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April 1 (UPI) — The Connecticut Huskies outlasted the top-seeded Stanford Cardinal 63-58 in their Final Four showdown Friday night in Minneapolis to reach the women’s National Championship Game for the first time since 2016. Earlier Friday, South Carolina advanced to the championship game for the first time in five years after its 72-59 win over the Louisville Cardinals in the other Final Four matchup.
UConn star guard Paige Bueckers led the Huskies with 14 points and five assists to bring her team back to the NCAA Tournament basketball title game. Evina Westbrook added 12 points and six rebounds.
UConn, the No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport Region, last reached the championship game during the 2015-16 season, when the team had a 38-0 record en route to becoming NCAA champions.
The Huskies will face the No. 1 overall seed Gamecocks in the title game atr 8 p.m. EDT Sunday.
In the earlier game Friday night, Haley Jones led the Cardinal with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Brink had 15 points and seven rebounds.
South Carolina last reached the title game during the 2016-17 season, when the Gamecocks captured their only women’s basketball championship in school history.
“You see happy tears. Happy tears right now,” said South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston, the 2022 National Player of the Year. “I’m just thanking God because we have one more game and we’re not going home.”
Boston led the Gamecocks with 23 points and 18 rebounds. She also had four assists and a block in her stellar outing.
Brea Beal notched 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting for South Carolina, while Destanni Henderson scored 11 points and Zia Cooke added 10.
Emily Engstler compiled 18 points and nine rebounds for the first-seeded Cardinals, who were attempting to reach the national title game for the third time in program history. Louisville last made it to the women’s championship game in 2013.
Kianna Smith and Olivia Cochran each added 14 points for Louisville in the losing effort.
