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PHOENIX — Tessa Johnson's message in the huddle was stern.
"Five minutes, five minutes," the junior guard yelled with the clock at 5:53.
South Carolina women's basketball had a five-point lead over UConn, the No. 1 overall seed that came into the Final Four with a 54-game winning streak. Two of those wins were blowouts over South Carolina last season, including the national championship game.
But there was still game left to play.
From beginning to end, the defensive clinic from the Gamecocks (35-3) had the Huskies (38-1) frazzled. An 11-1 run over the last four minutes sent South Carolina to a third straight national championship with a 62-48 victory on April 3.
South Carolina will play UCLA (36-1) in the national championship game April 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC).
"We knew how effective they are offensively so I think we had to lock in on defense," Johnson said.
UConn had been an unstoppable force all season, defeating teams with ease by way of prolific shooting both inside and behind the 3-point line.
The Huskies led the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 52%. But they shot 31.1% against South Carolina and had their lowest-scoring night since Dec. 9, 2021.
"We just played great team defense," said senior guard Ta'Niya Latson who had game-high 16 points with 11 rebounds. "We stuck to the scout report ... I feel like we all watched film. We were really locked in during shootarounds. We knew their tendencies, what they liked. I think we executed it really, really well."
UConn star guard Azzi Fudd, one of the nation's best spot-up shooters, didn't score until late in the second quarter. Despite averaging 17.5 points, she finished with eight.
A lot of the credit goes to star defender Raven Johnson, but when she had two early fouls, she had to sit most of the second quarter. Freshman guard Agot Makeer's length and tight pressure on Fudd limited her looks, forcing other UConn players to make offense without Fudd.
"I think our defense is pretty elite," Makeer said. "We were super prepared by all of our coaches. I think we all wanted this really bad. We were just ready."
Although Fudd was a major part of the scouting report, the game came down to Joyce Edwards defending Sarah Strong.
Strong, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, was just named National Player of the Year. She averages 18.6 points but finished with 12, her second-lowest all season.
"I've been playing against her since middle school," Edwards said. "Our games haven't really changed much, it's just gotten a little bit more consistent. We both know what each other likes and what we like to do."
Edwards had 11 points, below her average of 19.7.
In the first quarter, coach Dawn Staley went small on UConn and put Johnson on Strong, which disrupted her flow. But when Staley went back with Edwards, she delivered.
"Raven thrives on any matchup," Staley said. "... we know she's fearless when it comes to who she's guarding. She takes really great pride in not letting people score on her. When you have a guard like that that has elite defensive skills, you let 'em be great."
The Gamecocks held the defending champions to nine points in the fourth quarter with just two made field goals.
"I just thought that we made it real difficult for them to get clean looks," Staley said. "We just created a lot of disruption. I didn't really realize they didn't score a point in the last four or five minutes. I was just really concentrating on coaching our team up and just try to score more points because they can generate points in a short period of time."
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women's basketball defense swarms UConn in Final Four
Continue reading...
"Five minutes, five minutes," the junior guard yelled with the clock at 5:53.
South Carolina women's basketball had a five-point lead over UConn, the No. 1 overall seed that came into the Final Four with a 54-game winning streak. Two of those wins were blowouts over South Carolina last season, including the national championship game.
But there was still game left to play.
From beginning to end, the defensive clinic from the Gamecocks (35-3) had the Huskies (38-1) frazzled. An 11-1 run over the last four minutes sent South Carolina to a third straight national championship with a 62-48 victory on April 3.
South Carolina will play UCLA (36-1) in the national championship game April 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC).
"We knew how effective they are offensively so I think we had to lock in on defense," Johnson said.
UConn had been an unstoppable force all season, defeating teams with ease by way of prolific shooting both inside and behind the 3-point line.
The Huskies led the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 52%. But they shot 31.1% against South Carolina and had their lowest-scoring night since Dec. 9, 2021.
"We just played great team defense," said senior guard Ta'Niya Latson who had game-high 16 points with 11 rebounds. "We stuck to the scout report ... I feel like we all watched film. We were really locked in during shootarounds. We knew their tendencies, what they liked. I think we executed it really, really well."
UConn star guard Azzi Fudd, one of the nation's best spot-up shooters, didn't score until late in the second quarter. Despite averaging 17.5 points, she finished with eight.
A lot of the credit goes to star defender Raven Johnson, but when she had two early fouls, she had to sit most of the second quarter. Freshman guard Agot Makeer's length and tight pressure on Fudd limited her looks, forcing other UConn players to make offense without Fudd.
"I think our defense is pretty elite," Makeer said. "We were super prepared by all of our coaches. I think we all wanted this really bad. We were just ready."
Although Fudd was a major part of the scouting report, the game came down to Joyce Edwards defending Sarah Strong.
Strong, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, was just named National Player of the Year. She averages 18.6 points but finished with 12, her second-lowest all season.
"I've been playing against her since middle school," Edwards said. "Our games haven't really changed much, it's just gotten a little bit more consistent. We both know what each other likes and what we like to do."
Edwards had 11 points, below her average of 19.7.
In the first quarter, coach Dawn Staley went small on UConn and put Johnson on Strong, which disrupted her flow. But when Staley went back with Edwards, she delivered.
"Raven thrives on any matchup," Staley said. "... we know she's fearless when it comes to who she's guarding. She takes really great pride in not letting people score on her. When you have a guard like that that has elite defensive skills, you let 'em be great."
The Gamecocks held the defending champions to nine points in the fourth quarter with just two made field goals.
"I just thought that we made it real difficult for them to get clean looks," Staley said. "We just created a lot of disruption. I didn't really realize they didn't score a point in the last four or five minutes. I was just really concentrating on coaching our team up and just try to score more points because they can generate points in a short period of time."
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women's basketball defense swarms UConn in Final Four
Continue reading...
