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The UConn women’s basketball team’s quest to go 40-0 ended Friday after one of their worst performances in recent memory.
Winning each of its first 38 games of the season, the Huskies were outscored by 16 points in the final 20 minutes to fall to second-seeded South Carolina, 62-48, in the Final Four.
The game was a rematch of last year’s national championship, which the Huskies won for a storybook ending to the career of UConn alum Paige Buecker.
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South Carolina guard Agot Maker and UConn guard Kayleigh Heckel battle for the ball during the second half of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament semifinals at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)
It is the fourth time in the last five years that the Gamecocks are back in the national championship, while the Huskies had won 54 straight dating back to last year.
Ta’Niya Latson scored 16 points and Agot Maker added 14 points 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 without a title. The Huskies also lost in the national semifinals in 2017 and 2018.
This was the fewest points UConn had scored since going 49 in a National Championship loss to the Gamecocks in 2022.
South Carolina guards Tessa Johnson and Agot Maker celebrate after defeating UConn in the semifinals 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 Maker’s 3-pointer to extend the advantage to seven.
UConn’s Sarah Strong hit a 3-pointer to get the Huskies back within 51-47 with 4:39 left, but the Huskies didn’t score again until Strong hit 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 went 4-for-16 from the field. Azzi Fudd had just eight points for the Huskies and made just 3-of-15 shots.
UConn had its worst shooting night of the season, finishing 19 for 61 (31.1%) from the field.
The game was the highlight of a heated postgame exchange between coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley.
Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks tussles 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, Arizona on April 3, 2026. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Images via Getty Images)
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The Gamecocks will now face UCLA on Sunday for the national championship.
