PHOENIX โ Oh, you thought the four best teams in womenโs college basketball over the past two seasons would show up at the Final Four and put on an offensive clinic?
Thatโs hilarious.
The consequence of a sport that prides itself on defensive buy-in is that matchups of the elite come down to which team can crack 50.
Advertisement
Whether fans can stomach it is less concrete a mark than those involved recognize.
โI wanted to apologize to all the fans for the rugby match and the 23 turnovers,โ was the first thing UCLA head coach Cori Close said in the post-game press conference. Asked later if she thought it would be that much of a defensive battle, she scoffed her denial.
UCLA advanced to its first NCAA national championship game with a 51-44 victory over Texas that barely crossed the scoring threshold. South Carolina moved forward in a 62-48 win over UConn that didnโt develop an offensive attitude until the second half.
There were more bodies on the floor than made field goals, an embellishment that might actually be true for the UCLA-Texas nightcap in which they combined for 35 turnovers, 10 more than the first game.
Advertisement
The ugly showing lodged itself into various record slots. And not the fun kind.
The six points UCLA held Texas to in the first quarter are tied for the fewest in any quarter in a national semifinal game, and the second-fewest in a quarter of a Final Four game. The 37 combined points in the first half set the record for fewest points in a half, and the second-fewest of any half of a Final Four game. The 95 combined points is the third-lowest combined score in womenโs Final Four history, narrowly beating out the 93-point total in 2008 between Tennessee and LSU.
It must haunt Texas head coach Vic Schaefer that he said so many times at the Fort Worth regional his team didnโt have to โlive and die with every defensive possession to try and grind out a 61-59 win.โ
Because thatโs exactly what UCLA made them do. But somehow, worse. What he said will haunt him โprobably till the day I die,โ is that his locker room felt like โwe let one get away.โ
Advertisement
Their offensive output was a major point of pride for Schaefer, a defensive hoop head, heading into the weekend. They even had late-game opportunities to hit that one shot, the type that ousted him from a national championship at the last second. And they didnโt go.
โI do not know why the good lord picked tonight for us not to be able to make a shot,โ Schaefer said in a highly emotional post-game press conference. โThatโs the hand we got dealt, so โฆ weโll move on.โ
The NCAA tournamentโs most dominant team cleared a season-low scoring total in the wrong direction by 20 points. Itโs not that his squad, led by exiting fifth-year redshirt senior Rori Harmon, didnโt put up its own standout effort.
UCLAโs total was the lowest of its season, dropping below the previous bottom-barrel 65 in a loss to Texas in November. The Longhorns scored 76 in that 11-point win, quite nearly double their total on Friday.
Advertisement
โWe were having trouble earning quality shots,โ Close said.
UConn and South Carolina were better, but barely. The nightโs glaring issue was the lack of individual firepower from the gameโs brightest backcourt stars. There were few major buckets that felt like they would shift the momentum, or at minimum make a highlight reel. They certainly wonโt be names etched into the annals of this yearโs tournament, at least not tonight.
UConnโs Sarah Strong, the National Player of the Year winner, and Azzi Fudd, a projected WNBA lottery pick, combined to shoot 7 of 31. Fudd went 2 of 9 from the perimeter, a struggle for the Huskies until the third quarter.
Advertisement
South Carolinaโs duo of TaโNiya Latson and Raven Johnson went 4 of 16, though Latson hit all 10 free throws. And in a brutal finale, Texas sophomore Madison Booker was 3 of 23. Combined, the five were 20% from the field.
โI want to grow the game so bad, I felt guilty walking off the floor because it was not pretty in any way, shape or form,โ Close said.
Donโt expect much more from the national title game. South Carolina is known for its defense and ability to muck up a game the way SEC talents deliver. UCLA showed it could also play a smothering style.
Will anyone be โgiving their flowersโ to these offenses? Absolutely not.
Advertisement
Does it matter if it puts you into the national championship game? UCLA and South Carolina certainly donโt think so.
