South Carolina, UConn breeze through Final Four to set up powerhouse NCAA final

TAMPA, Fla. — South Carolina is one win away from repeating as NCAA women's basketball national champs, but the one obstacle left in their path is also the last team to win back-to-back titles.

Second-seeded Connecticut, which hasn't won a championship since repeating in 2015-16, routed top-seeded UCLA 85-51 on Friday night. That sets up a showdown Sunday afternoon with the Gamecocks, who advanced with an easy 74-57 win Friday over Texas.

"I don't think we made a mistake the entire evening, especially on the defensive end," said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who will go for his 12th national title on Sunday. "I'm just incredibly proud of these guys and what they were able to do ... it took everything we had, and I'm very humbled by their performance tonight.

Both teams had easy semifinal wins at Amalie Arena despite facing strong seeds — UConn's 34-point margin of victory was the largest in Women's Final Four history. Auriemma cited the depth of talent on his team, that on a night when senior guard Paige Bueckers was held to 16 points, his team was still lifted by forward Sarah Strong (22 points) and guard Azzi Fudd (19). Bueckers, who came to UConn with dreams of winning a national title, said she is grateful to now be one win away from that goal.

"We prayed, we prepared and we hoped to be playing on the last day of the season, and we get that opportunity," Bueckers said. "So we don't want to take it for granted, and you don't want to get caught up in the moment of being so anxious and trying to win the national championship in one possession that you're just psyching yourself out."

If UConn can win Sunday, they'll do something no Huskies champions have done before, by beating three No. 1 seeds along the way, the most any