South Carolina is one win away from becoming the first team in nine years to claim back-to-back NCAA Division I women’s basketball championships. Standing in the way: Paige Bueckers and a resurgent UConn squad aiming to make history as the first non-No. 1 seed to win the tournament.
The championship clash on April 6 brings no shortage of storylines. Both teams cruised past their Final Four matchups, setting the stage for a rematch of the 2022 title game that ended with South Carolina claiming the crown.
But for the Gamecock’s head coach Dawn Staley, history does not guarantee a victory next: “Nothing that happened prior to here is gonna help us on Sunday.”
Gamecocks Overcome First Quarter Slump To Reach Back-To-Back NCAA Final
TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Bree Hall #23 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrates in the fourth … More
For a moment, it looked like Texas was on the verge of halting South Carolina’s title defense as the Longhorns started the matchup between the SEC rivals on a 12-4 run. The Gamecocks’ reserves, however, showed up big towards the end of the first quarter and paved the way for a commanding 74-57 win and a spot in the big game.
“We’ve been in those situations before, slow starts. We knew how to bounce back. We’re a resilient team. Especially in the tournament, we had a lot of close games,” said Joyce Edwards, during the postgame press conference. “It wasn’t a pressure to do anything out of the ordinary. We just knew we just had to keep going.”
Edwards led the effort in the opening frame coming off the bench to drop six points, which paired up with MiLaysia Fulwiley’s five propelled South Carolina’s 21-5 run spanning through the second period to claim the team’s first lead (21-19) at the 8:53 mark with a three-pointer by senior Te-Hina Pao Pao.
There were seven lead changes next, but Texas’ 33% shooting from beyond-the-arc in that period against the Gamecock’s 67% helped the reigning champions to a 38-35 edge at the half. From there on, they never faltered
South Carolina established themselves in the third quarter, putting up a 20-6 run to open a 17-point lead (58-41) with 0.56 seconds to the ultimate period. Throughout the rest of the game, Dawn Staley’s squad had only three turnovers and outscored the Longhorns 18-6 in the paint, cruising to a 74-57 win.
“The turnovers, they didn’t hurt us as far as they didn’t score a whole lot of points off of our turnovers,” Staley said of her team’s determining third quarter. “We didn’t want them to make paint points. We made it difficult for them. We just tried to disrupt the flow of their shot, especially when they caught it deep.”
It was mission accomplished for South Carolina.
“No Mistakes” UConn Dominates UCLA In Record-Setting Win
TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Sarah Strong #21 and Paige Bueckers #5 and Ayanna Patterson #34 of the … More
UConn left no room for doubt as they cruised past UCLA 85-51 to set the largest margin of win ever in NCAA women’s basketball Final Four history. The commanding effort was led by freshman forward Sarah Strong who contributed on both ends of the court, filling her stat line with 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
The projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers, had 16 points plus five rebounds, three steals and two assists. But it was Azzi Fudd who set the tone early on, scoring all of her 19 points in the first half.
The balanced team performance drew praises from head coach Geno Auriemma, who went as far as saying that the team made no mistakes. Albeit impossible for such thing to happen in a basketball game, the numbers don’t lie: UConn was nearly flawless.
“I have to say that this was somewhat unexpected. You always go into these games this time of the year expecting it to be incredibly, incredibly difficult,” said Auriemma in the postgame press conference. “Not that it wasn’t, because I think our guys played about as hard as any group of kids can play, but I don’t think we made a mistake the entire evening, especially on the defensive end.”
The 2025 Big East champion held every UCLA player but Lauren Betts to single-digit scoring, and kept its contender below average in almost very single statistic. Perhaps most impressively, they forced 19 turnovers, scoring 27 points off of those. On the other hand, UConn allowed only five points off of its seven errors.
Betts, the 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, was heavily defended by the opposing squad. Still, she managed to finish with 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field, while grabbing five rebounds.
A Blank Sheet Ahead Of The Final
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – APRIL 03: Head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies and head coach Dawn Staley … More
Finals are no uncharted territory for either South Carolina or UConn. The first has won three of the last six national championships, and the later boasts 11 tourney wins. Despite fan expectation, neither is counting victory ahead of time.
“I think we’re not worried about the past … I mean, every single day you walk into the gym, you’re trying to live up to the standard of playing UConn basketball, but you’re not comparing yourself to other teams, to players before. Obviously you want to fill their shoes and make them proud and wear the UConn jersey with pride,” said Bueckers.
Dawn Staley, who’s undefeated in NCAA finals, is cautious in taking that fact into consideration.
“Nothing that happened prior to here is going to help us on Sunday. Nothing,” she affirmed. “Saying that we’re undefeated in national championship games … I wish it helped, I wish it would spot us 10 points because we’re undefeated.”
Regardless, a dynasty will be crowned Sunday. When the final horn is heard, one team will establish itself as one of the greatest to ever play the game. Whether for Dawn Staley and South Carolina, or Paige Bueckers and Geno Auriemma, the NCAA will be the main stage of one of the most exciting title games in history. But not only that. It has the potential to, once again, draw record audiences, a win for women’s sports as a whole.
