TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 06: Head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies raises the trophy after … More beating the South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59 to win the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on April 06, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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In a packed arena full of 19,277 cheering fans, UConn clinched their 12th National Championship defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59, a feat that had evaded them for nine years. The historic program last won the title in 2016, led by MVP Breanna Stewart.

This year UConn was led by their dynamic trio that has paved the way for the Huskies all year: freshman forward phenom Sarah Strong, graduate guard Azzi Fudd, and graduate guard Paige Bueckers. Strong, Fudd, and Bueckers combined for 65 of UConn’s 82 points in the win.

Strong had a historic performance scoring 24 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. She is the only freshman in women’s college basketball history to record those numbers in a championship game. Additionally, Strong joins former UConn Huskies Stewart and Napheesa Collier to record 100+ points, 60+ rebounds, 20+ assists, and 20+ stocks in a single tournament run.

Fudd, was the fuel the Huskies needed as she scored 24 points, but had 13 in the first half, shooting 50% and leading all scorers at that point in the game. As the majority of attention from South Carolina’s defense was spent on Bueckers this left Fudd open to score at will throughout the first and second half. For Fudd’s performance in the game, she was awarded the Most Outstanding Player.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 06: ESPN reporter Holly Rowe interviews Azzi Fudd #35 of the UConn Huskies … More during the trophy ceremony after beating the South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59 to win the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on April 06, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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Despite being the focus of the Gamecocks defensive attention, Bueckers had eight points in the first half, and finished the game with 17, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal.

This win was especially significant for Bueckers and Fudd, as both have had injury setbacks throughout their careers causing them to miss and sit out of whole seasons and watch their team from the sidelines. Bueckers tore her ACL and missed the 2022-2023 season and Fudd the same injury missing the whole next year, 2023-2024. However, this time the duo were able to hoist the trophy together.

Huskies Construct A Dynamic Win

South Carolina senior guard Te-Hina Paopao opened the game draining a three from the top of the key from an assist from junior guard Raven Johnson. The first quarter opened and fired on all cylinders, with both teams exchanging back and forth buckets in the first five minutes. However, UConn’s consistent spark in Fudd, scored off a layup at the 3:26 mark and at that point both teams entered a stalemate struggling to score until Bueckers drilled a mid-range jumper assisted by Strong with 0:05 left on the clock. this inched the Huskies up five, 19-14 to end the first quarter. In that quarter, the Gamecocks had their chance to take the lead but costly mistakes hurt South Carolina as they missed four layups and committed four turnovers.

In the second quarter, the defensive pressure from UConn continued to be problematic for South Carolina as the Huskies caused the Gamecocks to commit an additional three turnovers and miss another three layups. Additionally, the Huskies disrupted freshman forward Joyce Edwards flow getting her into early foul trouble causing her to exit the game at the 7:17 mark and not return for the remainder of the half. UConn would go into halftime up by ten, 36-26.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 06: Raven Johnson #25 of the South Carolina Gamecocks attempts a shot while … More being guarded by Paige Bueckers #5 of the UConn Huskies in the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on April 06, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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The Gamecocks offense was spread evenly throughout their team at the half but no player had more than five points heading into the half. As a team the Gamecocks only shot 31.3% with Edwards and sophomore guard Tessa Johnson contributing five points a piece, and junior forward Chloe Kitts and senior forward Sania Feagin with four a piece. However, South Carolina was winning the battle of the boards with 22 rebounds in comparison to UConn’s 18.

For the Huskies at the half, Fudd was leading the charge having an impressive 13 points leading all scorers, followed by Strong with eight points and 12 rebounds, and Bueckers with eight points. UConn shot 48.4% from the floor but even more productive, 100% from the charity strip.

Opening the third quarter UConn outscored South Carolina 26-16 to open an insurmountable 20-point lead, ending the third quarter on a 9-3 run and a score of 62-42. Starting the fourth quarter, the Huskies never looked back or let the Gamecocks come back within a close distance to their lead. UConn would finish the game shooting 48% from the field, 18 assists compared to South Carolina’s eight, 40 rebounds to the Gamecocks 36, and shooting 86% from the free throw line.

Despite the loss, Tessa Johnson and Edwards had 10 points a piece, Kitts contributed nine points and five rebounds, and Feagin whose career ended in a Gamecocks uniform alongside Paopao, Brea Hall, and Sakima Walker had eight points. At the press conference after the game head coach Dawn Staley simply expressed, “But at the end of the day we didn’t take care of the basketball. We took a couple of bad shots. We didn’t make layups, and they make you pay.”

Post Game Joy and Celebration

In the post game interview Geno Auriemma said, “I don’t think the basketball gods would take us all the way to the end–they’ve been really cruel with some of the kids on this team. They’ve suffered a lot of the things that could go wrong in their college careers as an athlete. So they don’t need anymore heartbreak. So they weren’t going to take us here and give us more heartbreak. I kept holding on to that. I’m glad they were rewarded. This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I’ve been a part of since that very first one.”

TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 06: Paige Bueckers #5 of the UConn Huskies speaks to the media during a press … More conference after beating the South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59 to win the National Championship of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Amalie Arena on April 06, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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In reflecting on what this title means after a journey back from a season ending injury, Bueckers stated, “Very validating to all the hard work we put in as individuals and as a team and how much we stuck together through the good times and the bad and how connected we were. We feel like we were so connected and nothing could break us. We’ve been through a lot on our own, as a team. So we feel like nothing that life or basketball can throw at us would ever break us and make us separate. So to be able to sit up here with them, with the whole team and share this moment is extremely validating.”