The NCAA basketball media reacts to South Carolina’s rout of UConn to win the national championship
When the South Carolina Gamecocks beat UConn to win the Women’s National Championship, the media said that Dawn Staley and her team did a great job.
Last year, South Carolina was one putback away from reaching the national championship game. They made it this year, and they played as if they had a year’s worth of emotions to unleash on the UConn Huskies.
In the first quarter, the Gamecocks pulled out to a large lead over the Huskies, leading 22-8 before halftime. They never gave up and held off a few comeback tries to win 64-49 and clinch the championship.
South Carolina’s remarkable journey to a title drew a lot of attention from the NCAA basketball media.
And that’s it. South Carolina wins it. Destanni Henderson with the huge game to make this possible. Dawn Staley stays undefeated in national finals, and the player of the year Aliyah Boston gets a ring.
— Maggie Hendricks (@maggiehendricks) April 4, 2022
What we’re seeing tonight is what we already knew – no one player can do it all by themself. This isn’t a slight at anyone but rather just the pure fact that USC is loaded with talent across the roster, put their egos aside and embraced their roles. This is special to watch.
— Mike Uva (@Mike_Uva) April 4, 2022
Such an impressive win by South Carolina. They were more physical and aggressive than UConn, and led from start to finish. Congrats to @dawnstaley for winning her second national title.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 4, 2022
Dawn Staley becomes the first Black coach in men’s or women’s Division I basketball history to win multiple national championships with South Carolina’s 64-49 win over UCONN pic.twitter.com/VvG1lyy32t
— Rhiannon Walker (@InstantRHIplay) April 4, 2022
Congratulations to @dawnstaley and the South Carolina Gamecocks on their NCAA Division I Women’s basketball national title. I truly believe that if Staley ever becomes interested, she could be the first women’s head coach in the NBA. Wizards had interest before hiring Unseld, Jr. pic.twitter.com/SDwxzbrkDe
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 4, 2022
Congrats to South Carolina and Dawn Staley! National Champions and a dominating performance tonight 💪🏽
— Joy Taylor (@JoyTaylorTalks) April 4, 2022
South Carolina wins their 2nd National Championship.
They finish with 35 wins, the most in SC history.
UConn finished with 49 points, their 2nd-fewest ever in a NCAA Tournament game. pic.twitter.com/nyN6THP6Yu
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 4, 2022
Per @ESPNStatsInfo: South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston finished the tournament averaging 16.8 points and 15.2 rebounds per game.
She’s the first player to average 15 PPG and 15 RPG in the tournament for a national champion
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) April 4, 2022
Staley took over as head coach of the Gamecocks in 2008 and has since elevated the team to national prominence. They won the national championship in 2017 and advanced to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed in 2021.
For the majority of the season, they were the top team in women’s college basketball, and they earned the No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament.
The tournament began with a 79-21 triumph over No. 16 Howard. Then they beat No. 8 Miami by a score of 49-33. In the Sweet 16, they faced No. 5 North Carolina in a tougher contest, but they prevailed 69-61.
South Carolina defeated No. 10 Creighton 80-50 in the Elite Eight. In the Final Four, they didn’t give No. 1 Louisville a chance, winning 72-59.
Although UConn was the lower-seeded team, Geno Auriemma’s 11-0 record in title games made the Huskies a difficult opponent.
Destiny Henderson finished the game with 26 points, four assists, and three steals. Alijah Boston, the Player of the Year, had 16 rebounds and two blocks to go along with 11 points.
Paige Pueckers of UConn led the team with 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
