By the Associated Press
Tampa, Florida (AP)-The national champion in title of South Carolina left no doubt that he would come back to the match for the title, obtaining 14 points from Te-Hina Paopao and Texas 74-57 crushing Friday evening in the last NCAA female tournament.
Gamecocks are a victory to become the first team to secure consecutive titles since Uconn won four games directly from 2013-2016.
The first year Joyce Edwards added 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Southern Carolina (35-3), which used its experience and balance to resist an early deficit and took control with its depth at both ends of the soil.
Three southern Carolina players finished two figures – Bree Hall collected 11 points – and the Gamecocks dominated Texas in the post with 40 points in the 22 of Longhorns painting.
Madison Booker collected 11 points and three faults for Longhorns (35-4), who were trying to reach their first championship since 1986. They were in the Final Four for the first time since 2003 after a dominant season, which was their first at the Southeast Conference after coming from Big 12.
Texas went 15-1 against the dry in the regular season and shared the title of conference with the Gamecocks.
UCONN 85, UCLA 51
Tampa, Florida (AP) – Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd did not even need a lot of help from the Superstar Paige Bueckers to propel Uconn into the national title match, leading the Huskies to a remarkably easy victory on the UCLA in the last four of the NCAA female tournament.
Strong finished with 22 points and Fudd scored his 19 points in the first half for the Huskies, the second seeded, which have been a victory for their 12th national championship and the first since the team won four consecutive games from 2013-2016 led by former Grand Breanna Stewart. The drought of the eight -year -old title is the longest for Huskies since they won their first in 1995.
Uconn will face the title champion of the South Carolina for the title on Sunday after the Gamecocks beat Texas 74-57 earlier Friday evening. It is a revenge match of the 2022 championship match, that the Gamecocks won 64-49. The teams met in February and Uconn shocked the South Carolina with a 29 -point road victory.
Bueckers finished with 16 points after exceeding 30 in each of the three previous games for the Huskies (36-3).
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
