NO. 1 USC VS. NO. 3 UCONN
Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Tip: 9:21 p.m. (ESPN)
Records: UConn 32-5, USC 29-5.
Last game: UConn beat No. 7 Duke in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16, 53-45, Saturday; USC beat No. 5 Baylor in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16, 74-70, Saturday.
Last game’s starters: UConn, 6-3 F Aaliyah Edwards (17.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.6 spg), 5-9 G KK Arnold (8.9 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.3 spg), 6-0 G Paige Bueckers (21.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.2 spg), 5-11 G Nika Muhl (6.8 ppg, 6.4 apg, 1.2 spg), 5-10 G Ashlynn Shade (11.4 ppg, 1.5 apg). USC, 6-2 G JuJu Watkins (27.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.3 spg), 6-0 G-F McKenzie Forbes (14.0 ppg, 3.3 apg), 6-4 C-F Rayah Marshall (10.2 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.0 bpg), 5-9 G Kayla Padilla (8.0 ppg, 2.6 apg), 6-2 F Kaitlyn Davis (6.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg).
Noteworthy: USC is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986 when the legendary Cheryl Miller - since named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - was a senior. USC won national championships in 1983 and 1984 during Miller's tenure. “I think the awareness and significance of USC's history and the incredible women that we stand on their shoulders, has been a part of our story this year,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said Sunday. “We are really cognizant of what the USC women's basketball program has meant to the history of women's basketball and to us as a team.” ... UConn, meanwhile, which has struggled with depth all season due to injuries, will have to fight that in order to beat the Trojans. Three starters, Muhl, Bueckers and Arnold, played all 40 minutes in a Sweet 16 win over Duke. UConn coach Geno
Auriemma was asked how the Huskies might combat fatigue with only a six-player rotation. “They let us go to the (transfer) portal to get some people here tomorrow, which I don't see happening,” Auriemma said. “We've got a 40-point lead after the first quarter, then we can rest, but I don't see happening either. So, no, there's no way to mitigate it. It is what it is. This is what we've got. This is how we got here and this is how it's going to end, either for the better or for worse.” ... UConn's Edwards became the ninth player in program history Saturday to reach the 1,000-rebound plateau. She joins Tina Charles (1,367), Maya Moore (1,276), Rebecca Lobo (1,268), Napheesa Collier (1,219), Breanna Stewart (1,179), Stefanie Dolson (1,101), Jamelle Elliott (1,054) and Gabby Williams (1,007) . ... Bueckers (809) became just the second player in UConn history to eclipse 800 points in a season, joining Moore (2010-11) . ... The NCAA released a statement Sunday regarding the 3-point lines at the Moda Center, saying they are not the same distance. The statement said that both head coaches in Sunday's regional final, Vic Schaefer of Texas and Wes Moore of N.C. State agreed to play the game on the court the way it was. The court will be corrected before tomorrow's UConn-USC matchup . ... This is the third meeting all-time between UConn and USC, the first in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies and Trojans last met on Dec. 7, 2003, in Los Angeles, a homecoming game for UConn great Diana Taurasi. UConn, 2-0 in the series, won 72-69 . ... The winner of this game will play either Iowa or LSU in the national semifinals Friday at the Final Four in Cleveland.