South Carolina beats UConn to win NCAA women's basketball national title

MINNEAPOLIS — Dawn Staley hoisted the championship trophy high, strutted around the court and stopped only for a brief victory dance. She handed over the hardware to South Carolina’s student band, then headed back to midcourt for more merriment.

Staley’s team buttoned up on defense and dominated on the glass on Sunday night, beating UConn, 64-49, to win the program’s second title — and first since 2017 — while handing Geno Auriemma’s Huskies their first loss in 12 NCAA title games.

Destanni Henderson scored a career-high 26 points and Aliyah Boston added 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Gamecocks.

“We played every possession like it was our last possession,” Staley said. “They were determined to be champions today.”

A year ago, South Carolina lost in the Final Four when Boston missed a layup before the buzzer. “Obviously, I’ve been thinking about this since last season. Everyone had a picture of me crying,” said Boston, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. “Today we’re national champions and I’m in tears.”

With Staley calling the shots in a Louis Vuitton letterman jacket, South Carolina took UConn to school on the boards and capped a wire-to-wire run as the No. 1 team in the country in The Associated Press poll.

Boston — the AP Player of the Year — and her fellow post players dominated on the game’s biggest stage. South Carolina outrebounded UConn 49-24, including a 21-6 advantage on the offensive boards.

“We knew tonight that if we didn’t hold our own on the boards that it was going to be a really bad night for us,’’ Auriemma said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”

The Gamecocks also clamped down on star Paige Bueckers and UConn.

“They deserved it 100%,” Auriemma said. “They were the best team all year. The first five minutes, I thought they came out and set the tone then and there for how the game was going to be played.”

The Gamecocks (35-2) went ahead 11-2, grabbing nearly every rebound on both ends of the floor. They led 22-8 after one quarter.

UConn (30-6) trailed by 16 in the second quarter before Minnesota native Bueckers (14 points) got going. After taking only one shot in the first quarter, she scored nine points in the second to get the Huskies within 35-27.

An 8-2 run to start the third quarter put South Carolina up 43-29 before the Huskies finally started connecting from behind the arc. UConn missed its first eight three-point attempts before Caroline Ducharme made one from the wing and Evina Westbrook hit another to get the Huskies within 43-37.

Then Henderson took over. The senior guard had a three-point play to close the third quarter and scored the Gamecocks’ first four points in the fourth to restore the double-digit lead.

“My teammates believed in me once again. We’ve been working so hard since Day 1, and it finally paid off, all my hard work, all my focus,’’ she said. “Me trusting the process. Me trusting God. She just put me in a position just to be great, and today, we’re national champions.”

Auriemma said Saturday that when his team won each of its 11 titles, UConn entered the game as the better team. Not Sunday, though. “We just didn’t have enough,” he said. “They were just too good for us.”