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Alexa Philippou
TAMPA, Fla. — In Paige Bueckers‘ final collegiate game, she will have the opportunity to do what she always dreamed of doing with UConn — win a national championship.
The presumptive No.1 overall pick in this month’s WNBA draft, Bueckers and the Huskies demolished No. 1 overall seed UCLA 85-51 in the national semifinal, the largest margin of victory in NCAA Final Four history, to advance to the program’s 13th national title game appearance. UConn moves onto Sunday’s title game against defending champion South Carolina, which it beat earlier this season in Columbia.
The Bruins finished the season 34-3 and bowed out of the tournament after making their first Final Four appearance.
While Bueckers’ title chase fuels the Huskies, UConn’s dominance on Friday came more from her teammates. Freshman Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd combined for 41 points, while Bueckers, who totaled 105 points in her three previous games — had a quiet night by her standards with 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting (0-for-3 from 3).
It’s that very talent and depth around Bueckers, who’ll appear in her second national title game, that coach Geno Auriemma has said throughout this season will give the Huskies their best shot at winning their 12th overall championship and first since 2016, when they won they four-peated.
The game was effectively over in the first half, when UConn dominated on both ends of the floor and took a 42-22 halftime lead. The Huskies swarmed defensively, forcing 14 Bruins turnovers and holding players outside of UCLA star Lauren Betts (11 points) to 5-for-14 shooting from the field. Betts paced UCLA with 26 points on 11-for-18 shooting, whereas no teammate finished with more than eight points.
Things were just as smooth on the other end. UConn’s offense flowed most of the way, scoring off multiple transition plays featuring jaw-dropping passes that left the Amalie Arena crowd in awe.
Coming off an off-night in the Elite Eight with eight points, Fudd delivered on her promise to leave that poor performance in Spokane. Aggressive from the tip, she put up 19 first-half points, nearly matching the Bruins’ total in the first 20 minutes. The Huskies improved to 25-1 in Fudd’s career when she scores 15 or more points.
Strong carried the Huskies in the second half, scoring 14 of her 22 points. She became the third UConn freshman with at least 20 points in a Final Four game, joining Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
By the end of the third quarter, Fudd and Strong had as many points together as UCLA did as a team (37).
The Bruins briefly got the deficit below 20 points early in the third, but the Huskies kept their foot on the gas from there.
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