Editor’s note: Follow UConn vs. UCLA live updates from the Final Four.
UConn superstar Paige Bueckers has continued her March Madness tear and sent the Huskies back to a familiar place – the Final Four.
On Monday night, she powered No. 2 seed UConn to a 78-64 Elite Eight win over the USC Trojans, a No. 1 seed who fought hard without their own superstar JuJu Watkins. Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second round.
Bueckers put up 31 points in the victory to lead UConn to its second consecutive Final Four and 24th overall under head coach Geno Auriemma. She has scored 105 points over the last three games, more than any UConn player in history over a three-game span as the Huskies chase their 12th national championship.
Buy women’s Final Four tickets
“It’s a team win, a team victory,” Bueckers said on the broadcast after the game. “The coaches did a really good job preparing us for this moment. … We just have come together through injuries, through adversity.
“We knew they were a motivated team. We’ve been in that position where we’ve had players go down and you just step up for them with a chip on our shoulder … They weren’t going to quit. We knew it was going to be a battle.”
Asked what she appreciates about her performance, she said: “My teammates”
Freshman forward Sarah Strong and senior guard Kaitlyn Chen turned in key performances. Strong recorded a monster double-double of 22 points and 17 boards, and Chen, who averages 6.9 points per game, scored in a crucial 15 points.
USA TODAY brought you live updates, analysis and highlights throughout the game. Check them out below.
Paige Bueckers scored 31 points on 9-of-18 shooting with three rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks. She was also 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
The Huskies play No. 1 overall seed UCLA on Friday in the Final Four in Tampa.
Here’s how the women’s March Madness bracket looks right now for the Final Four. Those games are Friday at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET.
Freshman forward Sarah Strong had a strong performance for the Huskies with 22 points, 17 boards, four assists and a steal. She shot 8-of-13 from the floor.
Kaitlyn Chen scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and tallied two assists and a steal.
She has played in 37 games this season, averaging 6.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 51.8% from the field and 37.2% from beyond the arc. The graduate student previously spent three seasons at Princeton, where she averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in her final year. Chen surpassed 1,276 career points, ranking 12th in program history, and tallied 359 assists, the third-highest mark in Princeton’s history. — Banji Bamidele
Yes. The 2025 WNBA draft isn’t called the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes for nothing. Bueckers burst onto the scene in 2021 with a breakout freshman campaign that earned her AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year honors. Although a string of injuries forced Bueckers to miss significant time, including the entire 2022-23 season with an ACL tear, the fifth-year senior guard has returned to form and is looking to lead the Huskies to the Final Four for the fourth time in her career. Bueckers is currently UConn women’s basketball’s sixth all-time leading scorer with 2,290 points and is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick of the draft.
No. Paige Bueckers has led the Huskies to the Final Four four times in her career.
USC senior center Rayah Marshall led the way for the Trojans with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She pulled down 15 rebounds and went 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Trojans cut the Huskies’ lead to 51-46 after the third quarter. UConn hasn’t scored in more than 4 minutes.
Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Kaitlyn Chen combined to score 49 of the UConn’s 51 points through three quarters on 18-of-33 shooting. The rest of the team: 2 points on 1-of-14 shooting.
Bueckers has reached the 20-point mark, and Strong already has a double-double: She’s up to 20 points and 12 rebounds so far.
UConn took a 39-25 lead over USC into halftime. The Huskies outscored the Trojans 25-14 in the second quarter.
What makes UConn so dangerous right now is you never know how the Huskies are going to hurt you. Paige Bueckers went off for 40 on Saturday night. Tonight, it’s Sarah Strong who is dominating. In the first half, she put up 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. USC simply had no answer for her.
The Trojans committed 11 turnovers in the first half. Although that’s below their season average of 19.6 per game, it’s two more than USC had in the full 40 minutes against K-State. — Nancy Armour
USC guard Avery Howell was oddly quiet for the Trojans in the first half. The freshman has averaged 14 points over the last three games, including 18 points in 37 minutes in the Sweet 16 against Kansas State. Against the Huskies, she was held scoreless in the first half with one shot attempt and two turnovers. — Jenna Ortiz
The Huskies held a 14-11 after the first quarter. Sarah Strong opened the scoring for UConn with a 3-pointer, followed by a jumper from Kaitlyn Chen. Kennedy Smith, Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall got on the board for the Trojans.
As the teams lined up for the national anthem, Avery Howell nudged one of Talia von Oelhoffen’s shoes into a gap between Howell and Kennedy Smith, seemingly a nod to JuJu Watkins. The shoe was pointed sideways, allowing the JuJu Funko Pop to have a view. — Nancy Armour
The Trojans were led all season by JuJu Watkins before she suffered a season-ending knee injury. But Kiki Iriafen showed what she’s capable of with her 36-piece in the second round; she averages 18.2 a game on the season to go along with 8.4 rebounds. Kennedy Smith (9.6), Rayah Marshall (7.5) and Avery Howell (7.4) are also key contributors. Here is the full USC women’s basketball roster.
The Huskies score 80.8 points per game and shoot 50.8% from the floor. In addition to touting Paige Bueckers and her 19.8 points per game, the Huskies get 15.9 points from Sarah Strong and 13.3 points from Azzi Fudd per game. Here is the full UConn women’s basketball roster.
The superstar USC guard suffered a season-ending knee injury in a second-round game against Mississippi State. Here’s everything you need to know about her injury and recovery timeline.
Bueckers is from Hopkins, Minn.
The UConn guard is 6 feet tall.
Bueckers is a fifth-year senior.
Paige Bueckers pronounces her name BECK-ers, according to the UConn 2024-25 media guide.
Azzi Fudd’s collegiate career won’t end following the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament. Fudd, who played just two games during the 2023-24 season due to a torn ACL, has averaged 13.3 points on 47.9% shooting, two rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 31 games, including 27 starts, this year.
During the NCAA Tournament, Fudd posted 27 points on 10 of 13 shooting, seven assists and six steals in a first-round victory over Arkansas State. She recorded 17 points and two steals in the 91-57 win over South Dakota State in the second round. Against Oklahoma, she scored 10 points, a rebound, five assists and three steals.
The UConn guard went to Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minn.
Paige Bueckers powers UConn women’s basketball to Final Four: Highlights from USC win – USA Today
