The UConn Huskies have won the 2025 NCAA Women’s national championship following a dominant 82-59 victory over South Carolina.
The victory is the 12th title for coach Geno Auriemma’s Huskies, and first since 2016. Freshman Sarah Strong put up a 24pts/15reb/5ast stat line to lead the way for UConn while Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers had 24 and 17 points apiece.
While the two powerhouse programs traded blows in the early going, from halftime onwards it was all UConn as South Carolina struggled to generate anything offensively, and were consistently outworked on the glass on both ends of the court. It was a rare off night for Dawn Staley’s squad who wrapped up a 35-4 season, but suffered two blowout losses to UConn along the way.
It was par for the course for the Huskies, who are now 12-1 in National Championship games under Auriemma, as they now sport 12 wins in the Final Four by 20 or more points. For context, all other teams in Division I women’s history have 11 combined.
The usually stoic Auriemma was visibly emotional following his team’s dominant performance. “They have all been gratifying, don’t get me wrong. But this one here, because of the way it came about and what’s been involved,” Auriemma said. “It’s a long time since I’ve been that emotional when a player has walked off the court.”
“This afternoon I went for a walk and as I’m walking outside the hotel at one point I said, ‘Dear God, I don’t need one of these, but damn my players do. Can you do it for them?’” Auriemma said. “So I think it means a lot personally that we can still do this after all these years, but I’ve said this 100 times — Tomorrow I get up in the morning and I’m the same person … but these kids, their lives have changed forever and I’m glad I had a part in that.”
Bueckers didn’t have much time to soak in the moment before being swarmed by reporters, but in typical Paige fashion, was quick to credit her teammates for helping her reach the pinnacle. “Unreal. Just so much gratitude for everything this program has meant to me, for how much my teammates have meant to me,” she said after the game. “I can’t name all the people. Everybody here, it takes a village just to do what we do here. Every one is important to the team success.”
Indeed it’s been an uphill battle for the Huskies the past few seasons, as they’ve struggled with significant injuries to key players including Bueckers and Fudd, who have had limited game action together over the last 5 years as a result.
While most of the attention was on presumptive number 1 WNBA draft pick Bueckers in the aftermath of the win, Auriemma was quick to heap praise on his star freshman as well. “There are players that play four years and don’t get as much done as she did this year,” Auriemma said regarding Strong. “And I mean everywhere. Shooting the ball, handling the ball, finishing at the basket. Eleven rebounds in the first half. There’s not a part of the game where she doesn’t dominate.”
With Fudd and Strong set to return next year, and a new banner to hang back in Storrs, the Huskies will undoubtedly open the season as a favourite to win it all again in 2026.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.