TAMPA, Fla. — Since October, UConn made it clear that its intentions had been to be enjoying within the final recreation of the season.
On Friday, the Huskies ensured that might be the case with a dominant 85-51 rout of UCLA within the Remaining 4 and can play South Carolina within the nationwide championship recreation Sunday.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma anticipated his staff to be effectively ready, play exhausting and be locked in on UCLA heading into Friday evening’s recreation.
He anticipated it to be a battle in opposition to a troublesome UCLA staff who had been ranked the No. 1 staff within the nation for many of this season.
However what truly occurred was “somewhat unexpected,” Auriemma mentioned.
“You always go into these games this time of the year expecting it to be incredibly, incredibly difficult,” Auriemma mentioned. “Not that it wasn’t, because I think our guys played about as hard as any group of kids can play, but I don’t think we made a mistake the entire evening, especially on the defensive end. I’m just incredibly proud of these guys and what they were able to do and how it was a complete team effort.”
The stage is now set for Connecticut to play for its twelfth nationwide championship and the primary in almost a decade.
All eyes might be on Paige Bueckers in Sunday’s title recreation in opposition to South Carolina as she may have the prospect to both write the best storybook ending or extraordinary heartbreak to her illustrious faculty profession.
Bueckers, who has achieved nearly the whole lot there may be to perform at school, has the potential to exit with the one factor that she’s but to seize at UConn — a nationwide championship.
And that actuality shouldn’t be misplaced on her teammates.
“I definitely think that a team mindset is that we want to do it for Paige, we want to do it for all the upperclassmen who this is their last chance at it,” Azzi Fudd mentioned. “They’ve given so much to all of us, so much to this team, so much to this program these last five and six years. … But it’s only right that we give everything that we have to make this possible for not just all of us but specifically for upperclassmen.”
Bueckers mentioned she prayed, ready and hoped that she would get one final shot at profitable a title.
As a staff, on Friday, the Huskies made it abundantly clear that they had been worthy of punching their ticket to the championship recreation.
From the soar, Connecticut blitzed UCLA, the highest general seed on this 12 months’s match, and led by 20 at halftime. The Bruins seemed discombobulated by the Huskies’ ferocious assault.
Connecticut didn’t get one other high-power scoring efficiency from Bueckers — but it surely didn’t want it.
By the tip of the third quarter, Fudd and Sarah Sturdy mixed for as many factors as all the UCLA staff (37.)
Sturdy scored 14 of her team-high 22 factors within the second half in an epic rout. The standout freshman additionally had eight rebounds.
Fudd, who was due for a giant recreation, scored her 19 factors within the first half.
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And Bueckers completed with 16 factors, 5 rebounds and three steals and helped set the tone on protection.
In the meantime, UCLA star Lauren Betts had 26 factors, however the Bruins, who shot 38.5 p.c from the sphere and 25% from deep, didn’t have the secondary scoring wanted to hold with Connecticut.
Solely 21 of UCLA’s 51 factors had been scored outdoors the paint.
Connecticut finally earned an opportunity to perform what it got down to do originally of the season.
“We don’t want to take it for granted,” Bueckers mentioned. “You don’t want to get caught up in the moment of being so anxious and trying to win the national championship in one possession that you’re just psyching yourself out, but to be present with the team, to be where your feet are and try to win every single possession that’s in front of you. Play the entire 40 minutes.”
Bueckers doesn’t need to take into consideration her UConn profession coming to an finish simply but. There’s nonetheless work to be performed.
“Getting a good night’s rest tonight, start preparing tomorrow,” Bueckers mentioned. “Be disciplined in our preparation and just enjoying the last couple of days we have here with each other. It’s pretty crazy that it’s all coming to an end, but I’m glad we can do it on the last day.”
