women’s basketball, winning its 12th national championship by routing defending champion South Carolina 82-59 on Sunday, ending a nine-year title drought for the team.
Azzi Fudd led the Huskies with 24 points while Sarah Strong added 24 points and 15 rebounds. Paige Bueckers had 17 points in her final game at UConn (37-3).
Bueckers capped her stellar career with the Huskies’ first championship since 2016 – the longest for coach Geno Auriemma since the team won its first championship in 1995 led by Rebecca Lobo.
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Since then the Huskies have had dominant championship runs, including in the early 2000s led by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, 2009-10 with Maya Moore and finally the four straight from 2013-16 with Breanna Stewart. All were in attendance in Florida on Sunday to see the Huskies’ latest title.
Finally healthy, the expected No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 14, Bueckers delivered for the Huskies throughout their championship season.
It was the only thing missing from her incredible UConn career that was slowed by injuries. She was the first freshman to win AP Player of the Year before missing a lot of her sophomore season with a tibial plateau fracture and meniscus tear. She then tore an ACL before the next season.
UConn closed the first half up 10 points and then put the game away in the third quarter behind Fudd, Strong and Bueckers. The trio combined for 23 of the team’s 26 points in the quarter. UConn was up 50-39 with 3:21 left in the period before closing with a 12-3 run to put the game away.
Fudd and Strong got it started with back-to-back 3s, and the rout was on. Auriemma subbed Bueckers, Fudd and Strong out with 1:32 left. Bueckers and Auriemma had a long hug on the sideline, having finally gotten that championship that he so wanted for her.
Dawn Staley’s team was trying for a third title in four years and fourth overall. It would have tied her with Kim Mulkey for third-most behind Auriemma and former Tennessee Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who had eight.
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UConn had reached the title game only once during its drought since 2016. The Huskies had been eliminated by heartbreaking last-second losses in the Final Four on buzzer-beaters. The Huskies’ last title game appearance came in 2022 when Staley’s team beat UConn to start the Gamecocks’ current run of success, a game that ended Auriemma’s perfect record in title games.
There seemed to be no nerves early for either team as the game got off to a fast start. The teams traded baskets for the first few minutes before the defenses started to clamp down. The Huskies led 19-14 after one quarter and then extended the advantage to 36-26 at the half. Fudd had 13 points and Strong added eight points and 11 rebounds.
