Paige Bueckers ends UConn career with national championship as Huskies rout South Carolina

In her final game before heading to the WNBA, Paige Bueckers put up 17 points in UConn's 82-59 win over the Gamecocks.

The Huskies led by 10 at the half, as South Carolina struggled from the floor - they had just 26 points in the first 20 minutes.

But Azzi Fudd began to put the nail in the coffin in the third quarter, dropping 11 of her 24 points in the frame. Despite it being South Carolina's highest-scoring quarter up to that point, it was also easily UConn's, who outscored the Gamecocks, 26-16, to take a commanding 20-point lead heading into the fourth.

The Huskies kept their foot on the pedal, though, getting out on a 18-6 run to open up the quarter, effectively icing the ball game. After that, South Carolina took their starters out, albeit to a great hand.

Bueckers and Fudd, along with the starters, came out with 1:32 to go, and an emotional Bueckers shared a long embrace with head coach Geno Auriemma. Bueckers made each Final Four of her career but never reached the top until Sunday.

It was a shooting performance South Carolina would like to forget - before knocking two of their final three, they hit just 2-for-13 from three. UConn, however, shot 48.4% from the floor.

Bueckers is likely to be the first overall pick in the WNBA Draft next week. She even missed a season with a torn ACL she suffered back in 2022, but she will still go down as one of UConn's greatest, which is already immortal company to begin with.

Bueckers' 19.9 points per game is the largest in UConn history, and she also had the third-most points in women's March Madness history throughout a career.

It's actually been nine years since UConn's last title, which is their longest drought since winning their back 30 years ago. They previously had never gone more than five years without winning it all (from 2004 to 2009).