Portland, Oregon Geno Auriemma, the coach of UConn, believed a deep run in March would have required a “miracle” back in the autumn.
For the third consecutive season, the Huskies were plagued by several injuries. After losing three games in the first month of the season and suffering more severe blows in nonconference play against South Carolina and Notre Dame, they hardly looked like a Final Four club.
Nevertheless, they still had Paige Bueckers, a player who was unstoppable, and a group of players that pulled through to get UConn back to the Final Four.
The third-seeded Huskies upset 1-seed USC 80-73 in the Portland 3 regional final on Monday, thanks to 28 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks from Bueckers. This victory secured the program’s 23rd Final Four participation and its 15th in the last 16 women’s NCAA tournaments. To earn a berth in the national championship game, they will take on the top-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday.
The eleven-time national champion Huskies aren’t accustomed to being the underdog; for the previous thirty years, they were almost always picked to go to the Final Four.
But with a seven-player rotation because of the six players sidelined for the season owing to injury, Auriemma said he would have understood if the Huskies had just run out of steam on Monday.
“[Assistant coach] Jamelle [Elliott] just kept saying, ‘Let’s ride the wave and when it crashes, it crashes,'” stated Auriemma. “There’s no nothing, no wave, just me clinging on for dear life… But just when I thought, “Okay, this is it,” they would do something that would just give you the impression that they could still have something.”
In the regional final, UConn led for 25:52, including a lead of up to 12 points in the third quarter. With 7:32 remaining, USC knotted the game, but the Huskies held strong, responding with a 17-5 surge to effectively shut out the Trojans. In the last 5:06, the Bueckers stormed back, scoring nine points and making four of the Huskies’ final five field goals. UConn’s Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards closed the game 4-for-4 from the free throw line to prevent the Trojans from getting any closer, despite the fact that USC trimmed the lead to five twice in the last 20 seconds.
Auriemma was still laughing incredulously to himself long after the game had concluded, the confetti had down, and the Moda Center had mostly emptied away.
Man, be honest with God. “I find it unbelievable that this is truly taking place,” he remarked.
As this regional’s most outstanding player and the 2021 national player of the year, Bueckers currently has the most 25-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist performances in a single NCAA tournament over the last 25 years with three. She has led the Huskies’ postseason run with 20 points or more in seven straight games, the longest streak of her career. She is participating in her first March Madness in over 700 days after an ACL tear sidelined her for the entirety of the previous season. She has also reminded anyone who dared to forget why she was regarded as a generational star before her injury.
“Today was one of the most rewarding feelings I’ve ever felt in my life,” Bueckers stated. “Just thinking back to a year ago, I can see where I was then—working out alone, getting the ball back in my hands, playing basketball. Now, I’m here with my teammates and coaching staff and heading to the Final Four.”
“When you have players that believe like there’s nothing I can’t do, nothing that escapes me, they’re just on another level,” Auriemma continued. They engage in a different kind of gaming. They have distinct ways of thinking. Everyone in their vicinity is motivated by them. In other words, Paige was being Paige today.”
Bueckers, along with senior teammates Edwards and Muhl, will make their third Final Four trip a year after the program’s historic Sweet 16 defeat to Ohio State while he was on the bench. The loss ended the program’s 14-year run of Final Four appearances.
However, the seniors said that this one is distinct. And that’s exactly how it appeared as UConn celebrated at center court following the final buzzer, with players who were wounded as well as active players, staff members, managers, administrators, and everyone else in between. There seemed to be an endless parade of close hugs interspersed with sobs, dances, and yells.
“This has been probably the most rewarding one,” added Muhl. “This group is very unique, in my opinion. We learnt a lot and overcome a lot.”
Bueckers weren’t the only ones that turned up on Monday. Edwards finished with six rebounds and twenty-four points. In addition, Muhl finished with eight points, eight assists, five rebounds, two steals, and an incredible 13 minutes of play during which she avoided her fifth and final foul.
KK Arnold (4 points, 5 rebounds), Qadence Samuels (one big 3 and 14 minutes despite not appearing in the Huskies’ previous two games), Ashlynn Shade (5 points, 6 rebounds), and Ice Brady (8 points) all made big plays on the biggest stage of their careers for UConn. These four rookies make up over half of the team’s rotation.
“[Auriemma] said everybody just needs to be solid and do what they’re best at,” said Muhl. “Today is a game.”
With 29 victories, its highest total for a season since 1985–86, USC ends their deepest tournament run since 1994, but with a very promising future led by presumed rookie of the year JuJu Watkins.
With 29 points on Monday, Watkins surpassed all previous Division I freshman scorers with 920 points. Her actual game began in the fourth quarter, when she attempted to lead USC to a comeback with 13 points on her own.
While attempting to stay up with her, UConn’s guards faced with foul trouble (Arnold joined Muhl with four fouls), but they generally made things tough enough that Watkins was only able to shoot 9 for 25 for the evening.
Watkins doesn’t play like a freshman at all, according to Auriemma. Thus, it was the most challenging contest we’ve ever had. However, I believe that we had her work really hard to get the points she did.”
Next up for the Huskies is Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who is predicted to be the first choice in the 2024 WNBA draft and another generational prospect.
However, Auriemma and company will continue to ride the wave for the time being and see where it leads.
“They believe in themselves,” Auriemma stated, “and they’re making me believe in them even more.”
