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South Carolina women smother UConn to reach NCAA title game

April 4, 2026

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, left, and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma argue after their NCAA Tournament semifinal on Friday in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

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South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, left, and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma argue after their NCAA Tournament semifinal on Friday in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

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By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

PHOENIX — Ta’Niya Latson scored 16 and Agot Makeer added 14 points and South Carolina played stifling defense to beat Connecticut, 62-48, on Friday night, ending the Huskies’ 54-game winning streak and advancing to the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game.

The Gamecocks will face the winner of the UCLA-Texas semifinal on Sunday for the title, capping another March Madness. South Carolina (36-3) will be looking to win its fourth national championship. Their other three have come in the last decade.

UConn (38-1) entered the Final Four undefeated for the ninth time in school history and for the third straight time left without a title. The Huskies also lost in the 2017 and 2018 national semifinals. This was the fewest points UConn had scored since putting up 49 points in a national championship game loss to the Gamecocks in 2022.

“Coach was pretty mad going into the half,” Latson said of Coach Dawn Staley. “She was yelling ‘Meet the moment! Meet the moment!’ We couldn’t be scared to play on this stage, especially against UConn. I mean, they were undefeated.”

The Huskies and Gamecocks played last season for the title and UConn came away with an 82-59 rout for the school’s 12th national championship. UConn also beat South Carolina handily during the 2024-25 regular season.

With less than a second remaining in this game, UConn coach Geno Auriemma walked across the court to shake hands with Staley and had an animated conversation with the South Carolina coach while pointing to the floor. Staley yelled back at him as assistants from both teams separated the two.

When the clock ran out finally, Auriemma walked straight to the tunnel and didn’t shake hands. The two teams did shake hands.

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what happened between the coaches. “But I’m gonna let you know this, I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong, to Geno, I had no idea what I did.

“I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand.

“I don’t know what he came with after the game, but, hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”

The teams came into the game as the second- and third-leading scoring teams in the nation, both averaging more than 87 points per game. This was a defensive battle.

Leading 46-44 a few minutes into the third quarter, South Carolina scored five straight points, capped by Makeer’s 3-pointer to extend the advantage to seven.

Sarah Strong hit a 3-pointer to get the Huskies back within 51-47 with 4:39 left. The Huskies didn’t score again until Strong hit a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, after South Carolina had scored 11 straight points.

South Carolina clamped down on UConn’s two stars. Strong, who was honored as the AP Player of the Year on Thursday, had 12 points and 12 rebounds, but shot 4 for 16 from the field. Azzi Fudd had just eight points for the Huskies, shooting just 3 for 15.

UConn had its worst shooting night of the season finishing 19 for 61 (31.1%) from the field.

Trailing 26-24 at the half, South Carolina opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run to take the lead. The Gamecocks extended the advantage to 40-30 – the biggest deficit the Huskies’ had faced this season.

UConn, which missed 10 of its first 11 3-point attempts, then started to get hot from the field, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers, the last by Fudd to get within 40-39. The All-America guard had missed seven of her first eight shots as she was blanketed by South Carolina’s defense.

South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson scored the final four points of the quarter to make it 44-39.

Both teams had cruised to the Final Four, each winning in the first four rounds of the tournament easily. The Huskies had been rarely challenged all season long, routing their Big East opponents by record margins.

Facing their first real test in a long time, they had no answer.

The opening 20 minutes was full of missed shots and turnovers. The two teams combined to shoot 22 for 62 from the field (35.4%) and had 14 turnovers. UConn led 26-24 at the half.

There were dozens of former Huskies and Gamecocks players in the crowd including Diana Taurasi, Paige Bueckers and Aliyah Boston. Boston was sitting next to Flavor Flav, who is a huge supporter of women’s sports.

AURIEMMA UNHAPPY

Auriemma was not a happy man. With the officiating. With his team’s performance. With Staley.

The Huskies coach ripped into the officiating crew during a live TV interview and then got into a heated argument with Staley in the final seconds. A minute later, he stalked off the floor alone, stewing over the nightmare performance.

“There were six fouls called that quarter – all of them against us,” Auriemma said on the broadcast. “And they’ve been beating the (expletive) out of our guys down there the entire game. I’m not making excuses, ’cause we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous.

“Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referee some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get six to zero, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey, and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man. It’s for a national championship.”

Auriemma wasn’t finished showing his displeasure. The 72-year-old coach walked toward Staley in the final seconds of the game before their angry exchange, with assistants having to get in between them.

Once the game finally ended, Auriemma slowly walked off the court and down the tunnel without shaking hands with the Gamecocks.

It’s true that it was a physical game. Bodies were flying under the basket for the majority of the night for both teams. UConn was whistled for 17 fouls, while South Carolina was called for just eight.

The problem for Strong and Fudd was they couldn’t hit shots even when they had a little space to operate. The 6-2 Strong was bothered by South Carolina’s interior size, with several of her inside shots rattling in and out.

Their teammates couldn’t pick up the slack. Ashlynn Shade finished with 10 points and Quiñonez added seven. Heckel missed a layup late in the game and the broadcast showed her starting to cry walking back down the court.

Teammates encouraged her and one even lifted her chin, but the damage was done.

More to come on this story.

South Carolina women smother UConn to reach NCAA title game Orange County Register

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South Carolina women smother UConn to reach NCAA title game

AURIEMMA UNHAPPY

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