UConn gives No. 1 South Carolina all it can handle, but falls just short in 81-77 loss

UConn women’s basketball entered a rematch of the last season’s national title game against South Carolina in an unfamiliar position: Not the widely assumed favorites.

With just eight players available, the No. 5 Huskies gave the No. 1 team in the country a strong fight all the way to the final buzzer, but ultimately couldn’t complete the upset. They lost 81-77 to the Gamecocks in front a sold-out crowd at XL Center on Sunday.

This is UConn’s first home loss to the Gamecocks in series history, dating back to 2007. The Huskies hold a 9-4 lead all-time, but South Carolina has now won four of the last five matchups.

Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston led South Carolina with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Kamila Cardoso had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Aaliyah Edwards led the Huskies with 25 points and four rebounds. Lou Lopez Senechal had 19 points and five rebounds, Aubrey Griffin finished with 17 points and four rebounds and Nika Muhl had 11 points, four assists and four rebounds.

The Huskies were determined to set the tone early after being outscored 22-8 in the first quarter the last time these two teams faced, and that’s exactly what they did on Sunday.

UConn held a 25-14 lead at the end of the opening frame this time around, thanks in large part to the play of Mühl. The junior point guard scored nine points on 3 of 3 shooting in the first quarter.

The Huskies shot 61.5% (8 of 15) from the field in the first quarter, but that production dwindled to 27.3% (3 of 11) as the Gamecocks outscored them 20-9 in the second.

Aaliyah Edwards was called for her third foul with 3:03 left in the second, forcing head coach Geno Auriemma to sub her out of the game for freshman Ayanna Patterson.

At that point the Huskies were in the midst of a four-minute scoring drought, allowing the Gamecocks to cut into their lead. Lou Lopez Senechal got a shot to fall as the shot clock expired to break the drought, pushing UConn’s lead to 33-27 with 2:27 left.

But Kamilla Cardoso answered on the other end, as the Huskies struggled to slow down the 6-foot-7 center throughout the first half. She made a free throw, grabbed an offensive rebound off her miss and put it back up for a score in the final seconds to make it a tie game at 34-34 at halftime.

Cardoso had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench to lead all players at the break. The Gamecocks shot 34.3% in the first half and got the bulk of their scoring from their bench (24 points). UConn limited South Carolina’s two best players, Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke in the first half, holding them to a combined 0-for-13 from the floor and four points.

Cooke scored the first points out of the halftime break, giving South Carolina its first lead since the opening seconds of the game, 36-34. Boston got going as well, making two layups in less than a minute, and it was a back and forth affair from there.

With under four minutes left, Aubrey Griffin powered through multiple defenders to get to the rim and draw the foul. The and-one bucket tied the game at 45-45.

But the Gamecocks went on a 6-0 run in a little over a minute from there to take a 51-45 lead, leading Auriemma to call a timeout with 1:45 left in the quarter. Cardoso had two layups and a block on the run, the Huskies still without an answer for her.

Edwards went right back at her though, scoring an and-one bucket on Cardoso out of the timeout, complete with an emphatic chest bump celebration with Paige Bueckers on the bench. She was called for her fourth foul shortly after though and subbed out of the game for Patterson.

With a second-chance bucket from Lopez Senechal, UConn had shortened South Carolina’s lead to 53-50 at the end of the third.

After starting the game 0 of 11 from deep, the Gamecocks finally got triple to fall from Brea Beal with 8:11 left. Raven Johnson made another right after that, stretching their lead to six.

Auriemma was called for a technical foul with under four minutes left after reacting in frustration. Boston made both shots at the free throw line and then scored a jumper afterwards, giving South Carolina a 69-59 lead with 3:42 left.

Cardoso got a technical after fouling out and slamming the ball down in frustration with 1:20 left. After Edwards and Lou Lopez Senechal split free throws, followed by a layup from Juhasz, the Huskies were back in the game.

Then Edwards made a layup with 46.2 seconds left to make to a 75-70 game. UConn called timeout, looking to make one final push.

Muhl fouled out with 34.7 seconds left and Lopez Senechal followed suit soon after. After South Carolina free throws, UConn was down 80-74 with 16 seconds left. It seemed as if the game was once again over, but Griffin made a miraculous and-one play to make it a three-point game with 10.8 seconds left.

Ultimately though, the Gamecocks pulled away at the charity stripe.