No. 1 overall seed South Carolina is led by junior Aliyah Boston, the 6-foot-5 forward who has dominated the paint for the favorite Gamecocks. Boston averaged 17 points, 12 rebounds and more than 2 blocks per game on the season on her way to winning the Associated Press national player of the year.
The title game is a rematch. South Carolina beat UConn 73-57 in November in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, relying on 22 points from Boston and a stifling defense that held the Huskies to just 3 points in the 4th quarter.
UConn, the premier women’s basketball program for almost three decades, finds itself in the odd position of underdog. A 2-seed in the tournament, UConn had 11 starting lineups this season due to a mix of injuries and Covid illnesses.
South Carolina has been the top-ranked team since the preseason and is 34-2 on the year, with each of its losses coming by 2 points or fewer.
UConn, coached by Geno Auriemma, is led by its backcourt trio of guards in Bueckers, Christyn Williams and Azzi Fudd, who each average over 12 points a game on the season. The title game will take place in Minneapolis and is a homecoming for Bueckers, who grew up in the suburb of Hopkins.
This is UConn’s 14th consecutive Final Four appearance stretching back to 2007. The Huskies have made the championship game 11 times in their illustrious history — and have gone a perfect 11-0 in those contests.
South Carolina, under coach Dawn Staley, has made the Sweet 16 every year since 2014 and won its first national championship in 2017. They were the top-ranked team in the country in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to Covid-19 and last year lost in the Final Four.
The two teams last played in the NCAA tournament in 2018, when UConn beat South Carolina 94-65 to go to the Final Four.
