MINNEAPOLIS — UConn women’s basketball has been muscled off the mountaintop. South Carolina, with its second championship in six years, looks down upon the rest of women’s basketball and does not figure to be descending any time soon.
“They have a lot of players coming back,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said, his voice raspy from the cold or flu that struck his team before the Huskies lost the NCAA championship game, 64-49, Sunday night. “This particular South Carolina team was the best one they’ve had. What does that mean for next year? I don’t know, but you go into next season thinking they’re going to be in your way at some point if you want to win the whole thing.”
South Carolina started two seniors, Destanni Henderson, the guard who tormented UConn with 26 points, and 6-foot-2 forward Victoria Saxton, one of the frontcourt forces that helped the Gamecocks compile their shocking 49-24 edge in rebounding. Aliyah Boston, the national player of the year who averaged 16 points and 15 rebounds across the NCAA Tournament, is a junior.
