The University of Connecticut (UConn) has always been known for their dominance in women’s basketball. UConn has won many national championships and many great alumni who continued their careers in the WNBA including: Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Aliyah Edwards, Nika Mühl, and many more. Recently they won their 12th national championship with great success throughout the March Madness tournament. They had many great, talented players who helped them prevail this season.
The UConn team entered this March as the second seed, but despite this they still made it to the 2025 NCAA Championship. Their playoff run started in Spokane against the Arkansas State Red Wolves who had been seeded 15th. UConn won this game with ease, the final score being 103 – 34 eliminating the Red Wolves. This was a great start to what would be an amazing playoff run. Their 2nd round matchup was against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. This was another easy game as they won 91 – 54. Paige Buekers, a 5th year senior who recently declared for the WNBA draft (projected No.1 pick), had 34 points. Moving into the Sweet 16, Paige Buekers and the Huskies faced the Oklahoma Sooners. Paige Buekers would have another outstanding game with 40 points helping her team win 82 – 59 advancing them to the Elite Eight.
While the Huskies were defeating their opponents, other NCAA powerhouses were prevailing. The No.1 seed Texas Longhorns won against the No.5 seed Tennessee Lady Volunteers and the No.2 seed Texas Christian University (TCU) beat No.3 Notre Dame. No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 Duke would also advance, and finally, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Louisiana State University (LSU) would advance to the Elite Eight to face each other.
The UConn Huskies would then face the University of Southern California (USC), who had previously advanced against Kansas State. Like UConn, USC also had a lot of great talent including sophomore JuJu Watkins. Watkins has been averaging 23.9 points this season but unfortunately she tore her ACL in the second round of the March Madness tournament, so she couldn’t participate. This was a hard fought battle that would eventually end in a final score of 78 – 64 for the Huskies. Once again, Paige Buekers stood out with 31 points as they advanced to the Final Four. In the Final Four they would face UCLA while South Carolina would win against Duke and Texas won against TCU.
On April 4th, the Huskies would have a historical performance, beating UCLA 85 – 51. This is the largest victory ever in a Final Four game, UConn winning by 34 points. On the other side of the bracket, South Carolina beat the Texas Longhorns 74 – 57 reaching the NCAA Championship.
Reaching the NCAA Championship is a great accomplishment but the UConn Huskies wanted more, they were determined to win the whole tournament. For this reason, they decided not to cut the nets down before they won the National Championship. For Paige Buekers this was her last chance ever to win a championship for her school that she has been playing for all 5 years of her eligibility.
Both teams flew to Tampa, Florida, and the stage was set. On April 6th, the Huskies would win their 12th NCAA Championship in their history. They won this game 82 – 59, with freshman Sarah Strong having 24 points. Paige Buekers ended her college career with another amazing game having 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. For Buekers this was a perfect ending to her amazing collegiate career.
Even though many people doubted them and having a disadvantage being seeded at the No. 2 spot they stayed focused and determined and won the 2025 NCAA March Madness Tournament.
