South Carolina defeats UConn in WBB national championship game

The No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team faces 2-seed UConn at 8 p.m. Sunday (ESPN) in the national championship game of the 2022 NCAA tournament. Below are in-game updates from The State’s Augusta Stone and Alexis Cubit from inside Target Center.

South Carolina vs UConn WBB score

Strong start gives Gamecocks lead after first quarter

South Carolina started the game on an 11-2 run and led UConn 22-8 after the first quarter. All five Gamecock starters scored in the first quarter and South Carolina’s defense shut down the Huskies’ Paige Bueckers, holding her without a point. Zia Cooke led the Gamecocks with eight points. South Carolina out-rebounded UConn 12-5 and didn’t turn the ball over. The eight points by UConn were a season-low in a first quarter this season.

USC leads UConn at halftime

The Huskies outscored the Gamecocks 19-13 in the second quarter but USC leads 35-27 at halftime. In 12 title game appearances, it is UConn’s largest halftime deficit.

UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who was held scoreless in the first quarter, had nine points in the second quarter. The Gamecocks missed 13 of their final 14 shots to end the quarter. The Gamecocks were dominant on the boards in the half, out-rebounding the Huskies 16-3 on offensive boards.

USC is shooting 36.6% from the field while UConn is at 54.2%. Destanni Henderson leads USC with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Gamecocks lead headed into the fourth quarter

Like the first quarter, South Carolina started strong with an 8-0 run but had to fight off a Connecticut run to lead 46-37 after three quarters.

South Carolina led 43-27 with 5:17 left in third but UConn went on 10-0 run including a pair of 3-pointers by Evina Westbrook and Caroline Ducharme to close it to 43-37 with 1:33 in the third quarter.

Final Score: South Carolina 64, UConn 49

The Huskies got within 46-39 early in the fourth quarter but South Carolina held them without a point during a 3:16 stretch and led 52-41. USC guard Destanni Henderson had three layups and a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to lead the Gamecocks to finish with a game-high 26 points.

This story was originally published April 3, 2022 at 6:01 PM.

Augusta Stone

The State

Augusta Stone covers South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball, football and other college sports for The State. A winner of the Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Stone’s work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Charlotte Observer. Stone graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia.

Alexis Cubit

The State

Alexis Cubit serves primarily as the Clemson sports reporter for The (Columbia) State newspaper. Before moving to South Carolina in 2021, she covered high school sports for six years and received a first-place award in the sports feature category from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors in 2019. The California native earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Baylor University in 2014.