South Carolina hands UConn first loss, reaches fourth NCAA final in 5 years

PHOENIX — One of the first things South Carolina saw every morning during the offseason was the score of its national championship loss to UConn a year ago.

Molly Binetti, South Carolina’s women’s basketball sports performance coach, had the score up on the TVs in the weight room by 6 a.m. every day so the Gamecocks would never forget that feeling. It was shown so much that even newcomers such as Ta’Niya Latson began to feel the pain.

“We saw that in our faces, so even though I didn’t experience that, I had to take on that because I knew that it was more than just myself,” Latson said. “It was for the program, for the team and for the coaches.”

In Friday’s national semifinal, the Gamecocks finally got their revenge. South Carolina beat UConn 62-48 to make its third straight national championship game and fourth in five years. As the final seconds were ticking off, UConn coach Geno Auriemma walked up to South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, and the two exchanged words. Assistant coaches got between them and moved Auriemma away. He walked off the floor after the game and did not go through the handshake line with Staley or anybody from South Carolina, instead leaving for the locker room before any of the players or coaches.

After all of the drama, the Gamecocks are heading back to the championship game and will play UCLA on Sunday.

The Gamecocks pulled the upset over top-seeded UConn by stifling a Huskies offense that has been scoring at will this season.

UConn averaged 87 points this season, led by player of the year Sarah Strong, but couldn’t get much going against South Carolina’s aggressive and physical defense.

Strong scored just 12 points. All-American Azzi Fudd had only 8 points and shot 3 of 15 from the field, and the entire Huskies offense shot just 31 percent from the field.

South Carolina’s defensive performance was even better than Staley imagined.

“I thought our gap help was great,” she said. “I thought we were really disciplined in chasing off the screens, not shooting, being in the play, right? We never let UConn get ahead of the possession. When you’re able to dictate like that, you get in good defensive position. I thought it was great. It was actually far greater than I envisioned.”

South Carolina didn’t shoot much better, just 37.5 percent from the field, but the Gamecocks’ defensive versatility gave UConn issues throughout the game. It’s why even after making just four shots in the second quarter, the Gamecocks were trailing by only two points at halftime.

Staley, though, was not happy at halftime. The players saw an animated and fired-up Staley behind the scenes, one who wanted to relay a “live in the moment” message.

“You really don’t get these opportunities very often. You don’t,” Staley said. “So you got to meet the moment. Like, if we lost this game, I know our players would have been mad at themselves because they’re very capable. Like, play to your capabilities. Play to the habits that we’ve had all season long.”

The third quarter changed the game for South Carolina. While its defensive intensity continued, holding UConn to just 29-percent shooting, its offense woke up.

The Gamecocks, led by Latson with 16 points and Agot Makeer with 14 points, shot 46 percent from the field in the third quarter. South Carolina made 8 of 10 free throws to take a 10-point lead with three minutes left in the quarter.

Facing its largest deficit of the season, UConn answered with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, but as it did throughout the game, South Carolina answered with a run of its own. The Gamecocks scored four straight to take a five-point lead into the quarter break. The frustration turned into a quarter-break rant from Auriemma.

“There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us. And they’ve been beating the s— out of our guys down there the entire game,” he said during an in-game interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “And I’m not making excuses because we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach ran some rage on the sideline and called the referees some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get 6 to 0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey. And they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ C’mon, man, this is the national championship.”

It was unclear whether a South Carolina player made an initial tear on Strong’s jersey, but after a pause in action following her missed shot, she tore the jersey from the neckline. After the game, Strong said she ripped her jersey “by accident.” She changed jerseys on the sideline. Auriemma said he was frustrated with the lack of fouls on South Carolina players defending Strong.

UConn made a comeback in the fourth quarter, with two Blanca Quiñonez free throws cutting South Carolina’s lead to just two with six minutes and 37 seconds remaining.

The Huskies scored just 4 points the rest of the game, as the Gamecocks outscored them 16-4.