In what was supposed to be a very competitive night in Tampa Bay at the women’s Final Four, two blowouts set up a blockbuster title fight on Sunday afternoon. Just hours after South Carolina laid it on Texas, UConn women’s basketball absolutely crushed UCLA 85-51 in one of the most impressive performances by any team this season.
The second-seeded Huskies got going right out of the gates led by Azzi Fudd, taking a 23-13 lead in the first quarter and never looking back. By the end of the night, Geno Auriemma and company had set record after record.
The 34-point margin of victory marks the largest winning margin in the history of the Final Four on the women’s side, according to Alexa Philippou.
It was also even more impressive that UConn was able to do it against such a great team. In fact, the second-seeded Huskies became the first team in the history of the NCAA Tournament to defeat a No. 1 seed by 30 or more points, per Philippou.
The Huskies didn’t just get all of these points in garbage time, either. Auriemma’s group jumped all over UCLA right from the jump and made it clear that it was a different weight class from the other bench.
UCLA superstar Lauren Betts was the equalizer on paper, but the smaller UConn squad ensured that one player was not going to beat it tonight. Between Sarah Strong, Jana El Alfy and the pesky group of Connecticut guards, Betts struggled to get consistent touches deep in the paint for most of the first half and the Bruins were forced into a ton of turnovers and bad shots.
On the other end, Paige Bueckers and Strong chipped in, but it was 19 first-half points from Fudd that really helped create the separation and launched UConn to a 42-22 lead at halftime.
If UCLA was going to make a run, it was going to be at the start of the second half. However, Bueckers and Strong came out of the locker room with plenty of intensity and immediately started extending the lead at the start of the third quarter. In the end, UCLA was never able to cut into the lead and UConn rolled to an easy victory.
It will take a similar effort for Geno Auriemma and company to get their hands on another national title against South Carolina. After Friday night, there’s no doubt that UConn women’s basketball will be playing with plenty of confidence coming into the title game.
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