In two lopsided games, the UConn Huskies and South Carolina Gamecocks beat their Final Four matchups to advance to the championship game of the NCAA March Madness Tournament. The Huskies beat one-seed UCLA 85–51, a team which the Tigers themselves almost beat last season in an early matchup, led by none other than Kaitlyn Chen ’24 — now a UConn starter. The Gamecocks saw off fellow one-seed Texas and they will head back to the championship game for the second consecutive year.
The game will take place at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, this Sunday April 6 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Ahead of the game, The Daily Princetonian Sports section offered their picks for who will emerge victorious.
UConn 82, South Carolina 75 – Lily Pampolina, Associate Sports Editor
To say that this rematch is highly anticipated would be an understatement. After the Huskies defeated the Gamecocks by nearly 30 points earlier in the season, all eyes are on South Carolina to make a comeback on the highest college stage. Despite this, UConn shows no signs of relinquishing the edge that they have coming into this game.
Although the Gamecocks secured a convincing win over Texas on Friday night, the Huskies seemed to take it a step further, defeating the UCLA Bruins by 34 points, the largest ever margin of victory in a women’s basketball Final Four or championship game. Led in scoring by first-year Sarah Strong, the Huskies dismantled the Bruins with a ruthless efficiency on both ends of the court.
As perhaps Princeton women’s basketball’s greatest claim to fame, graduate guard Kaitlyn Chen will be an integral part of UConn’s lineup against South Carolina. Although this is Chen’s only year with the Huskies, she is no stranger to the big stage and high levels of pressure. The three-time Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player is known for putting up big performances in high-stakes games, scoring her Tiger career high 24 points in the NCAA tournament. More recently, playing for UConn, Chen scored 15 points against the University of Southern California in the Elite 8 game, over double her season average.
Ultimately, the Huskies show no signs of slowing down, even against a talented and well coached South Carolina team. The UConn dominance that has plagued the college stage this season will persist in the national title game.
UConn 74, South Carolina 70 – Doug Schwartz, Associate Sports Editor
The Huskies and the Gamecocks are two giants of NCAA basketball. UConn is led by senior guard Paige Bueckers, who is currently averaging 20 points, four rebounds, and four assists, and legendary coach Luigi Auriemma, who has the highest winning percentage (.883) of all college coaches with a minimum of ten seasons. Former Princeton star Kaitlyn Chen has also shown her value on a national level this year playing for UConn after transferring for her final season of eligibility.
On the other side, the defending champions South Carolina are led by their own legendary coach, Dawn Staley. While Staley is looking to win her fourth championship since 2017, the task may be too tall for her this year.
The Gamecocks certainly handled business against Texas in the Final Four, but they had close calls with No. 4 Maryland and No. 2 Duke leading up to that game. On the other hand, the Huskies have been utterly dominant, and I believe that momentum will ultimately be too much for South Carolina to overcome.
UConn 81, South Carolina 73 – Leela Hensler, Sports contributor
UConn already ended the Gamecocks’ 71-game home winning streak during the regular season when they faced off in the fall and are coming off of an absolutely blistering victory against UCLA, defeating the Bruins by 34 points in the largest-ever Final Four win. Following a nine-year dry spell, the longest in program history, the Huskies have something to prove against South Carolina, and after the Gamecocks had some shaky regional games, their strong showing against Texas isn’t enough to make it seem like a sure bet for them to pull off their third title in four years.
With a starting lineup that boasts first-year phenom Sarah Strong, former Princeton star Kaitlyn Chen, and college basketball favorites like Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd (the latter of whom put up 28 points in UConn’s regular-season victory against the Gamecocks), the Huskies have been consistently dominant in regional games. They won by over 20 points in the Sweet 16 against Oklahoma as well, and then pulled off a showstopping performance in the Final Four.
Plus, it’s Bueckers’ final season and she’s been leaving it all on the court, hitting a career high of 40 points when the Huskies faced Oklahoma. In her last chance to help lead UConn to a championship, it’s hard to imagine she’ll bring anything less than her best.
Meanwhile, South Carolina struggled initially, eking out wins by 4-point margins against Duke and Maryland earlier in the tournament. Their first-year star Joyce Edwards may have put up 13 points and 11 rebounds against Texas and hit a career high with six assists, but it’s uncertain if we’ll see that side of Edwards this weekend, or if it’ll be closer to the Edwards who had a three-game slump averaging five points per game earlier in the tournament.
While South Carolina does have the legendary Dawn Staley as a head coach and defensive players like Bree Hall who could certainly make things difficult for Bueckers and her teammates on Sunday, they simply haven’t been as consistently strong as the Huskies. UConn not only came into the tournament out for redemption, but have been playing like it as well.
Lily Pampolina is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Doug Schwartz is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Leela Hensler is a staff news writer and a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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