PHOENIX — South Carolina is back in the national championship game, this time after taking down the previously unbeaten University of Connecticut in a physical Final Four contest that ended with a heated exchange between the most recognizable coaches in women’s college basketball.
Ta’Niya Latson scored 16 points, Agot Makeer added 14, and South Carolina played stifling defense Friday night to beat UConn 62-48 at the Matchup Mortgage Center, ending the Huskies’ 54-game winning streak, along with their bid to repeat by adding a record-extending 13th NCAA Division I basketball title overall.
The Gamecocks (36-3) are in the final contest of March Madness for the fourth time in five seasons and the third straight year. They will be looking to win a fourth national championship Sunday afternoon, when they face fellow No. 1 seed UCLA (36-3).
The Big Ten’s Bruins are looking for their first NCAA Division I title — they did win the AIWA tournament in 1978, four years before women’s hoops became an NCAA championship sport — after winning 51-44 in Friday night’s second semifinal against Texas to prevent an all-Southeastern Conference final in Phoenix.
All three of South Carolina’s crowns have come under 18th-year head coach Dawn Staley, who cut down the nets in 2017, 2022 and 2024 — and can keep her scissors handy this weekend thanks to sticking with her game plan Friday night.
“I thought our players just locked in once we built a little lead. We got suggestions from coaches as to should we change our defense, start switching everything. I’m like, ‘No, this is what is working,'” Staley said. “Let’s continue to do what’s working.”
As the final seconds ticked down, UConn coach Geno Auriemma, the architect of all 12 of the Huskies’ national championships, walked down the sideline to shake hands with Staley and had an animated conversation with her while pointing to the floor. Staley yelled back at him as assistants from both teams separated the two.
When the clock finally ran out, Auriemma walked straight to the tunnel and didn’t shake hands, although the teams did.
“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what happened between the coaches. “But I’m going to let you know this, I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong, to Geno, I had no idea what I did.
“I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand. I don’t know what he came with after the game, but, hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
Auriemma didn’t want to disclose what he said to Staley specifically, but he made a point of saying he was annoyed about the lack of a pregame handshake.
“I’ve been coaching and been to 25 Final Fours,” Auriemma said. “Protocol is we meet at halfcourt, two coaches meet at halfcourt and shake hands. They announce it on the loudspeaker, waited there for three minutes.”
Auriemma was also upset that in the third quarter UConn sophomore star Sarah Strong’s jersey was ripped, in his opinion because of South Carolina’s physical defense.
Said Strong: “It was an accident, I missed my shot.”
UConn (38-1) entered the Final Four undefeated for the ninth time in program history, and for the third straight time left without a title; the Huskies also lost in the 2017 and 2018 national semifinals. This was the fewest points UConn had scored since putting up 49 in the 2022 title game against the Gamecocks.
“Coach was pretty mad going into the half,” Latson said of Staley. “She was yelling ‘Meet the moment! Meet the moment!’ We couldn’t be scared to play on this stage, especially against UConn. I mean, they were undefeated.”
The Huskies routed South Carolina 82-59 in last year’s title game, and they also beat South Carolina handily during the 2024-25 regular season, so the Gamecocks earned a measure of revenge.
Leading 46-44 a few minutes into the third quarter, South Carolina scored five straight points, capped by Makeer’s 3-pointer to extend the advantage to seven.
Strong, who was honored as the AP women’s college basketball player of the year Thursday, hit a 3 of her own to get the Huskies back within four at 51-47 with 4:39 left. The Huskies didn’t score again until she hit a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, after South Carolina had scored 11 straight points.
“I think our defense is pretty elite. We were super prepared by all of our coaches,” Makeer said. “I think we all wanted this really bad. We were just ready.”
South Carolina clamped down on UConn’s two stars. Strong had 12 points and as many rebounds, but she shot just 4-for-16 from the field, while senior Azzi Fudd had just eight points while shooting 3-for-15.
UConn had its worst shooting night of the season at 19-for-61 (31.1%) from the field.
Both teams had cruised to the Final Four, each winning easily in the first four rounds of the tournament. The Huskies had been rarely challenged all season long, routing their league opponents by record margins to sweep the Big East regular-season and tournament titles.
Facing their first real test in a long time, they had no answer.
The opening 20 minutes were full of missed shots and turnovers. The two teams combined to shoot 22-for-62 (35.4%) from the field and had 14 turnovers. UConn led 26-24 at intermission.