April 3, 2026 / 9:43 PM EDT / AP
Ta’Niya Latson scored 16 points and Agot Makeer added 14 as South Carolina’s defense shut down UConn in a 62-48 upset Friday night, stopping the Huskies’ 54-game winning streak and sending the Gamecocks to the women’s NCAA title game.
South Carolina (36-3) will face the winner of Sunday’s Texas-UCLA semifinal for the national championship, chasing a fourth national title after winning three in the last decade. UConn (38-1) entered the Final Four undefeated for the ninth time in school history but left without a championship for the third straight time; the Huskies also fell in the semifinals in 2017 and 2018. The 48 points were UConn’s fewest since scoring 49 in the 2022 championship loss to South Carolina.
Two of the nation’s top-scoring teams turned this matchup into a defensive slog. UConn led 26-24 at halftime, but South Carolina opened the second half with a 12-2 run that swung momentum and built a 40-30 advantage — the largest deficit UConn had faced all season. The Huskies rallied, hitting three straight 3-pointers to climb within 40-39, but Tessa Johnson answered late in the quarter to make it 44-39 for the Gamecocks.
Early in the fourth, South Carolina stretched the lead with a five-point burst capped by Makeer’s 3, pushing the margin to seven. UConn cut it to 51-47 on a Sarah Strong 3 with 4:39 remaining, but the Huskies did not score again until Strong’s free throw with 30.8 seconds left after South Carolina closed the game on an 11-0 run.
Strong, the AP Player of the Year, finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds but struggled from the floor, going 4-for-16. Azzi Fudd was limited to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting. UConn shot a season-worst 19-for-61 (31.1%) from the field.
The first half was marked by missed shots and turnovers for both teams; they combined to shoot 22-for-62 (35.4%) and commit 14 turnovers. UConn, which had dominated much of the season and the Big East, couldn’t find an answer for South Carolina’s pressure defense.
The teams had met in last season’s title game, when UConn routed South Carolina 82-59 for the Huskies’ 12th championship, and faced off again in the 2024-25 regular season. Emotions flared late in Phoenix: with under a second left, UConn coach Geno Auriemma crossed the court to speak with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, pointing toward the floor as assistants stepped between them. After the final buzzer, Auriemma walked to the tunnel and did not shake Staley’s hand; the teams otherwise exchanged handshakes.
The Final Four crowd included former stars from both programs — among them Diana Taurasi, Paige Bueckers and Aliyah Boston — with Boston sitting near celebrity fan Flavor Flav.