On April 3, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks handled the University of Connecticut Huskies 64-49 in Minneapolis to win the Division I women's national basketball championship.
Destanni Henderson scored a career-high 26 points while Aliyah Boston (named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player) added 11 points and 16 rebounds, as Dawn Staley's Gamecocks handed Geno Auriemma's Huskies their first loss in 12 NCAA title games.
"We played every possession like it was our last possession," said Staley, the first Black men's or women's coach with two Division I titles, according to The Chicago Tribune. "They were determined to be champions today."
Last year, South Carolina lost in the Final Four when Boston missed a layup before the buzzer. This year, ESPN noted, South Carolina, who went 14-0 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 this season, became the eighth program to win multiple national titles in NCAA women's basketball history, joining UConn (11), Tennessee (eight), Stanford (three), Baylor (three), Notre Dame (two), USC (two) and Louisiana Tech (two). The Gamecocks also won the national title by edging Mississippi State in 2017.
South Carolina (35-2) is also the 12th team to go wire to wire as number one in the AP poll and win it all. The Huskies finished 30-6.