When the women’s basketball NCAA Tournament bracket came out on Selection Sunday, even the most casual of hoops fans noticed one key detail: USC and UConn were placed in the same region — setting up a potential marquee rematch between superstar guards sophomore JuJu Watkins and redshirt senior Paige Bueckers. 

Just over two weeks later, the duel everyone was waiting for took place, but with one key asterisk. Watkins tore her ACL two rounds prior, leaving the Trojans (31-4, 17-1 Big Ten) without their crown jewel to counter Bueckers. USC fought valiantly but, without Watkins, had no answer for the depth and experience of the Huskies (35-3, 18-0 Big East) — eventually falling 78-64 Monday night at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. 

In the first half, the Trojans competed hard on the defensive end but looked pretty anemic on offense. They shot 35.7% from the field across the opening two frames, and did not make a single 3-point shot — only attempting three. Senior center Rayah Marshall led the way with 12 points and six rebounds, but other than going inside to Marshall and graduate forward Kiki Iriafen, USC looked to be out of ideas offensively. 

Defensively, freshman guard Kennedy Smith was, as expected, very enthusiastic about her matchup with Bueckers. Smith face-guarded Bueckers and fought her way through every single ball screen, refusing to cede the switch whenever she could. 

But the three-time Associated Press All-American shot the ball just about every time she could get away from Smith — scoring with ease when matched up with smaller, less physical Trojan guards like graduate student Talia von Oelhoffen and freshman Kayleigh Heckel. Bueckers hit two crucial triples in a row to end the half — pushing the Husky lead from 8 to 14 going into the break. 

While Bueckers closed the half in style, her star running mate — freshman forward Sarah Strong — was the story of the first half. Strong dominated her matchup with Iriafen, finishing the first half with 15 points on 6-9 shooting and nine rebounds. Strong missed a crucial free throw late in the Huskies’ Dec. 21 loss to USC, and it was clear from the opening whistle that the freshman had this potential rematch circled on her calendar. 

But the Trojans showed some serious fight in the third quarter — outscoring UConn 21-12 over the ten minutes to cut the Husky lead to five. Von Oelhoffen was the player to finally step up on offense for USC, scoring ten points on 3-6 shooting in the period. Not having scored in double-digits since Feb. 5, von Oelhoffen hit double figures in a just-over-seven-minute flurry, outscoring UConn by herself and getting the Trojans back into the game.

While it was Strong who did the heavy lifting in the first half, it was UConn’s veteran guard trio that slammed the door shut late. Bueckers — along with fellow guards senior Azzi Fudd and grad student Kaitlyn Chen — combined for 25 of the Huskies’ 27 fourth-quarter points. The youthful Trojan backcourt looked a bit lost as Bueckers, Fudd and Chen, who have 13 years of collegiate basketball experience between them, clinched UConn’s fourth Final Four of the former’s Husky tenure. 

USC’s back-to-back wins without Watkins were impressive, but it was always going to take a level to overcome UConn that is simply outside of the Trojans’ capacity without the presumptive Naismith Player of the Year. That said, USC was still one victory away from a first Final Four in 40 years, and the defeat is sure to sting just the same.