The secret Sunday was once protection and offensive rebounds for the Gamecocks, who managed the sport from the beginning with a 13-2 lead in simply the primary six mins of the sport. It was once the fewest issues the Huskies had scored in 1 / 4 this season.
The Gamecocks outrebounded the Huskies 49-24 within the win.
The Huskies went on two runs — a 9-0 run in the second one quarter and a 10-0 one within the 3rd — however the Gamecocks stored the lead all of the sport.
South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson and ahead Aliyah Boston had been the celebs of Sunday’s sport. Henderson ended the sport with 26 issues and Boston with 11.
“I have been interested by it since remaining season, everybody had an image of me crying. However lately we are nationwide champions and I am in tears,” Boston stated, relating to remaining yr’s Ultimate 4 loss to Stanford.
The Gamecock protection held off the superstar trio of guards for the Huskies — Paige Bueckers, Christyn Williams and Azzi Fudd. Each Williams and Fudd didn’t rating till past due within the fourth quarter and Bueckers ended the sport with 14 issues.
“I do know our avid gamers had been exhausted, however they had been decided to be champions lately,” stated South Carolina trainer Morning time Staley.
UConn was once 11-0 in nationwide championship video games ahead of Sunday, which all got here beneath head trainer Geno Auriemma.
Sunday’s identify sport was once a rematch. South Carolina beat UConn 73-57 in November within the Fight 4 Atlantis within the Bahamas, depending on 22 issues from Boston and a stifling protection that held the Huskies to simply 3 issues within the fourth quarter.
UConn, the premier girls’s basketball program for nearly 3 many years, unearths itself within the unusual place of underdog. A 2-seed within the event, UConn had 11 beginning lineups this season because of a mixture of accidents and Covid diseases.
South Carolina has been the top-ranked workforce for the reason that preseason and is 34-2 at the yr, with each and every of its losses coming via 2 issues or fewer.
This was once UConn’s 14th consecutive Ultimate 4 look stretching again to 2007.
South Carolina has made the Candy 16 annually since 2014 and received its first nationwide championship in 2017. They had been the top-ranked workforce within the nation in 2020 when the event was once canceled because of Covid-19 and remaining yr misplaced within the Ultimate 4.
The 2 groups remaining performed within the NCAA event in 2018, when UConn beat South Carolina 94-65 to visit the Ultimate 4.
CNN’s Jacob Lev contributed to this record.
