Paige Bueckers propels Uconn back in the final oven with Win Over USC

Spokane, Washington – The Huskies star, Paige Bueckers, came to Uconn in order to win a national championship.

This title turned out to be elusive during her three previous appearances at the NCAA tournament, but she will have a last blow during the coming week so that this dream becomes reality.

Behind 31 points and six assists, Bueckers raised the seeded Huskies n ° 2 to a 78-64 victory against the seeded N ° 1 USC in the regional final of Spokane 4, winning the 16th appearance of the team in four finals in 17 years and 24th in total. Bueckers, the alleged overall choice n ° 1 in the draft of the WNBA of next month, led Uconn in the Final Four every season she played for them.

Trojan horses – playing without national player of the year, the favorite, Juju Watkins, who tore his ACL in their NCAA tournament match in the second round last Monday – put a valiant effort without their superstar, but just falls below their first final appearance since 1986. They were led by a 15 -point outing of the Rayah Marson Senior Rayah.

UCONN will face the seeded n ° 1 UCLA in the national semi-final Friday evening.

The defense of Uconn put the uncomfortable USC for large stretches of the game, forcing 10 reversals in the first half and holding them without a 3-point pointer until the brand of 6:44 am from the third. The USC 14-point half-time deficit has been its biggest since the start of last season.

On the 10th for 22 of the Huskies beyond the 3-point arc, on the contrary, marked the first time this USC season allowed an opponent to hit 3 points with two figures.

The first year student Sarah Strong has become the first first year in Uconn’s history with a 20 -point match and 10 reimburses in the elite eight or later. She kept the Huskies afloat early with 10 of their 14 points in the first quarter, helping them to take the lead after following 11-5 early and jump to nine years.

The Huskies mainly dominated the first half behind Star Strong and Bueckers, which combined for more first half (28) than USC (25).

But the horses of Troy interested things to head towards the fourth, reducing a deficit of 19 points to five to the buzzer from the period behind 10 points in the third quarter of Talia von Oelhoffen.

Graduated student Azzi Fudd, who started match 0 for 9 on the field, helped Uconn withdraw in the section, marking eight points on the fourth, including a pair of 3 points.

The USC has dragged but never got closer. A pair of Kaitlyn Chen Layups in the second at the last minute helped put the game out of reach for good. The 15 points of Chen were the third largest number of a match this season, his first in Storrs after the transfer of Princeton.