It was the second national championship matchup between the two programs. It was a chance for Dawn Staley and her team to repeat and regain their title. In fact, that would have been the third title in the last four years. But all the dreams were crushed thanks to the domination of the UConn Huskies 82-59 win. It seemed that the Gamecocks had no answer for the trio superstar of Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, and Sarah Storm.

Even though South Carolina had no answer on the hardwood, the coach wants the team to find some answers of their own. “I hope they are crying,” said Dawn Staley in the post-game conference. “I hope they are boohoing because from crying and emotion of losing it makes you work hard in the off season and analyze the difference between their program and our program.” Yes, the coach did not hesitate and mentioned the players to introspect the blowout loss.

UConn also forced 11 turnovers and was able to score 14 points off of them. Plus, the Huskies held South Carolina to 31.4% shooting from the field and just 25% from deep. Even offensively, Geno Auriemma’s team shot 48.4% of their shots and also capitalized on free throws, making 18-of-21. Knowing this and seeing the domination with her own eyes, Dawn Staley could only praise their opponents.

“Much respect to UConn. They did a masterful job. In executing on both sides of the basketball.” Despite praising the Huskies, the Gamecocks coach also was frustrated by her own team. The ESPN broadcast caught one such moment during Q3, as the coach screamed a curse word on national television.

It seemed like UConn had all the plans working as Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong ended with game highs of 24 points. They joined Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore as the only Huskies to score 20+ in the championship game. In fact, the WNBA consensus number one draft pick, Paige Bueckers, scored just 17 in comparison. Although, the senior finished her career as the 3rd all time leading scorer in the NCAA tournament.

Calls Mount for Dawn Staley to Leave South Carolina as Geno Auriemma’s 12th NCAA Title Leave College Basketball Community Livid

article-image

via Imago

On the other hand, despite coming off the bench, freshman Joyce Edwards led the Gamecocks in scoring with her 10 points. MiLaysia Fulwiley also contributed from the beach 9 points and junior Chloe Kitts also dropped 9. Te-Hina Paopao managed only 3 points with her 1 from 6 from Field Goals. And Raven Johnson and Bree Hall scored just 2 points with 1-7 and 1-3 FG, respectively, for the remaining starters for the team.

However, ever resilient Dawn Staley has not given up on her squad despite the loss. “Our kids gave it all they had. When you can understand why you lost and when you’ve been on the other side of that three times, you understand it. You can swallow it,” Staley said. “We lost to a very good basketball team.” Now, the coach will try to lead the Southeastern Conference champions to a sixth consecutive Final Four.