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UConn dominates South Carolina to win 2025 national championship, 12th in program history
By Andrew Olson
Published:
UConn (37-3) continued its NCAA Tournament dominance on Sunday to win the 2025 national championship, defeating South Carolina (35-4) in an 82-59 blowout in Tampa. It is the 12th title for the Huskies.
UConn steadily grew its lead throughout the game. The Huskies were up 5 (19-14) at the end of the 1st quarter. It was a 10-point game (36-26) at halftime. In a pivotal 3rd quarter, UConn outscored South Carolina 26-16 to open it up to a 20-point game firmly taking control of the game. In the 4th quarter, any hopes of a Gamecock comeback were extinguished as UConn widened the lead all the way up to 32 points (80-48, 4:20).
Freshman Sarah Strong established herself as the sport’s next big star with a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds. Azzi Fudd tied Strong as the game’s high scorer with 24 points. Future WNBA Draft lottery pick Paige Bueckers scored 17 points in her final game, winning a national championship game for the first time in her decorated college career.
The Gamecocks could not overcome a rough shooting day, making 34% from the floor (21-of-61). Neither team lit it up from 3-point territory, but it didn’t slow down the Huskies, who outscored South Carolina 36-26 in the paint.
For South Carolina, Sunday’s championship game was too much like the Feb. 16 meeting, an 87-58 win for the Huskies that snapped the Gamecocks’ 71-game home winning streak. South Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as SEC tournament champions.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
