TAMPA, Fla. — In Paige Bueckers‘ final collegiate game, she will have the opportunity to clinch what she always dreamed of achieving at UConn — a national championship.
The presumptive No. 1 pick in this month’s WNBA draft, Bueckers and the 2-seed Huskies demolished No. 1 overall seed UCLA 85-51 in the national semifinal Friday, recording the largest margin of victory in women’s Final Four history, to advance to the program’s 13th national title game appearance. UConn became the first women’s team in tournament history to beat a 1-seed by 30 or more points.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said he was “humbled” by his team’s performance.
“It’s amazing how it played out,” Auriemma said. “When you go in there, you don’t expect, ‘Hey, we’re going to win by 35 points tonight.’ I mean, that’s, oh my god. That is just so, so unrealistic.”
The Huskies advanced to Sunday’s title game against defending champion South Carolina, a rematch of the 2022 tournament final that the Gamecocks won. UConn opened…
