UConn game plan almost works to perfection against No. 1 South Carolina

The Huskies gave the reigning national champions a battle for 40 minutes but without their full complement of players, they couldn't pull off the upset.

Ian Bethune

UConn accomplished a lot of what it set out to do against South Carolina on Sunday. The Huskies wanted to punch first — they were ahead by 11 after one quarter. They needed to hit shots — they made 53 percent from the field. Aaliyah Edwards and Aubrey Griffin had to play great — the two combined for 42 points.

That was enough to get UConn close, but it needed just a little bit more to finish off its top-ranked opponent. In the end, the Huskies fell to the Gamecocks 81-77 at the XL Center. Considering the circumstances — missing Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme due to injuries; only having a 37.6 percent chance to win, according to Her Hoop Stats — UConn needed a nearly perfect performance to pull off the upset.

The Huskies threw the first punch and expected South Carolina to punch back, but that didn’t really happen. Instead, the Gamecocks wore UConn out over the next 30 minutes. The visitors never scored more than six points in a row but once they pulled even at the half, they never trailed again.

Though UConn was hitting a high percentage from the field, it only attempted six 3-pointers and made just two — both season-lows. Edwards and Griffin were great, but they only combined for eight rebounds and Edwards was limited to just 28 minutes with foul trouble.

Geno Auriemma crafted an excellent game plan — but also made a costly mistake down the stretch.

UConn played well but it still wasn’t enough to come away with a victory. On Sunday, the Huskies proved that they’re one of the best teams in the country, even shorthanded. But unless reinforcements arrive, they’ll need some help to win a national championship.

Even though the game played out largely as expected, four key areas sunk UConn’s chances.

Rebounding woes

UConn went in knowing the competition on the glass would be intense. South Carolina had a 42-30 edge overall, 25-10 on the offensive glass, and a 25-10 advantage in second-chance points.

To make matters worse, there were multiple occasions where the Huskies got a stop, put themselves in a position to grab the rebound, but let the Gamecocks came away with it. Those possessions hurt UConn more than the lopsided rebounding totals.

“It's a four-point swing — and especially if there's a foul. Two (points) we could have got down that end and three (points) they just got here. That happened four or five times,” Auriemma explained. “So yeah, they're gonna get their share. But you also can't let them have the [rebounds] that you have.”

Quiet night from deep