NCAA Women’s Tournament Results

Liam Koch, Contributing Writer

The UConn Huskies have finally made it back to the championship game, and they did not disappoint. After one of the strongest showings in the history of NCAA Women’s basketball, UConn claimed their 12^th championship title toppling South Carolina. 

South Carolina’s coach, Dawn Staley experiences her first loss in a championship game. Previously, Staley was 3-0 in the championship game starting a dynasty for South Carolina. Because of this, it’s no surprise that the team was the overall number one seed going into the tournament. However, this was not enough to save them. As, despite their efforts, the team was unable to produce enough points.

It didn’t help that the highest points scored by a player for South Carolina was ten. That number was hit by two players, Joyce Edwards, and Tessa Johnson. Both of them combined to shoot 6-18 field goals, and 6-8 free throws. Missed field goals were the name of the game. South Carolina only managed to score 21 field goals on 61 attempts, compared to UConn’s 30-62. UConn also scored five more free throws. 

UConn’s success came mostly from an incredible performance from their big three players. Sarah Strong put up 24 points for the Huskies while also getting 15 rebounds for a double double. She was good for 10 field goals on 15 attempts and also scored 2 of the team’s 4 three pointers. In addition, she had 2 free throws which she scored. This game has further cemented her title as best freshman in the league.

Azzi Fudd also had a great game. She also scored 24 points, although she struggled on the three point attempts only scoring 1 on 6 attempts. However, thanks to her free throws she added an additional 5 points.

Paige Bueckers had her quietest game today, though quiet for her is still 17 points. He had scored over 130 points over the last four games. But today she struggled on her field goals only making 5 of her 14 attempts. Though she did manage to be perfect on her 7 free throws. This game caps off Paige Bueckers’ last season as a UConn Husky as she plans to enter the upcoming WNBA draft. Currently, she is projected to be the number one pick in the draft. 

Paige’s career in college was riddled with injury. She tore an ACL in 2021 and was injured again in 2023. Despite all of this, she pushed back and fought. And in the end she won a title. She led her team to a bracket run who’s closest game was still a 14 point victory. And a run where they won the final and beat the overall number one see by 23 points. Not only that, but she made history for her program in this historic stretch. She set the UConn record for most points scored in the NCAA tournament with 477 over her career. This number puts her behind only Caitlin Clark and Chamique Holdsclaw for most in tournament history.

Geno Auriemma now has a perfect dozen in championship games. This win further cements him as the strongest head coach in Women’s college basketball history. He is the winningest coach in the history of the sport, and now he has added another trophy to the team’s showcase.