Then there were four. No. 3 UConn defeated No. 1 USC 80-73 to advance to the Final Four. It’s the Huskies’ 23rd trip to the semifinals, a Division I record.
Injuries maimed UConn all season, whittling the squad down to just eight available players for the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to keep the Huskies out of Cleveland. They move on to their second Final Four in three seasons.
It was a slow start for the Huskies at first, as they had to play from behind for much of the first half. They found some momentum in the second quarter, getting out to a six point lead, but USC wasn’t going down. The Trojans tied it at 33 at halftime.
It was in the second frame that freshman phenom Juju Watkins broke the NCAA women’s freshman scoring record. She led her squad with 29 points, bringing her final season total to 920. Her rookie season may not result in a national championship, but USC and Watkins showed a bright future ahead.
Stars Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards led the charge for UConn, recording 28 and 24 points respectively. Bueckers added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the tournament a year after a missing out on it with injury.
UConn now heads to Cleveland to face No. 1 Iowa and Caitlin Clark in the national semifinals on…
