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\n South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and UConn coach Geno Auriemma exchange words near the end of Friday\u2019s game. (Christian Petersen \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
After all of the drama, the Gamecocks are heading back to the championship game and will play UCLA on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Gamecocks pulled the upset over top-seeded UConn by stifling a Huskies offense that has been scoring at will this season.<\/p>\n
UConn averaged 87 points this season, led by player of the year Sarah Strong, but couldn\u2019t get much going against South Carolina\u2019s aggressive and physical defense.<\/p>\n
Strong scored just 12 points. All-American Azzi Fudd had only 8 points and shot 3 of 15 from the field, and the entire Huskies offense shot just 31 percent from the field.<\/p>\n
South Carolina\u2019s defensive performance was even better than Staley imagined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought our gap help was great,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought we were really disciplined in chasing off the screens, not shooting, being in the play, right? We never let UConn get ahead of the possession. When you\u2019re able to dictate like that, you get in good defensive position. I thought it was great. It was actually far greater than I envisioned.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Carolina didn\u2019t shoot much better, just 37.5 percent from the field, but the Gamecocks\u2019 defensive versatility gave UConn issues throughout the game. It\u2019s why even after making just four shots in the second quarter, the Gamecocks were trailing by only two points at halftime.<\/p>\n
Staley, though, was not happy at halftime. The players saw an animated and fired-up Staley behind the scenes, one who wanted to relay a \u201clive in the moment\u201d message.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really don\u2019t get these opportunities very often. You don\u2019t,\u201d Staley said. \u201cSo you got to meet the moment. Like, if we lost this game, I know our players would have been mad at themselves because they\u2019re very capable. Like, play to your capabilities. Play to the habits that we\u2019ve had all season long.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third quarter changed the game for South Carolina. While its defensive intensity continued, holding UConn to just 29-percent shooting, its offense woke up.<\/p>\n
The Gamecocks, led by Latson with 16 points and Agot Makeer with 14 points, shot 46 percent from the field in the third quarter. South Carolina made 8 of 10 free throws to take a 10-point lead with three minutes left in the quarter.<\/p>\n
Facing its largest deficit of the season, UConn answered with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, but as it did throughout the game, South Carolina answered with a run of its own. The Gamecocks scored four straight to take a five-point lead into the quarter break. The frustration turned into a quarter-break rant from Auriemma.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us. And they\u2019ve been beating the s\u2014 out of our guys down there the entire game,\u201d he said during an in-game interview with ESPN\u2019s Holly Rowe. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not making excuses because we haven\u2019t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous. Their coach ran some rage on the sideline and called the referees some names you don\u2019t want to hear. And now we get 6 to 0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey. And they go, \u2018I didn\u2019t see it.\u2019 C\u2019mon, man, this is the national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n