UConn Wins The 1 vs. 2 Battle With South Carolina

By Mike Siroky

 

It was a great national cable TV stage for South Carolina and UConn, No. 1 vs. No. 2. 

Eight times has the series included the No. 1 team. 

UConn has five of those.

Whoever lost is likely to not lose again until the Final Four

Whether the Gamecocks were favored at UConn is eclipsed by the final score: 63-59 UConn, in overtime.

This stage showed the present and future of the women’s game, all predicated on young players. Aliyah Boston of SC is the dominant center. She is destined to be an All-American and should be the Southeastern Conference player of the year.

South Carolina had won 12 straight games. 

Zia Cooke leads the Gamecocks with 15.8 points per game. Aliyah Boston is averaging 14.2 points and 11.4 rebounds. 

South Carolina ranks second nationally in blocks per game (7.4) and third in rebounds per game (50.31). 

UConn’s Paige Bueckers is already, as a freshman, the latest greatest, revisited. 

She could usurp the legend of Brianna Stewart if she is an All-American as a rookie. 

Stewart, now acknowledge as one of the best of all time, did not do that, but she was MVP of the national tournament in every one of her seasons.

Bueckers leads UConn in points, assists, steals and three-point field goal percentage. 

She is averaging 27.8 points in her last four games and has shot 76.0 percent from three (19-for-25) in that span. Bueckers scored 32 and 30 points in the last two games, respectively, becoming the first UConn freshman with back-to-back 30-point games.

It  is hard to say who coached better, Hall of Famers  Geno Auriemma or Dawn Staley, two great friends who are the most-recent coaches of the national team.

"It is less pressure but more hunger," Staley said. "To beat somebody at home is a little easier than beating them on the road. And I just hope we're able to check that off the list and continue what UConn used to do to us: Link those wins together and don't look back."

The introductions over.  

The gym was  not rocking because Covid restricts attendance, limited to big donors and no students. 

No current Gamecock had ever played in Storrs. SC was in a fourth road game of the most-recent five. They were not intimidated.

The first quarter was 14-10, SC. Bueckers had four points. Another freshman, 6-5 Olivia Nelson-Odod had six.

SC had spread it around. Sophomore Brea Beal had six rebounds and Boston five.

Still, neither side seized control, as was expected. 

The refs were letting them play so there was no foul considerations

Late in the second, it was still a four-point lead, then UConn made it one. 

Each side was still in single-digit offense with three minutes left in the half.

Halftime was 24-all. 

SC scored the final points, a 3 by Cooke just after Bueckers had fed Aaliyah Edward with six seconds left. Bueckers had scored eight, Edwards six.

Halftime adjustments might be the deciding fact. SC had none.

SC had 13 turnovers, UConn 10. Victoria Saxton averages double figures, so SC needed to get her going. 

Junior Destanni Henderdson had six, Cooke had five, Boston, Beal and 6-4 sophomore reserve Laeticia Amihire four apiece. Victaria Saxton had yet to score.

The second half started as cautiously as the first.  

Henderson hit a jumper to untie it, Evina Westbrook, the junior transfer from Tennessee, showed up with a block.

 Saxton tipped one in, then Henderson with another jump shot. 

Cooke drove for two. Bueckers drove in as well, then fed junior forward Chrystin Williams to tie it at 30. untied by two Beal free throws.

Saxton, Henderson and Nelson-Ododa had three fouls. Several players had two. 

Bueckers’ 12 made her the only one in double-figures, as good as advertised. 

Beal had nine rebounds, Boston six. 

It was 36-34 UConn, setting up a deciding fourth. 

Only one 3 had been made in the game. 

Neither side scored for a minute, then Williamd extended the lead to five within three minutes in the quarter.

Boston and Bueckers exchanged layups. 

Fine for the stars, but where were the supporting players. 

SC reserve guard LeLe Grissett missed two free throws then hit one. 

This is what Staley preaches about being ready at any point in the game, even if you are a senior on the bench.

Seconds later, Cooke hit two free throws. 

Boston grabbed a fourth defensive rebound, but Cooke fumbled it away. Boston and Bueckers exchanged baskets. 

Boston had 10, Beuckers had 10 with five assists. 

Missing in action was running mate Westbrook, zero against a 13 average, third-best on the team.

UConn was ahead by four as the last quarter started, an Uh-Oh moment for SC. 

An Aubrey Griffin layup made the lead seven. 

She is a sophomore, buried on the bench.

No one scored for another minute until Boston hit one-of-two free throws. 

There were six and a half minutes left, the part of the game both teams relish. 

Buckers had 18 and SC didn’t know what to do about it, being beaten by a rookie.

Boston was a rebound away from her double. 

She made a layup and then was fouled as she recovered a Griffin fumble. 

Henderson had back-to-back turnovers, 

Beal drove for a layin and the difference was two with five minutes left. It was a contested 7-5 quarter.

UConn seemed more steady. But a Saxton jumper and a Boston duplicate gave the visitors a 54-50 lead inside of two minutes. 

Bueckers came back with four points, the second basket after a Cooke miss. 

Are we sure she is a freshman? With 46 seconds let, SC called time out.

Beal turned it over on a Griffin Steal. 

UConn had the tie and the ball with 23 seconds left, but SC muffed all the chances in a 54-all tie. Saxton missed. Boston missed twice.

It went to overtime as it should have.

Boston had 15 points, three blocks and 11 rebounds. 

Beal had eight rebounds, Buckers had 22 points, five steals and five assists.

Bueckers made two free throws as SC tried desperately to stop her. 

The Gamecocks missed two shots. Saxton hit one of two free throws and Boston made a layup. SC was up by one.

After a scrum underneath the basket, Henderson hit a basket at the two-minute mark. 

UConn, down by three, time out, Buckers, unguarded outside, hit a jumper. 

Boston missed -- what? -- a 3. 

It was a detrimental decision. 

Bueckers made another jumper and Henderson turned it over. 

Auriemma drew up a play for Bueckers. 

She delivered the kill shot, her only 3, with 15 seconds left. 

It ended with UConn hugs all around, a natural ascension to No, 1 again, 63-59.

You could not say one coach bested another. 

Both agreed it was all about the players, those that produced and those that wilted. 

Beuckers scored the final seven points. 

SC did not score in the last 2:39. UConn has won eight straight at home.

Beuckers finished with 31. UConn only had a chance to score two free throws. 

Boston scored 17 with 15 rebounds but missed her three 3s. She needs to stick to her offensive zone. 

Cooke and Henderson each scored 11 but Cooke had four turnovers and Henderson eight. 

UConn won with no points from Westbrook.

South Carolina didn’t even last eight hours as No. 1.