The lone Elite Eight seeding upset in either the men's or women's NCAA Tournaments came in the last game of the event. No. 2 seed UConn, although a favorite because of an injury to USC's JuJu Watkins, defeated the top-seeded Trojans 78-64. The Huskies now advance to the program's 24th Final Four appearance.
UConn vs. USC Box Score
UConn
USC
UConn vs. USC Game Summary
UConn took an early 5-1 lead, but USC then countered by scoring the game's next 10 points. A Kiki Iriafen jumper with 4:14 left in the quarter gave the Trojans the 11-5 advantage. But UConn answered with nine straight points to end the quarter, taking a 14-11 lead.
The Huskies took control in the second quarter, taking a 24-17 lead on a Paige Bueckers three-point play with 6:38 remaining in the quarter. USC pulled within 28-23 but UConn had an 11-2 run to end the half, taking a 39-25 lead into intermission.
UConn pushed its advantage as far as 47-30 on a Bueckers 3-pointer with 5:53 remaining in the quarter. But USC went on a 16-4 run to finish the quarter and trim the lead to 51-46 entering the final period. That run included the final 11 points of the third quarter.
UConn then blew the game open, pushing the lead to 66-51 on an Azzi Fudd layup with 4:42 to go. USC wouldn't get closer than nine points for the remainder of the game.
UConn was led by Bueckers, who had 31 points, six assists, four steals and blocked a pair of shots. She shot 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Sarah Strong added 22 points and 17 rebounds. Kaitlyn Chen also tallied 15 points for the Huskies.
With star JuJu Watkins unavailable due to a knee injury, USC was led by Rayah Marshall's 23 points and 15 rebounds. Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen each tallied 10 points, although Iriafen shot just 3-for-15.
UConn will take on No. 1 seed UCLA in the Final Four on Friday, apparently in the latter game, which will start around 9:30 p.m. EST. This is the first Final Four trip for the Bruins.
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