Not many picked UConn to win it all this season, but Geno Auriemma and his Huskies team didn’t let that phase them. Instead, they used it as fuel to propel them through the NCAA Tournament and to a surprising 82-59 destruction of South Carolina in the title game.
The win was the 12 NCAA Tournament title for Auriemma, putting more distance between him and other great coaches including the legendary Pat Summit (8), Kim Mulkey (4), Dawn Staley (3) and Tara Vanderveer (3).
But it wasn’t easy as the Huskies ended up facing three no.1 seeds during their tournament run, and they beat them all, becoming just the fourth team to do so behind Tennessee (1987), Louisiana Tech (1988) and Baylor (2005).
Yet the Huskies were no Cinderella or surprise team.
They went 37-3 this season, including going undefeated after a February 3rd loss to Tennessee.
The title victory was an exclamation mark for both Paige Bueckers and Final Four Most Outstanding Player, Azzi Fudd.
Both battled through injuries in their career to finally make the championship game this season, which took a little bitterness out of last year’s tournament run which ended in a semifinal 71-69 loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
After a close game in the first half, UConn went off in the second half and widening the gap between the two teams as the time ran on. At the end of the third quarter, UConn had built up a 20-point lead and never took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter.
Auriemma was emotional and almost speechless after the Huskies’ trouncing of the Gamecocks, but he held it together to give all of the accolades to his team, most of all to Bueckers, who finished her college career with her first, long-awaited NCAA Championship.
After celebrating the win, she will head to New York for the WNBA Draft on April 14th, where she will be a top pick for the Dallas Wings (1st pick), Seattle Storm (2nd) or Washington Mystics (3rd and 4th).
Congrats to the Huskies!
