SPOKANE, Wash. — For the 16th time in the past 17 NCAA Tournaments, the UConn women’s basketball team has advanced to the Final Four. The No. 2 Huskies defeated No. 1 USC 78-64 in the Elite Eight on Monday evening in Spokane, Wash. It’s the program’s 24th Final Four, a college basketball record.
After scoring a career-high 40 points against Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, UConn fifth-year guard and First Team All-American Paige Bueckers continued her masterful NCAA Tournament run, scoring 31 points vs. the Trojans. Bueckers has scored at least 31 points in three straight games. It will be Bueckers' fourth Final Four appearance. She credited her teammates with helping her get the job done again during a postgame interview on ESPN. "It's a team win, a team victory. The coaches do a really good job of preparing us for this moment, and we stepped up. We just come together throughout everything...to remain a team and remain connected and unaffected by everything that's going on. We just stay together, and that's how we got it done," Bueckers said.
Covered in confetti during a postgame interview of his own, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma spoke about how Bueckers shrugged off a quiet first quarter and still went on to have a remarkable performance. "She just has a flair for the moment," Auriemma said. "She manages to find another level exactly when we need it. And she faces the toughest defense every night from the best player. I just like the fact that she knows who she is, she knows that she's built for this and she doesn't shy away from it. I love her for it, and I'm glad we're getting another opportunity to play next weekend. She deserves it."
Freshman forward and Second Team All-American Sarah Strong added 22 points. She hit three early three-pointers that helped swing momentum in the Huskies’ favor after USC took a six-point first-quarter advantage and also grabbed 17 rebounds on the night.
Auriemma, who made history by defeating a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for a 16th time, praised Strong's maturity, as she shined on the big stage. "From the very beginning, the very first game, there was never a sign - if you asked anybody to pick out the freshman, no one would have thought that it was her because she just has played like a veteran from Day 1," Auriemma said. Auriemma added that UConn's game plan involved going to Strong early and often. He was impressed with how well she embraced the role in the early minutes against USC. "For her to come into this environment for the first time ever as a college player and to play with such confidence and such composure and be able to do exactly what the team needs - every aspect of the game she impacts, and there aren't very many like her in the country. That's for sure," Auriemma said.
Fifth-year guard Kaitlyn Chen, a transfer from Princeton and the former Ivy League Player of the Year, added 15 points for UConn and helped the team push the ball in transition. The Huskies led by 14 at halftime and built their lead up to 19 points early in the third quarter. It looked like a blowout would ensue, but USC answered with a furious run to cut the UConn lead to five points entering the fourth quarter. USC, playing without First Team All-American JuJu Watkins, who suffered a knee injury in the Round of 32, battled without their star but ultimately did not have enough to overtake the Huskies.
Following the game, Bueckers addressed the Trojans' run and commended them for playing well without Watkins. "We know they're a motivated team. We've been in that position where we've had players go down and you step up for them and play with that edge and chip on your shoulder," Bueckers said. "We knew they weren't going to go down without a fight. They're a great team, but we just weathered their runs and weathered the storm. We knew they weren't going to quit, so it was going to be a battle. We just wanted to come out on top."
USC’s senior center Rayah Marshall dominated in the post on Monday, scoring 23 points and securing 15 rebounds. She didn’t get much help, however. No other Trojan scored more than 10 points against UConn. While USC goes home in the Elite Eight, eliminated by UConn on the verge of the Final Four for the second consecutive year, it was a celebration in the Huskies' locker room. As Auriemma pursues his elusive 12th national championship, he acknowledged that his team is not necessarily a complete one. UConn has many holes, their coach says, but he is proud of how well his players have come together to perform as a unit on a nightly basis.
"These guys have learned to play so hard together, they've learned to trust each other, we've got guys that make big plays exactly when we need them, we've been undersized the whole year, and today was a big challenge playing against a team that obviously was missing a great, great player... It's a Connecticut thing I hope that when we get in these situations, we know how to win and I'm really proud of that," Auriemma said.
Up next for UConn is No. 1 UCLA in the Final Four in Tampa, Fla. on Friday evening. Joining UConn and UCLA in the Final Four are South Carolina and Texas. While UConn is the only team in the Final Four that isn't a one-seed, Vegas favors Bueckers and the Huskies to cut down the nets on Sunday.
