Dawn Staley’s South Carolina crushes Connecticut 64-49 in national championship game
MINNEAPOLIS — From the first week of this season until the last, there was never a doubt that South Carolina was the best team in the country.Led by star forward Aliyah Boston and an electric performance from guard Destanni Henderson, the Gamecocks crushed Connecticut, 64-49, in the national championship game before a deafening sellout crowd of 18,304 at the Target Center.
“The 11 times that we won, I would say — maybe all 11 but at least 10, we had the better team,” Auriemma said. “I told Dawn after the game, they were the best team in the country all year. They were No. 1 in the country in November when we saw them down in the Bahamas [a 73-57 South Carolina win], and they’re the best team in the country today.”The tactical battle played out as expected: South Carolina’s dominant post play and fiery defense against UConn’s fleet of great guards.
South Carolina’s lead grew as big as 30-12 early in the second quarter before the Huskies’ defense finally got some stops and Bueckers scored her first points of the game. There was a momentum change when key South Carolina guard Brea Beal was called for her third foul with 3:16 left in the quarter, and UConn hit back-to-back threes. Staley called timeout with her team’s lead down to 43-37. But Henderson hit a free throw, then an acrobatic layup in the lane to make it 46-37 at the end of the third quarter.
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