TAMPA, Fla. — Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd led UConn to a dominant 85-51 win over UCLA in the Final Four on Friday night, sending the Huskies to the national championship game with little need for star Paige Bueckers.
Strong poured in 22 points, while Fudd scored all 19 of her points in the first half for the No. 2 seed Huskies, who are now one win away from capturing their 12th national title — and their first since a four-peat run from 2013 to 2016 led by Breanna Stewart. This current eight-year drought is the program’s longest since claiming its first title in 1995.
UConn will face defending champion South Carolina on Sunday, after the Gamecocks defeated Texas 74-57. The matchup is a rematch of the 2022 title game, which South Carolina won 64-49. However, UConn handed South Carolina a stunning 29-point loss during their regular season meeting in February.
“At this point, anything you did prior to the season means nothing. The record is 0-0 and teams are tying to go 1-0 in the final game,” Bueckers said. “So keep up the defensive intensity like we did tonight, they’re a really good team. They get out in transition, they’ve got interior play, and great guard play, so we’ll have our hands full.”
Bueckers, projected as the top pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft, finished with 16 points after scoring over 30 in each of UConn’s previous three games.
For top overall seed UCLA (34-3), All-America center Lauren Betts led the way with 26 points.
UConn came out firing, with Strong and Fudd setting the tone early. Even seemingly off-target shots were falling. Fudd, known as one of the nation’s top shooters despite a career hampered by injuries, banked in a three from the top of the key—drawing a smile and raised arms from head coach Geno Auriemma.
“It’s just so much fun to watch her play with joy and be at this stage,” Bueckers said of Fudd. “You see all the ups and downs, the bad days, the good days and to be at this spot where it’s the light at the end of the tunnel and for her to perform and be at this stage, it means everything to us.”
The Huskies held a 23-13 lead after the first quarter and kept rolling behind Fudd’s hot hand, stretching the margin to 42-22 by halftime. Bueckers delivered the highlight of the half with a slick midair touch pass to Kaitlyn Chen for a layup late in the second quarter.
UCLA never mounted a second-half threat, as the 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts received little support. UConn cruised to victory, breaking its own record for largest margin of victory in a Final Four or national championship game—the previous mark set in the 2013 title win over Louisville by 33 points.
This was the Bruins’ first-ever trip to the NCAA Final Four. While UCLA did claim a national title in 1978 before the NCAA sponsored women’s basketball, they were aiming to become the first Big Ten team to win a championship since Purdue in 1999—falling short in their inaugural season in the conference.
UCLA enjoyed its best regular season in program history, reaching the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the first time and holding that ranking for 14 weeks.
Before Friday’s loss, the Bruins had only been defeated twice all year—both times by JuJu Watkins and USC. They got some redemption by beating USC to claim the Big Ten Tournament title. UCLA also set a program record for wins in a single season and strung together 23 straight victories, including 22 by double digits.
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