On Monday night, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in women’s college basketball faced off. South Carolina came in the game No. 1 and Connecticut No. 2. It was not a pretty game with both teams struggling from the field, but it was a close game that went into overtime. The Huskies came out on top 63-59.
Aliyah Boston finished with 17 points for South Carolina, and she was a rebounding machine. Boston finished with 15 rebounds and eight of them offensive. Zia Cooke finished with 11 points on 4-13 shooting from the field, but Paige Bueckers stole Connecticut’s show.
Bueckers is the Real Deal
With her team down four points in crunch time, Paige Bueckers scored four straight points to tie the game up for the Huskies. In overtime, South Carolina went ahead in the game, and Bueckers hit a jumper to give the Huskies the lead. On the next possession with the shot clock running down, she threw up a three-point shot and got a shooter’s bounce or lucky bounce, whatever you want to call it to ice the game.
Bueckers finished the game with 31 points, four rebounds, five assists, and six steals. She was the only Connecticut player to score double-digits. Without Bueckers’ performance, the Huskies do not win this game. It was Paige’s third straight 30 point game, she is the first player in Connecticut history to score 30 points three games in a row.
Both Teams Struggled From the Field
Connecticut shot 39.7 % from the field, and South Carolina shot 36.8 from the field. It was not much better from behind the arc; the Gamecocks shot 11.1% and the Huskies 13.3. Both teams started slow, missing a lot of easy and open shots. It was some good defense being played, but there were shots to be made in this game. South Carolina had 19 offensive rebounds but missed a lot of easy putbacks that cost them the game.
Turnovers
Both teams combined for 38 total turnovers; turnovers down the stretch hurt South Carolina. Connecticut finished with 11 steals in the game. Turnovers hurt you, especially when they happen down in crunch time.
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