PHOENIX — Ta’Niya Latson had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead a balanced South Carolina attack, and the Gamecocks stunned undefeated and top-seeded UConn 62-48 in the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Phoenix on Friday.
Agot Makeer scored 14 points, Joyce Edwards had 11 and Tessa Johnson had 10 for the Gamecocks (36-3), who avenged an 82-59 loss to the Huskies in the 2025 national championship game.
The Gamecocks will play for their fourth national championship and third in five seasons against the winner of the Texas-UCLA semifinal game Sunday. South Carolina completed a 38-0 season with an 87-75 victory over Iowa in the 2024 title game.
National player of the year Sarah Strong had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Ashlynn Shade scored 10 points and Azzi Fudd had eight points and five assists for the Huskies (38-1), who had a 54-game winning streak broken.
Strong’s 3-pointer, her first points in the second half, closed the deficit to 51-47 with 4:39 remaining but South Carolina scored the next 11 points to pull away.
Latson made six free throws in the final 1:45 and UConn missed 11 of its last 12 field goal attempts.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and UConn coach Geno Auriemma were seen having a heated exchange on the sideline as the clock wound down.
Strong was 4 of 16 from the field against a sticky South Carolina defense that pressured the perimeter. Fudd was 3 of 15. The Gamecocks limited UConn to 31.1% shooting and outshot the Huskies 45.8% to 22.6% in the second half.
After the Huskies held a 26-24 halftime lead, the Gamecocks opened the second half on a 12-2 run for a 36-28 lead, the largest deficit UConn had faced all year. All but one of the Huskies’ wins was by at least 10 points.
Latson made a pair of free throws for a 40-30 lead with 3:09 left in the third.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Kayleigh Heckel, Blanca Quinonez and Fudd brought UConn within 40-39 with 1:10 left in the quarter, but the Huskies were never closer. The Huskies had made 1 of their first 12 threes before that and finished 6 of 21. The Gamecocks led 44-39 after three.
–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media
