South Carolina, UConn punch tickets to girls’s nationwide championship recreation

The Huskies have dominated this recreation because the opening tip and at the moment are just one quarter away from making it to the nationwide championship recreation.

Connecticut has completely blitzed the Bruins defensively, who appear like they weren’t prepared for the depth of tonight’s recreation.

Azzi Fudd is main the Huskies with 19 factors, whereas Sarah Sturdy and Paige Bueckers have 18 and 12, respectively.

Lauren Betts is the one UCLA participant in double digits with 17 factors.

Three totally different Huskies — Paige Buckers, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Sturdy — all have a minimum of 10 factors halfway by the third quarter.

Extra of the identical to start out the second half, as UConn has pushed its result in 50-28 with 4:54 left within the third quarter.

The Bruins are capturing solely 37.5% and now have 16 turnovers.

In the meantime, three gamers have scored in double digits for the Huskies, in comparison with just one — Lauren Betts — for UCLA.

The Huskies are completely dominating on each ends tonight.

They’re capturing 48.6% from the sector offensively, together with 5-of-13 from 3-point vary.

Defensively, UConn has held the Bruins to 41.7% from the sector whereas forcing 14 turnovers.

Azzi Fudd has been the perfect participant on the ground, scoring 19 factors for the Huskies. Paige Bueckers has 6 whereas Sarah Sturdy has 8.

Lauren Betts has 11 factors for UCLA, however solely three different gamers have scored, and no person greater than 5 factors. The Bruins have regarded misplaced offensively, stymied by the Huskies’ zone protection.

All of the discuss of stardom this week (rightfully) went to Paige Bueckers, however her backcourt mate Azzi Fudd has been carrying UConn to this point. With one minute to play earlier than halftime she has 19 factors on 6-for-10 capturing from the sector.

Somewhat over 5 minutes into the second quarter and Connecticut leads 29-17.

Whereas each offenses have cooled after the primary, the Bruins specifically are struggling. The Huskies have been flying across the flooring, forcing 10 turnovers, whereas permitting solely eight discipline targets.

Azzi Fudd and Lauren Betts every have 11 factors, however Betts will want some teammates to step up if UCLA goes to get again into this recreation.

Nationwide participant of the 12 months JuJu Watkins, who suffered a season-ending knee damage within the second spherical of the NCAA Match, was proven appreciation on the Ultimate 4.

The Huskies lead 23-13 after one quarter.

Sarah Sturdy and Azzi Fudd mixed for 15 of UConn’s 23 factors. The Huskies are capturing a blistering 55.6% from the sector.

The Bruins shot 50% themselves, however have been hampered by six turnovers. Heart Lauren Betts leads UCLA with 7 factors.

Connecticut leads UCLA 15-10 with 3:05 left within the first quarter.

Sarah Sturdy has 5 factors to guide the Huskies, whereas Lauren Betts has 4 to tempo the Bruins.

UCLA has been sloppy with the ball to this point, already committing 5 turnovers in comparison with Connecticut’s one.

Azzi Fudd began the scoring with a transition bucket to provide UConn a 2-0 lead and the second nationwide semifinal is off!

South Carolina freshman Joyce Edwards stepped right into a program with national-title expectations this season and hasn’t disillusioned, main the top-seeded Gamecocks in scoring regardless of coming off the bench.

In Friday’s Ultimate 4 win over Texas, Edwards continued to star with 13 factors and 11 rebounds. For all of her teammates who’ve been on this stage earlier than and perceive the stress that comes with enjoying for a nationwide title, it was the freshman Edwards who regarded undaunted all evening whereas changing into the primary South Carolina freshman to provide a double-double in an NCAA event recreation since 2014.

The Gamecocks are headed to the nationwide championship!

South Carolina can have an opportunity to repeat after dismantling Texas on Friday. The Longhorns received off to a sizzling begin, however it wasn’t sufficient towards a deep, balanced Gamecocks group that was suffocating defensively.

South Carolina now has an opportunity to win its third title in 4 seasons.

South Carolina can have the chance to defend its nationwide title.

By beating Texas tonight in a nationwide semifinal, the Gamecocks will try to turn into the primary repeat nationwide champion in Division I girls’s basketball since Connecticut gained 4 straight from 2013-16. Daybreak Staley’s group improved to 3-1 this season towards Texas and can now await the winner of Connecticut and UCLA’s semifinal later tonight.

