The uconn vs south carolina game saw South Carolina stifle the Huskies and end UConn's 54-game win streak with a 62-48 victory, eliminating the heavily favored team and halting a 38-1 season run.
South Carolina built the win on aggressive defense and rebounding, holding UConn to 31 percent shooting overall and 29 percent from three, making six of 21 attempts, while sending UConn to the line only six times and converting four free throws.
The Gamecocks dominated the boards 47-32 and focused offense inside, with Ta'Niya Latson leading the winners with 16 points and 11 rebounds while going 10 of 10 from the free throw line, and Agot Makeer scoring 14 points off the bench and hitting both of South Carolina's made three-pointers.
UConn's star backcourt struggled for rhythm as Azzi Fudd shot 3 of 15 for eight points and 2 of 9 from three, and Sarah Strong finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 4 of 16, including a scoreless stretch in the second half until a late three.
Raven Johnson set the defensive tone for South Carolina, switching onto both Fudd and Strong and frustrating them despite limited box score numbers, finishing with two points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and a block, while Joyce Edwards added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Postgame Exchange And Reactions
The game also produced a heated postgame confrontation between coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley, as television cameras first showed them briefly shake hands pregame and later captured a tense exchange in the handshake line that required assistants and officials to separate them.
During the fourth quarter Auriemma criticized the officiating on air, saying "they've been beating the s--- out of our guys down there the entire game," and after the game he said he "waited there for like three minutes" at midcourt, invoking coaching protocol and adding "I said what I had to say."
Staley responded on camera that she had "no idea" what prompted Auriemma's outburst and emphasized "I'm of integrity," saying she had met and hugged Auriemma and several UConn staff pregame and did not intend any disrespect, and she said she would not let the incident detract from her players' performance.
ESPN footage showed Auriemma walking toward the UConn locker room without returning to the handshake line with South Carolina's staff and players, and broadcasters on the following semifinal telecast discussed the exchange, with Rebecca Lobo calling it "frustrating to see what transpired at the end of that game."
