UConn women’s basketball superstar Paige Bueckers is leading the Huskies in an Elite Eight matchup against the USC Trojans with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
Bueckers dropped a career-high 40 points in the UConn’s Sweet 16 win over Oklahoma, and the Huskies are hunting their second consecutive Final Four appearance and 24th overall under head coach Geno Auriemma.
Meanwhile, the Trojans are without their own superstar JuJu Watkins after she suffered a season-ending knee injury in their second-round game. After getting by Kansas State in the Sweet 16, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb is looking to get the program back to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.
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UConn vs. USC score in 4Q
UConn leads 66-52 with about 3 minutes left. The Huskies ended their more than 4-minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer by Azzi Fudd to open the fourth quarter. Paige Bueckers is up to 27 points on the night.
Fudd had missed her first nine shots. Good timing, too, after USC had pared what had been a 19-point lead to just five points at the end of the third quarter. — Nancy Armour
Paige Bueckers points today
Paige Bueckers has 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting with three rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block so far.
Sarah Strong points, stats today
Freshman forward Sarah Strong is having a strong night so far for the Huskies with 20 points, 16 boards, three assists and a steal. She’s shooting 8-of-13 from the floor.
Rayah Marshall points today
USC senior center Rayah Marshall is leading the way for the Trojans with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. She’s got 14 rebounds so far, too.
UConn vs. USC score in 3Q
The Trojans cut the Huskies’ lead to 51-46 after the third quarter. UConn hasn’t scored in more than 4 minutes.
Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Kaitlyn Chen combined to score 49 of the UConn’s 51 points through three quarters on 18-of-33 shooting. The rest of the team: 2 points on 1-of-14 shooting.
Bueckers has reached the 20-point mark, and Strong already has a double-double: She’s up to 20 points and 12 rebounds so far.
Paige Bueckers height
The UConn guard is 6 feet tall.
Kaitlyn Chen stats
Kaitlyn Chen has nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and two assists so far for the Huskies.
She has played in 37 games this season, averaging 6.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 51.8% from the field and 37.2% from beyond the arc. The graduate student previously spent three seasons at Princeton, where she averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in her final year. Chen surpassed 1,276 career points, ranking 12th in program history, and tallied 359 assists, the third-highest mark in Princeton’s history. — Banji Bamidele
UConn women’s basketball score vs. USC at halftime
UConn took a 39-25 lead over USC into halftime. The Huskies outscored the Trojans 25-14 in the second quarter.
What makes UConn so dangerous right now is you never know how the Huskies are going to hurt you. Paige Bueckers went off for 40 on Saturday night. Tonight, it’s Sarah Strong who is dominating. In the first half, she put up 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. USC simply had no answer for her.
The Trojans committed 11 turnovers in the first half. Although that’s below their season average of 19.6 per game, it’s two more than USC had in the full 40 minutes against K-State. — Nancy Armour
Where’s Avery Howell?
USC guard Avery Howell was oddly quiet for the Trojans in the first half. The freshman has averaged 14 points over the last three games, including 18 points in 37 minutes in the Sweet 16 against Kansas State. Against the Huskies, she was held scoreless in the first half with one shot attempt and two turnovers. — Jenna Ortiz
USC women’s basketball roster
The Trojans were led all season by JuJu Watkins before she suffered a season-ending knee injury. But Kiki Iriafen showed what she’s capable of with her 36-piece in the second round; she averages 18.2 a game on the season to go along with 8.4 rebounds. Kennedy Smith (9.6), Rayah Marshall (7.5) and Avery Howell (7.4) are also key contributors. Here is the full USC women’s basketball roster.
UConn vs. USC score in 1Q
The Huskies held a 14-11 after the first quarter. Sarah Strong opened the scoring for UConn with a 3-pointer, followed by a jumper from Kaitlyn Chen. Kennedy Smith, Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall got on the board for the Trojans.
Has Paige Bueckers won a national championship?
No. Paige Bueckers has led the Huskies to the Final Four three times in her career.
What year in college is Paige Bueckers?
