After a fifth consecutive one-sided win in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, UConn is set for the ultimate test.
The No. 2 seed Huskies cruised past No. 1 seed UCLA 85-51 in the second national semifinal of Friday in Tampa, earning a date with No. 1 seed South Carolina.
The Gamecocks, who rolled past No. 1 seed Texas 74-57 in the first semifinal on Friday, are the defending national champions.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of the Gamecocks, “They’ve played basketball at an exceptionally high level when you think about the Final Fours they’ve been to and the consistency in their program. The ability to win national championships multiple times and (they) are in a position to win back-to-back ones.”
Auriemma and the Huskies are in position to play for a 12th national title, and their first since 2016, despite an off night from star Paige Bueckers in the semifinal.
Azzi Fudd scored all 19 of her points in the first half, powering UConn to a dominant start.
By halftime, UConn (36-3) rode Fudd’s offensive burst to double the 10-point lead it held through the first quarter. She scored 12 of the Huskies’ 19 points in the second period, shooting 4-for-8 from the floor in the quarter and 7-for-11 for the first half.
UConn’s Sarah Strong then took over in the second half. She scored 14 of her team-high 22 points after intermission, including eight points in the final 3:25 of the third quarter.
Strong knocked down two of her four 3-pointers during that stretch and shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc on the night. Fudd finished 3-for-5 on 3-point attempts.
Strong also matched teammate Jana El Alfy and UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez with a game-high eight rebounds.
“Sarah’s an incredible player,” Fudd said. “Something that impresses the most about her is just how mature she plays, and how even-keeled she is. … Doesn’t matter where we are, what stage we’re on.”
Bueckers struggled from the field, hitting 7 of 17 shots overall and 0 of 3 from long range. She scored 10 points in the second half to close with 16, ending her streak of three straight games with at least 31.
Bueckers also came away with three steals, contributing to the most effective defensive effort of any UCLA opponent all season. The Bruins’ 51 points were a season low — nine fewer than the previous mark set in a loss to rival Southern California in February — due in part to 19 turnovers.
UConn converted the 19 takeaways into 27 points.
Fudd had three steals, and El Alfy added four. El Alfy drew the defensive assignment of guarding UCLA star center Lauren Betts and threw the Bruins out of sync with deflections on attempted entry passes to Betts in the post.
“We wanted to take away the (3-pointers),” Bueckers said of UConn’s defense, which limited UCLA to 4-of-16 shooting from beyond the arc. “But we also wanted to make things hard for Lauren Betts inside (by) being disruptive, putting pressure on the ball to make the interior passes harder, just being there to help.”
UCLA’s Kiki Rice lamented her team’s 14 first-half turnovers and 19 overall giveaways.
“Turnovers are really what killed us,” Rice said. “When we have the ball and take care of the ball, we’re a really good team. But it was difficult for us to get into rhythm both offensively and defensively when we kept turning the ball over.”
UCLA (34-3), a No. 1 seed that was playing in the program’s first-ever NCAA Final Four, never had a lead. The Bruins leaned heavily on Betts, who scored half of UCLA’s 22 points (11) in the first half.
Betts finished with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting. The rest of the Bruins were just 9-for-34 (26.5 percent) from the field.
Rice had eight points before fouling out, and no other UCLA player finished with more than six.
–Field Level Media
