Monica McNutt and Andraya Carter discuss how the Gamecocks were able to take control of the game. The time is 2:1.
The women's basketball team from the University of Connecticut won the first NCAA final in Minneapolis in 1995. Geno Auriemma's program was perfect in 10 subsequent appearances in the national championship game.
In Minneapolis 27 years later, the 11-0 streak ended as the No. 2 seed fell to the No. 1 South Carolina.
The lowest point scored in an NCAA tournament game was 75-47 in the second round of the 1992 tournament.
The last time the Huskies struggled this much in an NCAA tournament loss was in 2008, when they lost to LSU in the Elite Eight. They ran into another player on Sunday, South Carolina's Aliyah Boston, the consensus national player of the year and Final Four's Most Outstanding Player.
"You have to be really good, and you have to be a little bit lucky to win the national championship," Auriemma said. South Carolina is all about being well-balanced and being all the things that it is. Good guard play is required. The big guys have to be able to dominate at both ends. Then you need some luck.
The 11 times that we won, we had the better team. We played well, we were balanced, and we had everything you needed to win a title.
Auriemma did not think that was the case this season. In the second round, they had to overcome a serious challenge from UCF and then survive a double-overtime game against NC State.
When we got here, we said we would need a little bit of help from the Cardinal, and they didn't shoot the ball like they normally do.
This is the longest title dry spell for the Huskies since they won their first in 1995. The second national championship came in 2000 and the rest came in bunches.
Morgan William's buzzer-beating jump shot in overtime gave Mississippi State a national semifinal win over Connecticut, the first of four consecutive national semifinal losses for the Huskies. The Notre Dame and Arizona teams won the Final Four in the last two years.
On Friday, the Cardinal's offense struggled as they were beaten by the University of Connecticut. The tone set from the start was not in the favor of the Huskies. South Carolina shot 50% from the field in the first quarter and never looked back.
After missing 19 games due to a knee injury, Bueckers returned to help the team make its 14th consecutive Final Four. Bueckers was limited to 14 points in the Final Four games despite her 27 point performance in the Elite Eight.
It was an amazing weekend. Being able to be here with my team and spend more time with each other, build more memories, and to do it at home was amazing, said the Minnesota native.
Super proud of this team for how far they have come and all the adversity they have gone through to get to this point. At the University of Connecticut, it is national championship or nothing. Obviously upset, frustrated, and disappointed.
South Carolina's defense was credited with limiting Bueckers.
He said that they knew it was going to happen. When one person is trying to do something, that never works. Their guards dominated the game on the perimeter and made it hard for any of our guys to get good looks.
He acknowledged that the team wasn't 100% physically, and that guard Azzi Fudd missed shootaround because of an illness. As well as South Carolina played, it likely wouldn&t have made a difference.
He said that the season was a constant series of events. It was a remarkable effort by them to stay together as well as they did throughout the entire year, and to be in this game.
You want to win this game once you get in it. You are not just happy to be here. I think they will appreciate the effort it took to get here when this is over.
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