UConn denies South Carolina women's basketball, Dawn Staley another national championship
TAMPA, Fla. — All good things must come to an end, including for South Carolina women's basketball. The repeat tour came to a screeching halt at Amalie Arena.
South Carolina, hoping to win back-to-back national titles and the fourth for coach Dawn Staley, fell 82-59 to UConn on Sunday.
The No. 1 seed Gamecocks (35-4), who won titles in 2017, 2022 and last season, were thoroughly dominated by the second-seeded Huskies (37-3).
Freshman forward Sarah Strong and veteran guard Azzi Fudd, each with 24 points, carried UConn to its 12th national title.
Strong had a game-high 15 rebounds, and star Paige Bueckers finished her college career with 17 points.
South Carolina trailed by 10 points at halftime after getting outscored 17-12 in the second quarter. UConn went on a critical 8-0 run midway through the second as the Gamecocks went 0-of-7 from the field.
Jumping out to a 44-29 lead by the 5:34 mark in the third, it felt like every South Carolina made basket came with immense effort, whereas UConn danced into points with ease. The Gamecocks shot 32% from the field; the Huskies finished 51%.
After cutting the deficit to 11 by way of a MiLaysia Fulwiley bucket, block, steal and then layup, UConn called a timeout, and a perfectly executed offensive set ended in a 3-pointer by Fudd.
Hope lingered in the South Carolina fan section as the third quarter closed, wondering if the Gamecocks had enough left to fight back from a 20-point deficit with 10 minutes left in their season.
UConn didn't let any miracles happen, exposing every weakness, punching back at every momentum shift. The stage was set for South Carolina to reverse its Feb. 26 result, when it lost by 29 points, but any attempt to show a revived team failed miserably.
South Carolina was outscored 46-33 in the second half.
Bree Hall, Sania Feagin and Te-Hina Paopao walked off the court for the final time in garnet and black with just under four minutes left to play. Hall and Feagin end their careers under Staley with four Final Four appearances, three SEC tournament championships and two national championships.
For redshirt junior guard Raven Johnson, the question is whether she will return for one more season, or exit on a somber note but with a résumé stacked with accomplishments.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women's basketball fails to repeat as national champions