#2 UConn took down #1 South Carolina 63-59 in overtime behind unbelievable play from freshman guard Paige Bueckers.
South Carolina trailed by as much as seven in the fourth quarter, but an 11-0 run gave the Gamecocks a 54-50 lead with 2:37 to play. Bueckers hit a pair of jumpers to tie the game, and Victaria Saxton and Aliyah Boston missed three putbacks at the rim just before the buzzer that would have won the game.
In overtime it was all Bueckers. She hit a pair of free throws off a steal to start the period. South Carolina scored the next five points, but then Bueckers was unstoppable. She hit an incredibly tough shot over Brea Beal, South Carolina’s best defender who had Bueckers smothered. She hit another jumper to put UConn up one, and then made the shot that will always be remembered. With the shot clock running down, Bueckers threw up an off-balance three from well behind the arc. It hit the back of the rim, bounced straight up into the air, and back through the net for a 63-59 lead with 10 seconds left.
“I’m always surprised when she shoots and the ball doesn’t go in,” Geno Auriemma said. “There’s not much you can say. She’s that player.”
Bueckers scored the Huskies’ final 13 points and finished with 31 on 14-26 shooting. She also had five assists and four four rebounds and played all 45 minutes. She was the only Connecticut player in double figures.
“She’s a player,” Dawn Staley said. “She makes big shots when her number is called time and time again.”
After a slow start, Aliyah Boston held her own against Bueckers. She had 17 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals, and was the Gamecocks’ centerpiece down the stretch. The problem was that it took the Gamecocks too long to start going to her.
“We were off offensively," Staley said. "There was no fluidity. I thought we let the moment get ahead of us and we did some things that were uncharacteristic."
Boston also had a bad shot in the final minute, with South Carolina up one. She tried a step back three that left Staley could only describe by shaking her head.
Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke joined Boston in double figures with 11 points, but they struggled shooting and combined for 12 of South Carolina’s 21 turnovers. Staley thought they failed to make the adjustment to a different type of basketball (Nike instead of Wilson), and they dribbled too much, and they struggled with decision-making once they got into the paint, and weren’t able to get out in transition: South Carolina did not have a single fast break point.
“Usually we’re getting at least a shot up to give our rebounders a chance to rebound the ball for second chance points,” Staley said. “We were different with what we did against UConn as far as transition.”
Notes:
It was the third time South Carolina and UConn have met as #1 and #2, all in the last seven seasons. UConn has won all three games. … The series hasn’t featured close games. The previous smallest margin of victory was 11. … Staley dressed in a sweater and loosened necktie, a tribute to Temple coach John Chaney’s signature look. Asked what he would have thought of the game, she pointed to the turnovers, “He would look at those 21 turnovers and dissect every one.” … South Carolina was 8-15 from the foul line, but UConn was worse, just 3-8. … The teams were a combined 3-24 from three. One was Bueckers’ desperation shot, and another was a halfcourt heave by Cooke at the end of the first half. … Boston played 43 minutes and Beal played 45. Beal had eight points and 10 rebounds, and actually had some success guarding Bueckers. … South Carolina’s next game is Thursday against Missouri.
