South Carolina players celebrate after their 64-49 win over UConn in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game Sunday night in Minneapolis. Eric Gay/Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — Dawn Staley hoisted the championship trophy high, strutted around the court and stopped only for a brief victory dance. She handed over the hardware to South Carolina’s student band, then headed back to midcourt for more merriment.

After hitting all the right notes this season, it was time for the Gamecocks to celebrate.

Staley’s team buttoned up on defense and dominated on the glass, beating UConn 64-49 on Sunday night to end the Huskies’ undefeated streak in NCAA women’s basketball championship games. Destanni Henderson scored a career-high 26 points, Aliyah Boston added 11 points and 16 rebounds, and the Gamecocks handed Geno Auriemma’s Huskies their first loss in 12 NCAA finals.

“We played every possession like it was our last possession,” Staley said. “They were determined to be champions today.”

A year ago, South Carolina lost in the Final Four when Boston missed a layup before the buzzer.

“Obviously, I’ve been thinking about this since last season. Everyone had a picture of me crying,” said Boston, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. “Today, we’re national champions and I’m in tears.”

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With Staley calling the shots in a $5,000 letterman jacket, South Carolina took UConn to school on the boards and capped a wire-to-wire run as the No. 1 team in the country in The Associated Press poll. The Gamecocks also won the championship in 2017 with A’ja Wilson leading the way.

This time it was Boston – the AP Player of the Year – and her fellow South Carolina post players who dominated on the game’s biggest stage. The Gamecocks outrebounded UConn by 25, including a 21-6 advantage on offensive boards. They also clamped down on star Paige Bueckers and the rest of the Huskies, just like they did against opponents all season long.

“They deserved it 100%,” Auriemma said. “They were the best team all year. The first five minutes, I thought they came out and set the tone then and there for how the game was going to be played.”

It was South Carolina’s night from the start. The Gamecocks (35-2) jumped out to an 11-2 lead, grabbing nearly every rebound on both ends of the court. They led 22-8 after one quarter, much to the delight of their faithful fans, who made the trip to Minneapolis to be part of the sellout crowd.

UConn (30-6) trailed by 16 in the second quarter before Bueckers, a Minnesota native, got going. After taking just one shot in the first quarter, she scored nine points in the second to get the Huskies within 35-27 at the half. She finished with 14.

An 8-2 run to start the third quarter put South Carolina up 43-29 before the Huskies finally started connecting from behind the arc. UConn missed its first eight 3-point attempts until Caroline Ducharme made one from the wing and Evina Westbrook followed with another to get the Huskies within 43-37.

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That’s as close as they could get because of Henderson.

The senior guard had a three-point play to close the third quarter and then scored her team’s first four points in the fourth to restore the double-digit lead.

This was UConn’s first trip to the championship game since 2016, when the Huskies won the last of four straight titles. Since then, the team has suffered heartbreaking defeats in the national semifinals, losing twice in overtime, before holding off Stanford on Friday night. The Huskies were trying to win their 12th title in the same city where they won their first in 1995.

Auriemma said Saturday that when his team had won each of its 11 titles, the Huskies entered the game as the better team. They certainly weren’t on Sunday.

“We just didn’t have enough,” he said. “They were just too good for us.”

It was one of the most challenging seasons of Auriemma’s Hall of Fame career. UConn overcame losing eight players for at least two games because of injury or illness, including Bueckers, who missed nearly three months after a left knee injury suffered in early December. She came back in late February but wasn’t at the same level that earned her AP Player of the Year as a freshman last season.

The Gamecocks have been stalwarts on defense all season long, ranking third nationally with 50.5 points allowed per game. They were even sharper in the NCAA Tournament, holding opponents to 44.8 points entering Sunday’s finale.

Henderson had three steals, Boston blocked two shots and South Carolina forced 15 turnovers against UConn. The Gamecocks’ plus-25 rebounding margin was the second biggest ever in a title game.


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