UConn women’s basketball wins record 12th national championship with victory over South Carolina

TAMPA, Fla. – The drought is over.

Paige Bueckers’ legacy is set in stone.

The UConn Huskies are once again national champions.

The Huskies defeated last year’s champs South Carolina 82-59 Sunday afternoon at Amalie Arena for the program’s 12th national title. The victory gives UConn the record for the most NCAA national championships in college basketball, breaking a tie with UCLA men’s basketball (11). This is UConn’s first title since 2016, snapping a nine-year drought on the 30th anniversary of its very first national championship.

“You just never know if you will ever be back in this situation again,” UConn coach Auriemma told ABC after the game. “There were so many times when I think we all questioned, ‘Have we been here too long? Has it been time?’ And we kept hanging in there and hanging in there, and it is because these players make me want to hang in there every day.”

Bueckers finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in the historic victory. Azzi Fudd was named the Most Outstanding Player, scoring 24 points to go along with five rebounds. National Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong made a strong impact as well, recording 24 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.

Bueckers’ UConn career ends in perfect storybook fashion, lifting a trophy high following her, and the team’s, five-year ride on an unprecedented adversity roller coaster, which included her missing the majority of her sophomore year and her entire junior season with knee injuries. The star guard, the 2021 National Player of the Year and UConn’s third-best career scorer, is expected to be drafted No. 1 overall in eight days in the WNBA draft. She leaves Storrs as a national champion.

“It was unreal,” Bueckers said. “I have so much gratitude for everything this program has meant to me for how much my teammates mean to me. From the top to the bottom our managers, our practice players are here from Storrs. They made us work our butts off the entire year.

“Our (graduate assistants), our manager, our assistant (director of basketball operations), our masseuse , everybody, I can’t even name everybody,” Bueckers said. “Everybody here, it takes a village. Everybody pours into the team success and the players. Behind the scenes there is so much work that goes into what we do. There is so much gratitude.”

While her time in Storrs hasn’t been perfect, she’s brought the program to new, unforeseen heights and fulfilled her promise of bringing the Huskies the ultimate prize.

UConn emerges from its multiple-year battle with an unrelenting injury bug to prove its dynasty never died. From snapping its NCAA record of 14-straight Final Four appearances to having to postpone a regular-season game due to not having enough healthy bodies; all the trials have led the Huskies here. As the last team standing. As the only winners.

In Bueckers’ final year with fellow star guard Azzi Fudd finally healthy and freshman sensation Sarah Strong’s arrival, this was the window UConn was waiting for, and needed, to get back to glory.

The Huskies started the postseason on a tear, led by Bueckers’ star. UConn outscored its first five NCAA Tournament appearances by 30-plus points as Bueckers individually scored 30-plus points in three straight games, including a career-high 40 in the Sweet 16.

But as this Husky squad has come to learn this season, having Bueckers is great, yet the team’s supporting cast is its most powerful weapon … especially when needed.

Bueckers struggled to get going on Sunday. The star had eight points at halftime yet was 3-of-9 from the floor, unable to get the ball to drop.

Enter Sarah Strong.

The freshman was just two points shy of a double-double at halftime. She had 11 of UConn’s 18 first-half rebounds and looked like the most poised player in her national championship debut. According to ESPN, Strong is the second player all-time to have 11 or more boards in the first half of the title game.

She bullied her way in the paint, demanding space under the basket by boxing out anyone who challenged her and matching their physicality with even more aggression. Her outstretched hands rose higher than anyone else’s. She didn’t back down once.

Her first block of the game led to a Jana El Alfy bucket six minutes in as El Alfy was the last UConn starter to get on the board. Strong’s second block resulted in an Azzi Fudd jumper, which snapped a three-minute scoring drought for the Huskies and made Fudd the first player to score 10-plus points before halftime.

Strong didn’t look like your average freshman, she’s not, as she anchored UConn’s defense. The Huskies limited South Carolina to two separate four-minute droughts in the first half and led by as much as 11, including by 10 at intermission.

On offense, Fudd drove the ship. She had two steal-and-score players before intermission and led all players with 13 points at the break. The guard’s release was too fast for the Gamecocks to block as she reminded the world she’s so much more than just a clutch 3-point shot.

South Carolina punched first on Sunday, forcing five lead changes before the first media timeout six minutes in. Yet, the Gamecocks couldn’t stop Strong and at most got within three of UConn on the scoreboard.

Even when Jana El Alfy sat early in the third with four fouls, South Carolina’s bigs couldn’t capitalize.

Fudd and Strong just kept rolling.

Strong got the double-double about five minutes into the third as Fudd was the first player to reach the 20-point threshold.

Fudd bounced passed the ball to a sprinting Strong about halfway through the third quarter between two defenders. Strong caught the pass in the lane and brought it up for the smooth layup, putting UConn up by 15.

Fudd made her first 3-pointer of the day with 3:04 left in the frame, putting the first nail on the Gamecocks’ coffin. Strong, of course, followed with her own triple, bringing down the hammer even harder on South Carolina.

The two combined for 18 of UConn’s 26 points in the third quarter. Five minutes later, Fudd, Strong and Bueckers combined for 63 of UConn’s 78 points. South Carolina only had 48 total.

South Carolina’s reign on the mountain over.