South Carolina defeated UConn 62-48 on Friday at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona, to advance to the national championship. The win snaps the Huskies' 54-game win streak dating back to last season.
To start the game, South Carolina won the tip, and senior guard Ta’Niya Latson immediately got to the rim for a layup and the Gamecocks’ first lead of the day. The Huskies were stopped at the other end, but South Carolina was called for a shot-clock violation after getting the ball back.
Senior forward Serah Williams scored the first points of the day for UConn on a layup in the paint to tie the game at 2. Then Williams scored again on the team’s next possession to take a 4-2 lead.
Latson tied the game after South Carolina got the ball back with another layup. The Huskies were back in front 19 seconds later after junior guard Ashlynn Shade got on the board to push the score to 6-4.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson put in a layup for her first points in the game just under halfway through the first quarter, scoring on back-to-back possessions after knocking down a mid-range jumper to bring the game to 11-8.
At the game’s first media timeout, with 3:27 to play in the quarter, the Huskies led 13-8 and had made four of their last five field goals. The team had made six of its 12 shots.
Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards scored after the break on a layup, backing down sophomore forward Sarah Strong to the rim for the score. Freshman guard Agot Makeer scored her first points of the day at the charity stripe on the next possession, having been fouled on an attempted layup.
Nearing the end of the quarter, senior guard Raven Johnson picked up Strong on defense, helping to hold Connecticut to just 2 points after the media timeout.
To end the quarter, Makeer knocked down a triple to tie the game at 15. The Gamecocks turned the ball over five times to the Huskies' two, but South Carolina won the rebound battle 11-6. Strong and Makeer each had 5 points in the quarter.
No points were scored in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, but Raven Johnson picked up two personal fouls, then subsequently was subbed out of the game.
Tessa Johnson put in a layup to give South Carolina its largest lead of the day at that point. Then Edwards put in a layup to bring the score to 21-16. It didn’t take long for the Huskies to cut the lead back down to 1 point, scoring twice themselves and holding the Gamecocks to four straight misses.
Sophomore guard Maddy McDaniel went 1-2 at the free-throw line for the final points of the half, bringing the score to 26-24 in the Huskies' favor. The Gamecocks finished the period missing 10 of their last 11 field goals, going without a make for the final four minutes of the second quarter.
South Carolina shot 4-17 (23.5%) from the field in the second quarter but held UConn to 5-15 (33.3%), including 0-5 from beyond the arc. The Huskies had shot 1-8 overall from the 3-point line by the half.
Strong and Shade each had 8 points at halftime, leading all scorers. Edwards, Latson and Tessa Johnson all had 6 points, leading the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks turned the ball over on the first possession of the second half when Raven Johnson lost the ball out of bounds. She didn’t see the court for the final 8:30 of the second quarter. Senior center Madina Okot put in a layup to tie the game at 26 one possession later, then Raven Johnson stole the ball and scored on the fast break to put the Gamecocks back on top by 2 points.
UConn called a timeout with 5:25 left in the third quarter following South Carolina’s 12-2 run. The Huskies shot 1-7 from the field to start the third quarter and trailed 36-28.
Sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel, freshman forward Blanca Quiñonez and senior guard Azzi Fudd each consecutively knocked down 3-pointers to shrink South Carolina’s lead to just 1 point with 1:10 to play in the third quarter. Tessa Johnson then knocked down two free throws and a baseline jumper, ending the quarter with the Gamecocks up 44-39.
UConn went 5-17 (29.4%) from the field in the third, while South Carolina shot 6-13 (46.2%). The period was the third straight in which the Gamecocks out-rebounded the Huskies.
Makeer dropped in the first bucket of the fourth quarter in transition to put South Carolina up 46-39, but Fudd knocked down a triple and brought the game back within 4. Edwards was called for three fouls in the first 83 seconds of the period after a clean first three quarters.
When Quiñonez made two free throws with 6:37 left to play, the attempts were just the third and fourth for the Huskies on the day. UConn was back to trailing by just 2.
Strong broke double-digit points with a triple, then Makeer scored in transition to retain a 6-point lead for South Carolina. A layup from Okot then pushed that lead to 8, and two free throws by Latson grew the lead to double digits for the first time since the third quarter.
With 1:05 to play, South Carolina led 58-47 with possession. The Huskies had made one of their last 11 field-goal attempts and hadn’t scored in 3:34. Four free throws by Latson grew the Gamecocks’ run to 16-3.
South Carolina closed out the win in the game’s waning minute, capturing a 14-point victory to advance to the national championship game.
What's next?
The Gamecocks will play for the title on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against one of UCLA or Texas.