Canada's Aaliyah Edwards, UConn top Stanford to reach NCAA title game

Canada's Aaliyah Edwards scored nine points and added eight rebounds to help UConn advance to the national championship game with a 63-58 win over defending champion Stanford on Friday night.

Paige Bueckers scored 14 points to lead the Huskies, who will face South Carolina for the national championship on Sunday night. The Gamecocks beat the Cardinals 72-59 in the first game of the Final Four.

It's UConn's first trip to the championship game since 2016, when the Huskies won the last of four straight championships. Since then, the team has suffered heartbreaking defeats in the national semifinals, losing twice in overtime.

UConn (30-5) is seeking its 12th national championship, and the Huskies have never lost in an NCAA title game.

"We know everybody in the world doesn't think we're going to win, so we're like, we might as well just prove everybody wrong and prove ourselves right. We've got one more game, we're not satisfied with this," Bueckers said.

"We're just trying to win a national championship and leave everything out on the line and it's our last game of the season, so we have nothing left to give.".

They had to work to get to the finals. Leading by 52-44 with 1:26 left, Stanford made a furious rally thanks to a few costly UConn turnovers.

Cameron Brink's layup with 18.4 seconds left got the Cardinal within 60-58. UConn was able to work seven seconds off the clock before Christyn Williams was fouled with 11 seconds left. The senior guard calmly swished both free throws to restore a two-possession lead.

Ashten Prechtel completely missed a tough contested 3-pointer from the wing with 5.4 seconds left and the Huskies held on for the win.

Haley Jones led the Cardinal with 20 points. Canada's Alyssa Jerome didn't play for Stanford.

UConn had to overcome injuries

This has been the most challenging year of Geno Auriemma's Hall of Fame coaching career. Eight players had to sit out at least two games this season with injury or illness, including Bueckers who missed nearly three months with a left knee injury suffered in early December.

In the fourth quarter, Bueckers came up grimacing when she went down hard going for a defensive rebound. She left the game for a few minutes, and every time she hit the floor, she seemed to check on her knee.

The game got off to a slow start as neither team really could find its shooting touch. UConn led 12-9 after one quarter and was up 27-26 at the half. The teams combined to shoot 36% (23 for 64) in the opening 20 minutes. Stanford was able to keep it close by outscoring UConn 20-6 in the paint.

The low-scoring half was reminiscent of the 2010 title game when the teams played in the Alamodome in San Antonio. The Cardinal led that one 20-12 at the half. UConn went on to win that one 53-47 — one of four victories for the Huskies over the Cardinal in the Final Four or championship rounds.

South Carolina down Louisville

Aliyah Boston had 23 points and 18 rebounds to back up her AP National Player of the Year award and carry South Carolina to the NCAA championship game with a 72-59 victory over Louisville in the semifinals on Friday night.

Brea Beal matched her season high with 12 points and helped hold Cardinals star Hailey Van Lith to nine points on 4-for-11 shooting as the Gamecocks (34-2) delivered another stifling defensive performance.

Canada's Laeticia Amihere scored a point, added two assists and two rebounds in 15 minutes of playing time for South Carolina. Fellow Canadian Merissah Russell played for just one minute for Louisville.

The Dawn Staley-led Gamecocks will face the Connecticut-Stanford winner on Sunday night at Target Center. Staley will try to win her second national championship, eight months after the Hall of Famer led the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in the Tokyo Games.

"You see happy tears, happy tears, right now," Boston said in her post-game TV interview. "I'm just thanking God we have one more game."

Destanni Henderson scored 11 points with 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range and had four assists for South Carolina, which improved to 13-0 this season against AP-ranked opponents.

Emily Engstler led Louisville with 18 points and nine rebounds as the Cardinals went 1 for 8 from 3-point range and were never able to find a rhythm in the half court against the No. 1 overall seed in this tournament.

Kianna Smith and Olivia Cochran each scored 14 points for the Cardinals (29-5), who were the only team in this Final Four without a title. This was their fourth trip to the national semifinals in coach Jeff Walz's 15 seasons.

'I've never been prouder of a group'

"I've never been prouder of a group," Walz said. "They've absolutely been a joy to coach."

The Cardinals, one of the three No. 1 seeds in this Final Four, made it out of the Wichita Region without any trouble. Van Lith, the relentless sophomore guard with the perpetually flopping blond pigtails, hit the 20-point mark in each of their first four tournament games.

Van Lith met her match with Beal, who had a four-inch height advantage and shadowed her all over the court as she often does to the opponent's most dangerous player. Van Lith, whose first basket came on a knifing drive for a layup with 1:43 left in the second quarter, had two jumpers blocked by Beal and three turnovers in the first half.

The Gamecocks, who were the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the AP poll this season, squeezed their first four tournament opponents in the Greensboro Region to a bleak average of 41.2 points on their way to a fourth Final Four in the last seven years.

Engstler, the tough-as-nails transfer from Syracuse, helped Louisville keep Boston from getting too comfortable in the paint while Olivia Cochran helped with the muscle. Physical play can come with a price, though, and with 4.2 seconds left in the third quarter Boston drew Engstler's fourth foul on a putback layup and stretched the lead to 57-48 with the and-one free throw.

Engstler fouled out with 4:56 to go and had her head buried in her clenched hands on the bench as her teammates tried to console her.