Early into the fourth quarter and Texas must work a lot more durable to chop into South Carolina’s lead.

The Gamecocks are nonetheless up 61-48 with solely 7:10 remaining. Madison Booker began sturdy with six factors within the first quarter, however she’s scored solely 5 since then.

We wrote earlier about how not often Texas shoots three-pointers. It is an offense that has labored for the Longhorns this season, however does go away them susceptible in the event that they’re trailing late and want a flurry of factors. With 7 minutes left within the fourth quarter, and trailing by 13, Texas has shot 3-of-8 on three-pointers, whereas South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao has shot 3-of-4 from deep all by herself.

South Carolina started sporting on Texas within the third quarter.

After main by solely three factors at halftime, the Gamecocks pushed their result in 58-44 headed into the fourth.

The Longhorns shot over 50% within the first half however struggled within the third. Whereas Madison Booker and Jordan Lee have mixed for twenty-four factors, they want extra assist. Outdoors of their prime two scorers, the Longhorns are capturing solely 22.3% from the ground.

Credit score to the ESPN broadcast for digging up this outstanding statistic revealing South Carolina’s dominance. The Gamecocks have gained 108 consecutive video games once they lead in some unspecified time in the future by 10-plus factors. That is an ominous signal for Texas, because the Longhorns now path, 54-41, with 1:53 left within the third quarter.

Former South Carolina star and WNBA most dear participant A’ja Wilson is in attendance tonight however not one of the Gamecocks gamers are sporting her signature shoe. That is as a result of South Carolina is an Beneath Armour-sponsored college, whereas Wilson is a Nike endorser. As a substitute, Texas gamers are sporting Wilson’s signature look tonight. Both means, Wilson cannot lose.

South Carolina elevated its lead from 38-35 to 43-37 with 8:25 left within the third quarter.

The Longhorns, in an try to guard Madison Booker, have gone to a zone defensively to start out the second half, however it’s left holes of their protection.

As a result of South Carolina gained two of its three matchups towards Texas by double digits, there was a worry the Gamecocks would roll and go away little suspense within the evening’s first semifinal. As a substitute, it has been an entertaining first half — the highest-scoring first half on this matchup on the season — with Texas trailing by solely three factors regardless of Madison Booker spending a lot of the half on the bench.

Each groups have 10 turnovers, however each have bounced again from that sloppiness in stretches, as effectively. Of word: South Carolina has gained 103 consecutive video games when main at halftime.

South Carolina has a three-point lead after two quarters.

The largest story of this recreation is Madison Booker’s foul hassle. Texas is a minus-11 with Booker on the bench, the place she’s been planted for a lot of the primary half. Booker picked up two fouls seven minutes into the sport, after which her third late within the second.

Joyce Edwards has been nice for the Gamecocks, with 8 factors, 6 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench.

Each groups are capturing over 50% from the sector, and every has 10 turnovers.

For the primary time in her profession, Madison Booker picked up three fouls within the first half. Her third got here with 2:29 left within the second quarter.

The Gamecocks have rebounded from a poor begin and we’ve a neck-and-neck recreation within the second quarter.

With Madison Booker on the bench with foul hassle, South Carolina pulled forward 27-26 with 5:01 left within the second quarter. Booker lastly checked again in at the moment, nonetheless, and the Longhorns went again up on their subsequent possession.

Texas leads 28-27 with 4:33 left within the second.

That is the third time Longhorns coach Vic Shaefer is teaching in a nationwide semifinal, after main Mississippi State to consecutive NCAA title video games in 2017 and 2018. It is not all that surprising that he would have his group ready for a stage that Texas gamers have by no means been on. Familiarity additionally performs a task; that is the fourth assembly between these groups, with South Carolia holding a 2-1 edge.

An entertaining, fast-paced first quarter to tip off the ladies’s Ultimate 4.

The Longhorns raced out to a 10-2 begin, however the Gamecocks closed the quarter sturdy, and Texas’s lead is a now a slim 19-18 headed into the second.

Longhorns star Madison Booker had six factors within the first, but additionally picked up two fouls.

South Carolina was led in scoring by Joyce Edwards, who got here off the bench with six factors on her personal.

