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The UConn women’s basketball team’s quest to 40-0 ended Friday after one of its worst performances in recent memory.
Winning each of their first 38 games of the season, the Huskies were outscored by 16 points in the final 20 minutes to fall to fellow No. 1 South Carolina, 62-48, in the Final Four.
The fight was a rematch of last year’s national championship, which the Huskies won for a storybook ending to the career of UConn alumna Paige Bueckers.
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South Carolina guard Agot Maker and UConn guard Kayleigh Heckel scramble for the ball during the second half of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament semifinal at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)
This is the fourth time in the last five years that the Gamecocks have returned to the national championship, after the Huskies won 54 in a row dating back to last year.
Ta’Niya Latson scored 16 points and Agot Maker added 14 as South Carolina played stifling defense. UConn (38-1) entered the Final Four undefeated for the ninth time in school history and, for the third straight time, remained without a title. The Huskies also lost in the 2017 and 2018 national semifinals.
It was the fewest points UConn had scored since scoring 49 points in a 2022 national championship game loss to the Gamecocks.
South Carolina guards Tessa Johnson and Agot Maker celebrate after beating UConn in the semifinal game of the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
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Leading 46-44 a few minutes into the third quarter, South Carolina scored five straight points, capped by Agot Makerer’s 3-pointer to extend the advantage to seven.
UConn’s Sarah Strong made a 3-pointer to bring the Huskies within 51-47 with 4:39 to play, but the Huskies didn’t score again until Strong made a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, after South Carolina had scored 11 straight points.
Strong, who was honored Thursday as the AP Player of the Year, had 12 points and 12 rebounds but made 4 of 16 from the field. Azzi Fudd had just eight points for the Huskies, making just 3 of 15 shots.
UConn had its worst shooting night of the season, finishing 19 for 61 (31.1%) from the field.
The match was highlighted by a heated post-match exchange between coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley.
Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks argues with Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies during the second half of an NCAA Women’s Final Four semifinal game at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz., April 3, 2026. (Photos by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA via Getty Images)
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The Gamecocks will now face UCLA on Sunday for the national championship.
