The defending champions are out of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
No. 2 UConn knocked out No. 1 Stanford with a 63-58 win, making it the Huskies’ 12th appearance in the national championship game.
It was a low-scoring affair, and that became apparent very early in the opening quarter as no team could get any offense going. The Huskies led 12-9 after the first quarter as Stanford shot 4 of 16 (26.7%) overall.
Offense started flowing for both teams in the latter half of the second quarter. UConn senior guard Evina Westbrook made three 3s to ignite the Huskies while Haley Jones and Cameron Brink dominated the paint for the Cardinals, finishing the half with eight points apiece.
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The third quarter also went back and forth, but the Huskies began pulling away midway through the fourth after Paige Bueckers made a layup in transition to push the lead to eight, the largest for any team.
Stanford got within two points in a thrilling final minute mired with turnovers, but UConn made its free throws to hold on to the lead.
Bueckers, who played through a thigh issue in the second half, finished the game with 14 points on 7 of 13 shooting to lead UConn.
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Jones led Stanford with 20 points but Lexie Hull, the leading scorer in the tournament entering this game, went cold at an inopportune time. Hull finished with 4 points on 2 of 12 shooting. Stanford had won the title last year, but the program will not be able to repeat.
UConn now heads to the national championship game to face No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday, which defeated No. 1 Louisville in the other national semifinal. The Huskies have never lost in the title game, going 11-0.
