Final Four revenge: South Carolina knocks off No. 1 UConn to reach title game
South Carolina women’s basketball is back in the national championship game.
Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks beat No. 1 overall seed and previously undefeated UConn 62-48 in the Final Four at Mortgage Matchup Center on Friday night.
South Carolina (36-3) advances to play in the national championship game for the fourth time in the past five years. The Gamecocks will face UCLA (36-1) in Sunday’s national title game (3:30 p.m., ABC).
The win is, in a way, poetic. Last year, UConn ended South Carolina’s bid at back-to-back titles in the national championship game. This year, the Gamecocks ended the Huskies’ bid to go back to back.
“They played better than us offensively,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “We held them to 62 points. You hold a team to 62 points, you think you’re going to win that game. We just didn’t make the plays that we needed to make on the offensive end. All the credit to them for how they played and how hard they played and the shots they made when they had to make ‘em.”
The Huskies (38-1) had won 54 straight games. They ended their season scoring a season low in points.
Back-and-forth game
The Final Four matchup between South Carolina and UConn was worth the price of admission for those in attendance.
Two titans of the women’s hoops world were locked in a defensive battle before South Carolina pulled away.
UConn jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but South Carolina responded, knotting the score at 15-15 at the end of the period. The Huskies regained control in the second quarter, outscoring South Carolina 11-9. UConn led 26-24 at halftime.
South Carolina started the third quarter on a 12-2 run. The Gamecocks led by 10 at one point in the third, the largest deficit UConn has seen at any point this season. The Huskies promptly found some offensive rhythm and cut South Carolina’s lead to 44-39 entering the fourth quarter.
UConn cut USC’s lead to just two points in the fourth quarter, but the Gamecocks kept the Huskies at arm’s length for the remainder of the game. South Carolina outscored UConn 18-9 in the fourth quarter.
“I thought our players just locked in once we built a little lead. We got suggestions from coaches as to, should we change our defense, start switching everything,” Staley said. “I’m like, ‘No, this is what is working. Let’s continue to do what’s working.’ We just created a lot of disruption. I didn’t really realize they didn’t score a point in the last four or five minutes. I was just really concentrating on coaching our team up and just try to score more points because they can generate points in a short period of time.”
Gamecocks get a little help from everyone
South Carolina got scoring from just about everywhere.
All but one of Staley’s players who touched the floor scored against UConn. The Gamecocks had four players score in double figures: Ta’Niya Latson (16), Agot Makeer (14), Joyce Edwards (11) and Tessa Johnson (10).
Latson finished with a double-double and led South Carolina in rebounding (11). Latson, Edwards and Madina Okot were the top players on the glass for the Gamecocks in the game. South Carolina won the rebounding battle, 47-32.
“I knew I had to impact the game in any way I could,” Latson said. “I wanted this win. Whether that was rebounding, scoring, assisting, I was going to do what I had to do. The balls were coming my way, so I had to grab ‘em and snag ‘em.”
Light from UConn’s stars dims
UConn’s Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong are two of the best players in women’s college basketball.
Both are first-team Associated Press All-Americans and finalists for the Naismith National Player of the Year award. Both entered the game averaging career-highs in scoring (17.5 points per game for Fudd and 18.6 for Strong).
But, South Carolina held Fudd to just eight points overall, and just two in the first half, while Strong finished with a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds).
“We just played great team defense,” Latson said. “I mean, we stuck to the scout report. Coach Mary [Wooley] did a good job in telling us what we needed to do. I feel like we all watched film. We were really locked in during shootarounds. We knew their tendencies, what they liked. I think we executed it really, really well.”
Makeer and Raven Johnson did a good job of keeping Fudd, who led the Big East in 3-point percentage, out or rhythm on offense all night long.
UConn’s two stars were a combined 7 for 31 from the field and 4 for 14 from beyond the arc.
South Carolina vs UCLA in National Championship
Who: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 1 UCLA
When: Sunday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m.
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix
TV: ABC
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 9:06 PM.
