BY THE NUMBERS: UCONN VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
MINNEAPOLIS — The UConn women’s basketball team will be playing in its 12th national championship game and its first since 2016 when faces South Carolina Sunday night.
The matchup will hold a mirror to the Huskies and Gamecocks — a direct comparison of how each team has grown since facing each other in the first month of the season back in November in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament Championship in the Bahamas.
South Carolina won the game, 73-57, as UConn encountered its first major bump of the season just days later when freshman Azzi Fudd was sidelined with a foot injury.
That was five months ago. Despite two upset losses, South Carolina has kept its head above water, holding down the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll all season. Meanwhile, UConn … well, its season was nowhere near as smooth.
All in all, UConn has had eight of its 12 players miss at least two games or more due to injury or illness.
UConn dropped historic streaks — losing at to unranked Georgia Tech and to Big East foe Villanova at home — and has its most losses since 2012. The program fell to as low as No. 11 in the AP Poll after starting the year ranked No. 2.
It all comes down to Sunday. Both teams are perfect in the championship game. UConn is 11-0 and South Carolina 1-0. UConn leads the all-time series 9-2, including a win in the only previous matchup in the NCAA Tournament (94-65 in the 2018 Elite Eight). BY THE NUMBERS
2— South Carolina only lost twice this year: falling in overtime at Missouri 70-69 and being upset by Kentucky 64-62 in the SEC Tournament Championship.
3— The Gamecocks held UConn to just three points in the fourth quarter in the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship.
8— With Juhász sidelined with her left arm in a sling, UConn coach Geno Auriemma is using an eightplayer rotation including just two experienced bigs in the frontcourt.
11— UConn women’s basketball is tied with UCLA men’s basketball in winning the most national championships (11). A win on Sunday would give the Huskies the NCAA record.
14.6 — Christyn Williams and Bueckers lead the Huskies with 14.6 points per game, although Williams has played in 32 games this season while Bueckers has played in just 16.
15— The Huskies’ current win streak spanning the last seven games of the regular season, the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. 29- This year’s national player of the year and Gamecock leader Aliyah Boston had 29 double-doubles this season. She leads South Carolina with 17.0 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.
50.7 — The Gamecocks scoring defense which is good for third in the nation.
69.3 — UConn’s free throw percentage this year is the lowest it’s been in the last seven seasons. The Huskies’ have had two games so far in the tournament be decided by clutch late-game trips to the charity stripe, including going 15-17 in Friday’s fourth quarter. 1995 — The year UConn last won the national championship at Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the Huskies’ first national title.