South Carolina hands UConn first loss, reaches 4th NCAA final in 5 years

Agot Makeer and Tessa Johnson of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrate after the victory against the UConn Huskies on Friday night. Sarah Stier / Getty Images Share full article1PHOENIX — One of the first things South Carolina saw every morning during the offseason was the score of its national championship loss to UConn a year ago. Molly Binetti, South Carolina’s women’s basketball sports performance coach, had the score up on the TVs in the weight room by 6 a.m. every day, so the Gamecocks would never forget that feeling. It was shown so much that even newcomers like Ta’Niya Latson began to feel the pain. “We saw that in our faces, so even though I didn’t experience that, I had to take on that because I knew that it was just more than just myself,” Latson said. “It was for the program, for the team and for the coaches.” Well, in Friday’s national semifinal, the Gamecocks finally got their revenge. South Carolina beat UConn 62-48 to make its third straight national championship game and fourth in five years. As the final seconds were ticking off, UConn coach Geno Auriemma walked up to South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and the two exchanged words. He walked off the floor after the game and did not shake hands with Staley or anybody from South Carolina, instead leaving for the locker room before any of the players or coaches. After all of the drama, the Gamecocks are heading back to the championship game and will play the winner of No. 1 UCLA and No. 1 Texas. The Gamecocks pulled the upset over top-seeded UConn by stifling a Huskies’ offense that has been scoring at will this season. UConn averaged 87 points per game this season, led by player of the year Sarah Strong, but couldn’t get much going against an aggressive and physical South Carolina defense. Strong had just 11. All-American Azzi Fudd had just eight points and shot 3-of-15 from the field, and the entire Huskies’ offense shot just 31 percent from the field. South Carolina didn’t shoot much better, just 37 percent from the field, but the Gamecocks’ defensive versatility gave UConn issues throughout the entire game. It’s why even after making just four shots in the second quarter, the Gamecocks were trailing by just two points at halftime. The third quarter changed the game for South Carolina, though. While their defensive intensity continued, holding UConn to just 29 percent shooting, its offense woke up. South Carolina shot 46 percent from the field in the third quarter and made 8-of-10 free throws to take a 10-point lead with three minutes left in the quarter. Facing its largest deficit of the season, UConn answered with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, but as it did throughout the game, South Carolina answered with a run of its own. The Gamecocks scored four straight to take a five-point lead into the quarter break. The frustration turned into a quarter-break rant from Auriemma. “There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us. And they’ve been beating the s–t out of our guys down there the entire game,” he told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “And I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach ran some rage on the sideline and called the referees some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get 6 to 0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey. And they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ C’mon man, this is the national championship.” South Carolina never let UConn back into the game in the fourth quarter. Instead it pulled away in the final minutes and got its revenge after last season. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Cameron Teague is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Ohio State Buckeyes. Before joining The Athletic, he worked as a features writer for The Columbus Dispatch and a beat writer covering Louisville football for the Courier Journal. He’s a graduate of Bowling Green State University. Follow Cameron on Twitter @cj_teague