Each groups have been a bit sloppy with the ball to start out the sport, combining for 11 turnovers within the opening quarter.

Since its starters opened the sport struggling to carry onto the ball, South Carolina’s reserves have are available in and already scored 12 of its 18 factors. This can be a bounce-back efficiency after its nation-leading bench mustered solely 9 factors within the Elite Eight win towards Duke.

Longhorns star and SEC Participant of the Yr Madison Booker simply picked up her second foul with a bit over three minutes to go within the first.

Booker checked out with six early factors. Each fouls have been avoidable — Booker can’t preserve choosing up low cost ones as this recreation goes on.

Texas has already compelled 4 turnovers from South Carolina, disrupting each within the halfcourt and in transition. Turnovers are one of many Gamecocks’ few below-par areas this season. They common about 15 per recreation, which ranks fortieth within the nation.

The Longhorns have regarded sharp to this point, taking a 12-4 lead with 4:52 to go within the first quarter.

Texas began the sport on a 10-2 run earlier than the groups traded a pair buckets.

Longhorns guard Madison Booker, who has had some struggles towards the Gamecocks this season, has six factors within the first 5 minutes and alter.

South Carolina has already turned the ball over 4 occasions.

Texas gained the opening tip and the ladies’s Ultimate 4 is underway! Taylor Jones was fouled on an offensive rebound on the opening possession and hit two free throws to provide the Longhorns a really early lead.

South Carolina leads all of Division I this season by scoring 40 factors per recreation off the bench. That is an unbelievable 9 factors per recreation greater than the second-ranked group. When Gamecocks reserves scored 66 factors mixed of their tournament-opening win over Sixteenth-seeded Tennessee Tech final month, it was probably the most scored by a bench since 2000. In reality, the group’s two main scorers, Joyce Edwards (12.7 factors per recreation) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (11.9 factors), do not begin.

The Longhorns take 10 3-pointers per recreation, and solely two groups tried fewer this season in the whole nation. That components has labored simply high quality up to now. However towards a superior group like South Carolina, it might be asking rather a lot to attain towards the Gamecocks’ protection.

A lot of that duty will fall to SEC participant of the 12 months and Texas wing Madison Booker. South Carolina is 2-1 towards Texas this season, with its wins coming by a median of 18 factors.

The 6-foot-7 middle is the nationwide defensive participant of the 12 months as a result of she cannot solely guard put up gamers, but additionally stifle wings, averaging 3.5 blocks through the NCAA event. Oh, and she or he’s placing up 23 factors and practically 10 rebounds per evening within the event, as effectively. How UCLA strategizes to maximise Betts, and Connecticut its personal Paige Bueckers, might be must-watch TV.

This can be a query that has been requested of the ladies’s recreation greater than the boys’s due to the concentrated dominance of a small handful of packages because the Nineteen Eighties. To me, the long-standing, even predictable, success of packages together with Tennessee, Connecticut and South Carolina makes a breakthrough event run from an outsider program resembling a Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Arizona or Iowa much more memorable.

Dynasties aren’t a foul factor; they create sturdy storylines, particularly when they’re toppled. This 12 months, that recent contender is UCLA, which regardless of being a No. 1 seed isn’t a standard blue blood, making its first Ultimate 4.

Bueckers has had a roller-coaster collegiate profession, primarily having two seasons (one partially, one totally) ruined by damage. In her senior go-around with the Huskies, she’s remained a proficient and environment friendly scorer whereas additionally being the playmaker her group desperately wants.

Bueckers and UConn have been within the Ultimate 4 every of the final two years (and 4 out of the final 5 seasons) however this system hasn’t gained a championship since 2016. Bueckers returning the Huskies to glory could be an extremely satisfying story.

Coming into this Ultimate 4, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has gained 11 nationwide championships, a document for NCAA girls’s basketball, and three greater than second-place Pat Summitt’s eight with Tennessee.

However ever because the Huskies’ final title in 2016, South Carolina has taken over as one of many premier packages within the nation, profitable three nationwide championships for coach Daybreak Staley. The Gamecocks are again within the Ultimate 4 once more this 12 months, and may Staley win once more, she’s going to be a part of former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and Kim Mulkey, who has gained titles at Baylor and LSU, within the four-title membership.