After nine long years, Geno Auriemma and Connecticut are back atop women's college basketball

TAMPA, Fla. — For all intents and purposes, the game was over long before the final buzzer sounded.

The coronation of the Connecticut women’s basketball program — back atop the sport for the first time in nearly a decade — began a little after halftime. By that point, it was clear that South Carolina had no answers for what the Huskies were doing offensively; one of the lasting images from this particular national championship game would be Dawn Staley on the sideline screaming a word that began with an “f” and is not very family friendly. Staley’s team was outmatched and outmaneuvered at every turn by a UConn squad whose talent could not be denied.

In her very last game in a Connecticut jersey and after two devastating knee injuries that derailed the middle of her college career, Paige Bueckers finally got her national championship. Azzi Fudd, just one year after her own devastating season-ending injury, dropped 24 points in the biggest game of her career. Freshman sensation Sarah Strong finished with a truly astonishing stat line — 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.

Game Recap: Paige Bueckers, big three lead UConn to first title since 2016

These Huskies would not be stopped and could not leave Amalie Arena without that national championship trophy. Geno Auriemma admitted afterward that his biggest concern on Sunday was that somehow everything would go wrong for UConn and everything would go right for South Carolina, and then he had no idea what he’d say or how he’s process it. He didn’t want to imagine a world in which Bueckers’ college career ended without her cutting down the nets.

“I just kept thinking something good has to happen because if we were going to lose it would have been before now,” Auriemma said after UConn beat South Carolina, 82-59. “I don't think the basketball gods would take us all the way to the end. They've been really cruel with some of the kids on this team — they've suffered a lot of the things that could go wrong in their college careers as an athlete. So, they don't need any more heartbreak.

“The (basketball gods) weren't going to take us here and give us more heartbreak. I kept holding on to that. I'm glad (these players) were rewarded. This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I've been a part of, since that very first one.”

Bueckers herself was emotional, crying as she hugged Auriemma after checking out of the game for the final time as a Connecticut basketball player. The hug lasted a beat longer than it probably needed to last, but Auriemma said later he was trying to make sure Bueckers felt how much she meant to him and how much they’d been through together over the past five years. He’d talked about it a lot these last few days, but he wanted her to feel it, too, in his embrace. She tried to put unspoken words into the moment as well.

“Just gratitude for all that Coach has meant ...