Bueckers is a fifth-year senior.
UConn vs. USC starting lineups
- UConn: Paige Bueckers, Jana El Alfy, Kaitlyn Chen, Sarah Strong, Azzi Fudd
- USC: Kennedy Smith, Rayah Marshall, Kiki Iriafen, Avery Howell, Talia van Oelhoffen
As the teams lined up for the national anthem, Avery Howell nudged one of Talia von Oelhoffen’s shoes into a gap between Howell and Kennedy Smith, seemingly a nod to JuJu Watkins. The shoe was pointed sideways, allowing the JuJu Funko Pop to have a view. — Nancy Armour
Is Paige Bueckers going to the WNBA?
Yes. The 2025 WNBA draft isn’t called the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes for nothing. Bueckers burst onto the scene in 2021 with a breakout freshman campaign that earned her AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year honors. Although a string of injuries forced Bueckers to miss significant time, including the entire 2022-23 season with an ACL tear, the fifth-year senior guard has returned to form and is looking to lead the Huskies to the Final Four for the fourth time in her career. Bueckers is currently UConn women’s basketball’s sixth all-time leading scorer with 2,290 points and is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick of the draft.
Paige Bueckers pronunciation
Paige Bueckers pronounces her name BECK-ers, according to the UConn 2024-25 media guide.
JuJu Watkins injury: What to know
The superstar USC guard suffered a season-ending knee injury in a second-round game against Mississippi State. Here’s everything you need to know about her injury and recovery timeline.
Where is Paige Bueckers from?
Bueckers is from Hopkins, Minn.
UConn women’s basketball roster
The Huskies score 80.8 points per game and shoot 50.8% from the floor. In addition to touting Paige Bueckers and her 19.8 points per game, the Huskies get 15.9 points from Sarah Strong and 13.3 points from Azzi Fudd per game. Here is the full UConn women’s basketball roster.
Azzi Fudd stats
Azzi Fudd’s collegiate career won’t end following the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament. Fudd, who played just two games during the 2023-24 season due to a torn ACL, has averaged 13.3 points on 47.9% shooting, two rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 31 games, including 27 starts, this year.
During the NCAA Tournament, Fudd posted 27 points on 10 of 13 shooting, seven assists and six steals in a first-round victory over Arkansas State. She recorded 17 points and two steals in the 91-57 win over South Dakota State in the second round. Against Oklahoma, she scored 10 points, a rebound, five assists and three steals.
Where did Paige Bueckers go to high school?
The UConn guard went to Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minn.
UConn vs. USC odds
Odds as of Monday morning.
- Spread: Iowa (-3.5)
- Moneylines: UConn (-175); USC (+140)
- Over/under: 135.5
Kiki Iriafen stats
USC forward Kiki Iriafen, who stepped up in a big way when JuJu Watkins went down in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament by scoring 36 points, is coming off a tough shooting outing against Kansas State in the Sweet 16. She recorded seven points on 3-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds, an assist and a steal. On the season, the senior averages 18.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. She shoots 49.9% from the floor.
UConn vs. USC women’s basketball predictions
- Meghan L. Hall, For The Win: UConn
- Lulu Kesin, The Greenvile News: UConn
- Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY: UConn
- Jenna Ortiz, Arizona Republic: UConn
- Nancy Armour, USA TODAY: UConn
- Maxwell Donaldson, The Gadsden Times: UConn
USC proved they are capable of winning without JuJu Watkins in a 67-61 win over No. 5 Kansas State. Freshman guard Kennedy Smith led the way with 19 points. The Trojans will be tasked with slowing down a red-hot Bueckers, who’s in midst of a legendary streak in the final women’s NCAA Tournament of her career. She scored a career-high 40 points in UConn’s win blowout win over No. 3 Oklahoma.
Women’s March Madness bracket
Here’s how the women’s March Madness bracket looks right now for the Final Four. Those games are Friday at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET.
- No. 1 UCLA vs. USC/UConn winner
- No. 1 South Carolina vs. Texas/TCU winner
