Updated on: April 6, 2025 / 5:23 PM EDT / CBS/AP
UConn is back on top of women’s basketball, winning its 12th national championship by routing defending champion South Carolina 82-59 on Sunday, ending a nine-year title drought for the team.
Azzi Fudd led the Huskies with 24 points while Sarah Strong added 24 points and 15 rebounds. Paige Bueckers had 17 points in her final game at UConn (37-3).
Bueckers capped her stellar career with the Huskies’ first championship since 2016 – the longest for coach Geno Auriemma since the team won its first championship in 1995 led by Rebecca Lobo.
Since then the Huskies have had dominant championship runs, including in the early 2000s led by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, 2009-10 with Maya Moore and finally the four straight from 2013-16 with Breanna Stewart. All were in attendance in Florida on Sunday to see the Huskies’ latest title.
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team was trying for a third title in four years and fourth overall. It would have tied her with Kim Mulkey for third-most behind Auriemma and former Tennessee Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who had eight.
Paige Bueckers #5 of the UConn Huskies celebrates in the fourth quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on April 6, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. Getty Images
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