In some ways, UConn has played a lot of games similar to the one on March 28, 2022, when the Huskies battled NC State in the Elite Eight of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. There were players suiting up for UConn that day who had already won multiple Elite Eight contests, not to mention a coach on the sideline who had guided the Huskies to 13 straight Final Fours and 21 overall appearances. The setting itself was familiar territory.
But a traumatic injury, 13 lead changes, nine ties and two overtimes later, it was clear that none of them had played in a game quite like this one. After 50 minutes of game action, UConn’s 91-87 victory over the Wolfpack that sent the Huskies to their 14th consecutive Final Four was a night unlike any that they had ever experienced, and it’s a memory they cherish even after losing in the national title game to South Carolina.
A game that hung in the balance for the majority of its run time, that delivered drama and spectacle and an individual masterpiece by Paige Bueckers, is the obvious choice for The Athletic’s women’s college basketball performance of the year.
This is the story of the game of the year, as remembered by three people who played in it (Bueckers, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, and Evina Westbrook) and a UConn alum on the broadcast call that…
