Coming into the Women’s National Championship Game, everyone knew UConn (three and a half-point underdogs at tip) would face a tall order to upset South Carolina.
Paige Bueckers was great, but Aliyah Boston and Co. were the top seed for a reason. They were the best team all year, and it’d be hard to see them fall short at the final step. For the most part, as the title game unfolded early, those pregame suspicions turned out to come true.
After one quarter, the Gamecocks held a staggering 22-8 lead. It was the Huskies’ lowest points scored in a quarter all year, and Bueckers was scoreless.
But the score alone didn’t tell the story of the massive discrepancy between the two squads.
End of first quarter: South Carolina 22, UConn 8
Gamecocks are 10 of 20 from the field, out-rebounding the Huskies 12 to 3.
UConn has turned the ball over 5 times.
— Augusta Stone 🔥 (@augustalstone) April 4, 2022
How do you get just three rebounds in one quarter of a Championship Game? Oh, right, Boston and Brea Beal. But still! Three rebounds!
It wasn’t a stellar start for UConn, to say the least.
Former UConn greats, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird — hosting ESPN’s side-by-side Megacast for the second time in as many nights — summed up the Huskies’ start with one camera pan.
let’s check in on the Bird-Taurasi show hahahah pic.twitter.com/AAmlEb5nRA
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) April 4, 2022
Arms crossed. Stoic looks. No jokes. No analysis. The UConn loyalty unsurprisingly still runs quite strong in these two.
If it’s any consolation for Taurasi, Bird, and the Huskies — they did go on a run to end the first half while cutting South Carolina’s lead to 35-27. It wasn’t all bad. We might have a close game yet.
But oh boy, was that first stanza rough on everyone in Connecticut.
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