Alexa PhilippouESPN Close Covers college women’s basketball and the WNBA UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun were previously covered for the Hartford Courant A Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience in the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Inquirer
MINAPOLIS – A year after the heartbreaking Final Four defeat by then-champion Stanford, No. 1 South Carolina found redemption, winning the program’s second national championship with a 64-49 victory over 2-seed Taron UConn on Sunday. Minneapolis Center. Close
Covers college women’s basketball and the WNBA UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun were previously covered for the Hartford Courant A Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience in the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Inquirer
The Gamecocks, who won 14-0 against the Associated Press Top 25 teams this season, became the eighth program to win many national titles in NCAA women’s basketball history, joining UConn (11), Tennessee (8). , Stanford (3), Baylor (3), Notre Dame (2), USC (2) and Louisiana Tech (2). South Carolina (35-2) is also the 12th team to go cable to No. 1 in the AP poll and has won it all. “Our path was divinely ordained,” South Carolina coach Down Steel told Gamecocks fans as he stood on stage to receive the championship trophy. The young forward Aliyah Boston, the national player of the year, recorded the 30th double-double of the season with 11 points and 16 rebounds and became the best player of the Final Four. 2 About Staley is also now 2-0 in NCAA National Championship games after leading her team across the Mississippi State for the 2017 title. With a piece of the net from her 2017 title in her pocket – the same from which she had previously sent teams to other black coaches throughout the sport – she became the first black coach to win many national Division I basketball championships. Staley rejected any suggestion that its program had reached “dynasty” status – arguing that UConn’s 11 titles were still the standard in the sport – but declared that the team’s dominance and defense for one season make it the best team in the history of the program. The Gamecocks finished the tournament with 45.5 points per game, the second-lowest standings by a national champion against their opponents in the tournament, just behind UConn in 2010. After scoring 11-0 in his previous appearances in the national league, UConn coach Geno Auriemma suffered his first defeat in the title game. “I feel like I’m getting into this game, the discussion was about how coach Auriemma was 11-0 in the title games,” Boston said. “But Coach Staley was 1-0 and now it is 2-0. And I think it just shows the kind of program he has made.” The Huskies (30-6), whose 11 titles are tied for the most titles in Division I basketball, are still looking for their first title since winning four consecutive titles from 2013 to 2016. The five consecutive tournaments The NCAA Championship is the biggest program the program has left since winning its first title in 1995. Guard Destanni Henderson became the first player since 2000 to record a high scoring career in the national league, finishing with 26 points in the final game of her student career. He also scored four assists, two rebounds and a tough defensive effort against the best national player of the year 2020-21, Page Bookers (14 points). “I really did not even know I had a high career, to be honest with you,” Henderson said. “But when people talked about it and told me that – it’s just a blessing and just an honor to do it now, a special moment that we will all remember forever.” Henderson set the tone early, as its 3 22 seconds in Sunday’s match gave the Gamecocks a lead they would not give up. South Carolina started hot, scoring 13 of the first 15 points of the game and scoring 30-12 early in the second half by Henderson 3. UConn finally settled, using a 15-5 streak to reduce the deficit to a minimum. . as seven and then 35-27 entering the half. Top 2021 striker Azzi Fudd played just five minutes in the first half (17 in total) for UConn after suffering a stomach error going into the game. South Carolina started early again once again after the break, falling 16 behind in the middle of the third from Zia Cooke’s layout. The Huskies then made a 10-0 run – which included their first 3 in the game – to make it 43-37. The Gamecocks scored the last three points of the frame, and six of the first eight of the quarter, to reduce their lead. “I think they deserved it 100%,” Auriemma said. “It was the best team of the whole year. For the first five minutes I thought they came out and set the tone right then and there for how the game would be played.” The 3s of Fad and Bookers made a 10-point game with 3:18 playing, but the Huskies could not get any closer. Behind Boston productivity, the Gamecocks topped the Huskies 49-24, the second-highest rebound in a NCAA women’s league history. Although he made just three shots from the pitch, Boston reached the line eight times, twice as many trips as the entire UConn team. South Carolina as a whole shot 17-to-26 from the line compared to UConn’s 1-to-4 clip. “I don’t think a player like Aliyah realizes her power,” Staley said. “I’ve been close to a lot of great basketball players who were dominant, and I saw it in her and I wouldn’t allow her to be anything less than that.” A year after the Boston Buzzer’s buck failed in the national semifinals, the Target Center was South Carolina’s playground. The 2020 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, the MOP from the South Carolina Final Four in 2017, came out on the field for the party, wearing a championship hat over the hat she was already wearing. Steely swam in Mary J. Blige’s “Just Fine” as he cut the wreckage and told reporters he would take another dog, named Natty, to add to the family after bringing home Champ after her first title. . Boston picked up the microphone when it took to the stage to receive the Best Player award and shouted at its idol, two-time WNBA champion Candace Parker, before meeting her for the first time later in the celebration. Cleone Boston, Aliyah’s mother, texted her daughter and teammates Sunday morning a link to Marvia Providence’s “I Am a Warrior” song, encouraging players to “not let anyone in your mind” to talk to you about defeat “. The Gamecocks did not let it happen on Sunday night. And with another towing championship, their place at the top of the sport for years to come was further consolidated. What does next year’s goal mean? “Like this year,” Boston said.
