How to watch, what to know about South Carolina WBB vs. UConn in NCAA Final Four
For the sixth year in a row, Dawn Staley and South Carolina are in the Final Four.
Here’s what you need to know heading into the No. 1 Gamecocks’ national semifinal game against undefeated and No. 1 overall seed UConn on Friday night in Phoenix.
South Carolina vs. UConn game, TV info
- Who: No. 1 South Carolina (35-3) vs. No. 1 UConn (38-0)
- Where: Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix
- When: 7 p.m. ET Friday
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: 106.7 FM in Columbia area or the USC Gamecocks app
- Stream: Via watchespn.com or the ESPN app
- Betting line: UConn by 6.5 points
- Next up: The winner of South Carolina/UConn will play either No. 1 UCLA or No. 1 Texas in the 2026 national championship game Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
USC a ‘different team’ since last UConn matchup
UConn didn’t have any problems with South Carolina last year. The Huskies won their two games vs. USC by 52 points, including a 29-point blowout in Columbia and a 23-point win in the 2025 national championship game, which was the third largest margin in the game’s history.
Go ahead and skip over that game film, though, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
“This is a different South Carolina team than the one we played last year,” Auriemma said Thursday. “Our two wins against them last year don’t really mean anything.”
It’s a far more dynamic USC squad than the one that failed to reach 60 points in either of its games vs. UConn last year. The 2026 Gamecocks average 87.1 points per game, which ranks third nationally and is a full eight points higher than last year.
Auriemma credited Staley for adding some “really key pieces” in Florida State transfer guard Ta’Niya Latson and 6-foot-6 Mississippi State transfer center Madina Okot, both of whom have emerged as impact players and supplemented South Carolina’s returning starters.
“I think they’re a much better team than they were last year,” Auriemma said. “Really hard to prepare for. They’ve shot the ball exceptionally well this year, and they’ve added size that’s hard to match up with.”
USC-UConn features two homegrown stars
For the second year in a row, South Carolina-UConn will feature two of college basketball’s best young forwards – and both have Carolinas connections.
Gamecocks sophomore forward and Camden High School alum Joyce Edwards leads the team in scoring (19.7 PPG), has tied a USC program record with 22 games of 20 or more points this season and can set the program record for most points in a single season with six vs. UConn on Friday.
“Joyce’s progression has been great,” Staley said. “... I think next year is going to be tremendous, because everything will speed up, and she’ll be able to make decisions in real time that will help impact some of the things that she’ll be able to do.”
On the other side is Sarah Strong, UConn’s do-it-all star sophomore forward who was the Big East’s player of the year and defensive player of the year. Strong (18.6 PPG) leads the team in four of five major stat categories and is a 40% 3-point shooter.
Strong’s mother, Allison Feaster, is a former Chester High School star who played at Harvard and in the WNBA, where she was teammates with Staley. Strong’s dad, Danny Strong, is also an SC native and played at NC State. Strong grew up in North Carolina and was pursued heavily by the Gamecocks in her recruitment.
South Carolina vs. UConn game notes
- USC’s six consecutive Final Fours are the longest active streak nationally and the second-longest streak ever, only trailing UConn’s 14 straight from 2008-22.
- UConn enters Friday on a 54-game winning streak dating back to Feb. 9, 2025. Of the Huskies’ 54 straight wins, 53 of them have been by 10 or more points.
- South Carolina (87.1 PPG) has already set a program record for single-season points and is on pace to break its points per game record set during its 2024 undefeated season (85.4 PPG).
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM.
