It was all Huskies all night, as UConn could not be denied on Friday. Geno Auriemma’s team fired on all cylinders from the opening tip to the final whistle.
TAMPA, Fla. — Against the toughest competition, the UConn women’s basketball team played one of its best games of the season during the national semifinal Friday evening in Tampa, Fla.
Final score: UConn 85, UCLA 51.
Appearing in their 24th Final Four, the Huskies left little doubt as to the result of this game from the opening tip onward. UConn led 23-13 after the first quarter and 42-22 at halftime.
UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, played its first Final Four game in the modern era and had a difficult time keeping up with the speed of the two-seeded Huskies. In the first half, it was all Azzi Fudd. The UConn guard scored 19 points before the intermission.
UConn First-Team All-American guard Paige Bueckers, coming off three consecutive games of scoring at least 31 points, had a quiet night by her standards but was still dynamic when called upon. Due to the score, Bueckers was able to rest the final five minutes. She finished the game with 16 points.
Second Team All-American forward Sarah Strong, a UConn freshman, led the team in scoring against UCLA with 22 points. Strong scored from the inside and out and knocked down four of her six three-point attempts in the game.
For UCLA, First Team All-American center Lauren Betts had another solid performance, scoring a game-high 26 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough. No other Bruin scored more than eight points against UConn on Friday.
Up next is the national championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m. on ABC. UConn face South Carolina in a rematch of several different national championship games, which have gone both ways.
South Carolina, a one-seed, defeated Texas, another one-seed, 74-57 on Friday in Amalie Arena. The Gamecocks and Huskies will matchup there Sunday afternoon in a game for the ages.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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