University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
South Carolina
UConn, South Carolina to Compete for NCAA Championship Sunday
4/2/2022 9:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – The second-seeded and fifth-ranked UConn women's basketball team (29-5) faces No. 1-seed and No.1-ranked South Carolina (34-2) for the 2022 NCAA Championship on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in the Target Center. The game will air on ESPN, the UConn Sports Network and Westwood One.
Sunday will mark UConn's first appearance in the National Championship game since 2016. UConn is 11-0 all-time in Championship games.
UConn won its first-ever National Championship in Minneapolis in 1995.
The Huskies made their 14th straight and 22nd overall Final Four appearance this season. UConn entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed for the fifth time in program history. The Huskies are 21-3 (.875) all-time as a No. 2 seed.
UConn beat No. 1-seed Stanford, 63-58, in the national semifinal to advance to the National Championship game. Sophomore Paige Bueckers led the Huskies with 14 points and five assists. Senior Evina Westbrook and sophomore Nika Mühl were game changers for the Huskies off the bench. Westbrook scored 12 points and had six rebounds while Mühl set a career high with eight rebounds. Senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa grabbed 10 rebounds vs. Stanford.
UConn is 9-2 all-time vs. South Carolina. The teams faced off earlier this season on Nov. 22 in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Paige Bueckers led the Huskies with 19 points, but UConn was held to just three fourth-quarter points as South Carolina pulled away late, 73-57. UConn was scheduled to play at South Carolina on Jan 27, but the game was canceled so the Gamecocks could reschedule an SEC game.
South Carolina beat Louisville, 72-59, in the national semifinal. Aliyah Boston, the National Player of the Year, led the Gamecocks with 23 points and 18 rebounds. This season, Boston leads South Carolina with 17.0 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. South Carolina leads the nation in blocks per game (7.6), rebound margin (+17.9) and scoring margin (+20.6). Head coach Dawn Staley is in her 14th season at South Carolina.
