Four-hundred and twenty-one days since their last loss, UConn has made a fourth-consecutive Final Four.
They’re two games away from their first perfect season since 2015-16, a feat they haven’t accomplished since re-joining the Big East six years ago. No team has finished within double digits of the Huskies since Michigan in November.
While all signs point to the invincibility of No. 1-overall seed UConn, an all-too familiar face is now staring them down in their path to back-to-back championships.
Why everything’s been working for the Huskies
The Huskies’ 18-point win over Notre Dame was their smallest margin of victory since beating Villanova by 14 points on Feb. 18. No opponent has broken 70 points against them all year. They’ve only been held under 70 once.
UConn dominates every statistical and tactical facet of the game, and have no real exploitable weaknesses. Not only is Sarah Strong the best player in college basketball, she’s the most consistent. She hasn’t had a single-digit scoring outing this whole year. The worst she’s shot in a game was 45 percent, which is an average night for many of the country’s best. She’s shown an ability to be remarkably portable within the Husky offense—she scores on the ball, off the ball, from the perimeter, from the post, and everywhere else in-between. That may be the hardest part about scheming against Strong, and her team as a whole. They have tendencies, but they are comfortable breaking from them. You can’t just take them away.
No one exemplifies that adaptability more than Azzi Fudd. Outside of a 8-for-11 performance from beyond the arc against Syracuse, she hasn’t found many opportunities to get loose from 3 thus far in the tournament. She only attempted one three against Notre Dame, three against North Carolina and five against UTSA (although she only played 17 minutes in the Round of 64). Regardless of her long distance reps, she’s been a huge plus for her team in each game. Her defense is reaching peaks that it saw last March, and her passing has been one of the more impressive developments this season as she’s inherited a heap of on-ball reps sans Paige Bueckers.
Finally, Blanca Quiñonez has a strong argument to be UConn’s most valuable player thus far in the tournament. Her 20 points and eight rebounds against Notre Dame was quite frankly the biggest separator in a game where the Fighting Irish starters outscored the Husky starters by five points. Quiñonez is averaging 17.3 points per game through four tournament contests—more than Fudd and only two less than Strong.
South Carolina will challenge UConn’s consistency
South Carolina will unsurprisingly be UConn’s toughest opponent all year. The two have enough history in April to confirm that.
While many teams lack the size to neutralize Strong on the interior, the Gamecocks will make life much more difficult for the sophomore. Joyce Edwards and Madina Okot combine for 33 points and 18 rebounds per game in the frontcourt. Agot Makeer, whose long arms help her play much bigger than her 6-foot-1 listed height, had an equally impressive game to Quiñonez off the bench in the Elite Eight. Makeer only saw double-digit points three times this season going into the tournament, but has since hit that mark in four consecutive games. She’s also played 25 or more minutes in each of her tournament games, and sent TCU home with a career-high 18 points on Monday night.
Friday night will feature some of the most even and exciting matchups we’ve seen all season. Edwards vs. Strong. Fudd vs. Ta’Niya Latson. KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade vs. Tessa Johnson and Raven Johnson. Quiñonez vs. Makeer. It’s undeniable that UConn has the best player in the game, and they’ve jelled better throughout the season. However, the matchup looks remarkably close on paper. South Carolina is good enough to take home a win on an off-night for the Huskies, and Geno Auriemma certainly knows that.
As hungry as they will be to return to the National Championship, don’t expect UConn to stray from the formula that’s got them thus far. Their consistency is what makes them great. Other stars would force the issue early in games, desperate to prove their talent and win the game on their own. Strong and Fudd don’t operate that way. Their trust in each other, and in Auriemma’s system, is remarkably mature. The Huskies are going to play their game, and force South Carolina to adjust to them.
The reality will continue to be that UConn hasn’t lost in 54 games. They are rightful favorites, but they are not invincible. If a shaky Notre Dame team can compete with them, South Carolina poses more than just a threat. For the first time since November, the Huskies will have to dig deep to earn this one.
