Women’s Final Four Recap: South Carolina Stuns UConn, UCLA Holds Off Texas

The women’s Final Four wasn’t short on drama. Sports Illustrated followed along during it all.

After a heated postgame handshake with Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma walked off the court without shaking anyone else’s hands in UConn’s Final Four loss. | Jordan Naholowaa Murph/Sports Illustrated

The final weekend of the women’s NCAA tournament has arrived. And it has gotten off to a hot start.

Friday’s action kicked off with a rematch of last year’s title game, but it certainly wasn’t a replay of that game. South Carolina defeated UConn, 62–48, but the real story was what happened in the final moments of the game. When Dawn Staley went over to shake Geno Auriemma’s hand, the UConn coach got some stuff off his chest and the two coaches had to be separated. It’s not entirely clear what happened, but whatever it was, Auriemma made it personal.

It was hard to follow up that drama, but UCLA tried its best by stalling a disciplined Texas team, 51–44. Madison Booker was an uncharacteristic 3-for-23 shooting in a game that was physical from start to finish.

Sports Illustrated was here throughout both games with live updates, highlights and analysis as it all unfolded.

Friday’s Final Four matchups

Final: South Carolina 62, UConn 48

The Gamecocks capped a dominant defensive performance with an 18–9 fourth quarter to take home Friday’s first Final Four game. Ta’Niya Latson led all scorers with 16 for South Carolina. Sarah Strong was held to just 12 for UConn, while Azzi Fudd scored eight. The Huskies suffered their first defeat of the season.

UConn was held to just 48 points by a physical South Carolina defense. The last time the Huskies failed to break 50? The 2022 national title game ... against Staley’s Gamecocks, a 64–49 South Carolina victory.

Friday’s matchup was the 15th all-time between Auriemma and Staley. The former still has the all-time edge between the two, with nine wins to six, but the Gamecocks have won six of the last eight meetings, and the two coaches have now split the four NCAA tournament matchups in the series.

Final: UCLA 51, Texas 44

Texas was out of sorts early against UCLA, knocking down just 3-of-14 shots as a team in the first quarter. While they say defense wins championships, both the Bruins and the Longhorns (and even the Gamecocks and Huskies, for that matter) took that to heart on Friday.

The glaringly obvious issue with the Longhorns: Booker’s stale shooting night. Defensively, Texas executed its usual game plan of keeping opponents below 60 points, forcing turnovers (the Bruins had 23) and limiting chances. But Booker is the center of the Longhorns’ offense and her teammates couldn't muster up enough to offset her off night.

Live updates from the Final Four

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