SEATTLE — UConn senior guard Lou Lopez Sénéchal leaned over, her head facing the floor, and slid the basketball between her legs. The final buzzer in Saturday’s Sweet 16 matchup against No. 3 seed Ohio State had sounded and the second-seeded Huskies’ season had ended. At the edge of the midcourt March Madness sticker, Caroline Ducharme put her right arm around Sénéchal’s back. There was little solace in the brief moment between teammates. Sénéchal dropped the ball, which rolled off the court, and walked to the handshake line before retreating to the locker room.
UConn’s 73–61 loss to Ohio State snapped the program’s streak of 14 straight Final Fours.
The Huskies had prepared for the Buckeyes’ vaunted full-court press. “All week long, we were focusing on it,” Ducharme said. Yet UConn, almost immediately, was rushed by Ohio State’s constant physicality and aggressiveness, turning the ball over uncharacteristically.
“The NCAA Tournament does incredible things to people,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said afterward. “It elevates their game to a higher level than they have played at all year long sometimes. And it completely paralyzes some players because the moment is too big.” The moment itself might not have been too big for the Huskies, who are…
