Stomp The Lunatic

There would be no second half comebacks. There would only be pure domination. Lots was made about this being Paige Bueckers last chance to win a championship, and she certainly had a nice game with 17 points.

But the best player on the court might have been UConn’s freshman Sarah Strong. Strong finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists. Her 114 points in the tournament was the most points scored by a freshman in NCAA Tournament history.

Add in senior Azzi Fudd’s 24 points and the Big 3 players for the Huskies simply ran away with this National Championship game as the Huskies won 82-59.

This is UConn’s and Geno Auriemma’s 12th championship, and despite all their Final Fours, this is the first time they have broken through since 2016. Congratulations to the Connecticut Huskies – the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champions.

South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts drew two quick fouls on Huskie’s Jana El Alfy, forcing the UConn starter to sit with four fouls. But Azzi Fudd made a layup off a nice drive and a jumper, and then made a great pass into Sarah Strong for another basket in the paint, and the Huskies extended their lead to 15. MiLaysia Fulwiley tried to get South Carolina back into the game as she made a nice jumper and then stole the ball and passed it up court to Sania Feagin for a layup.

But the Huskies would stop the run. Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong hit back to back three-pointers and Paige Bueckers hit a couple of free throws and the lead grew to 18 points. By the end of the third quarter based on some free throws, the Huskies have a 20 point lead.

Connecticut is 10 minutes away from a National Championship – they simply need to keep up their current intensity to hold onto their huge lead.

It is my typical operation to blog about each half during these final games. I only have so much more that I can blog about – and so I want to honor these athletes as much as I can before the weekend is over.

Of course, I mentioned how great Auburn and Duke were doing at halftime, only to watch Florida and Houston come back to make the championship game. But I will risk the chance that I am a jinx. The blog must have content!!!

South Carolina started off with an 11-8 lead in perfect fashion for their team as four different players scored. But Azzi Fudd made multiple baskets for the Huskies to lead them to a 19-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

A big moment in the second quarter was the South Carolina leading scorer Joyce Edwards picked up a second foul on a Paige Bueckers shot and ended up sitting the rest of the half. Bueckers hit both free throws to increase the lead to 7. The lead would stay around there until the end of the half when Ashlynn Shade hit a three-pointer to give the Huskies a 36-26 halftime lead.

Azzi Fudd had 13 points, Sarah Strong had 8, and Paige Bueckers had 8 to lead the Huskies, while Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson had 5 points each from the bench to be the leading scorers of the balanced South Carolina team.

As the women’s game approaches, I have to comment on some of the press conferences from UConn’s coach Geno Auriemma and how other lead coaches like Kim Mulkey have chimed in on it.

It all started at the Super Regional where in his press conference, Geno complained about the super regional format. As I steal quotes from multiple articles, here is what he had to say.

“In a normal world, run by normal people, there would only be four teams here,” Auriemma said. “Which means there would be no games today, the games would be tomorrow. Which means we wouldn’t have to get up at 6 a.m. to have an 8 o’clock practice here this morning for an hour.”

“God bless whoever wins Monday night, OK, and they have got to fly cross-country, which is all day Tuesday, then they have two days, Wednesday and Thursday, to play the biggest game of their life,” Auriemma said.

“So whoever came up with this super regional stuff, and I know who they are, ruined the game. They did. They ruined the game. Half the country has no chance to get to a game in person,” Auriemma said. “But you’re making billions off of TV. Well, actually you’re not, that would be the men’s tournament. So, yeah, there’s a lot of issues that they need to fix.”

He also quipped that it took more time to get the players through security at the arena than the amount of time they were allocated to actually practice on the court.

Of course, LSU’s Kim Mulkey chimed in as well about how it was unfair to their fans to make them travel like this. Of course, I am biased because of my opinions of Mulkey and Auriemma from past comments, but this last part annoyed me.

So, let me break this down. Geno mentioned something that should have occurred to me but never did. If you have 8 teams at a site and have games being played every day starting at Noon, when are the players going to get a chance to have a shootaround on the court to get used to the court. Well – now we know thanks to Geno, it is apparently ridiculously early in the morning and I agree with him that sounds horrible.

They still probably have to start pretty early. But if there are only 4 schools there, they either get a later start or more time, either of which would be a better experience for the athletes.

Also, why are they playing on separate days. UConn’s opponents also had to fly cross-country – the UCLA super-regional was also in Spokane. But why did they play the day before. Why wouldn’t you have an off-day and allow the players some more time on the court during the off-day.

I have to respectfully disagree with the Hall of Famer about the travel. Ideally, there would be no travel. The timing is because they want as many of their games on the weekends – it is all about TV contracts, and those TV contracts is helping the game grow. They are getting a lot better coverage with their Final Four being on Friday and Sunday vs. the old method of Sunday and Tuesday.

I agree with the comment that my wife made – why is the game at 3 pm? She likes it because she doesn’t have to stay up super late, but it seems like a double standard – if the men’s game was today, it would be during prime-time. But I think that they are getting more viewers having the championship on Sunday and so while I wouldn’t mind a different time, I think you are stuck with the Friday / Sunday timeslots.

I thoroughly disagree about the travel piece. Geno and Kim can be upset about the regional being in Spokane, but the Huskies and Tigers were not the #1 seeds. The regional is meant to be the closest for the top seed – and those teams in Spokane were UCLA and USC. For them, the super-regional reduced their travel. not increased it.

Lets remember the men’s West regional this year. The Florida Gators were sent to Los Angeles along with Texas Tech, Maryland and Arkansas. I didn’t hear anyone on the men’s side complaining about the travel (maybe I just didn’t get the right press conference details). At least in Spokane for the women’s tournament, the #1 seeds USC and UCLA were West Coast teams.

We also have to remember the first rounds. While I have not double checked it, I am pretty sure that in this amazing 17 years that UConn has continuously made the Final Four, they have probably always been a top 4 protected seed. That means that every year, the Huskies start their journey to the Final Four to play their first two games on their home court. There is not a single men’s team playing a game on their home court – the rules around neutral courts prevent a team hosting their own games.

If we added two regionals in the Midwest (Chicago) and the East (Philadelphia) and setup the bracket the way the men’s tournament is set up, UCLA would have gone to Spokane, South Carolina would go to Birmingham, Texas would have gone to Chicago in the Midwest and then USC would have been forced out East to Philadelphia.

In this scenario, LSU still would have gone to Spokane. They were in UCLA’s bracket, and so they were still heading West. Four regionals instead of super-regionals would not have changed anything for them.

UConn would have lucked out – they would have taken on USC in Philadelphia instead of Spokane. And while that might have been better for the Huskies’ fans, it certainly wouldn’t have been better for the Trojans’ fans – and the Trojans were the #1 seed.

In this situation assuming the bracketing process would have kept the same brackets, USC, UConn, Oklahoma and Kansas State would have gone to Philadelphia instead of Spokane (without doing a huge internet mapping exercise, it seems like it would be worse for USC, better for UConn and neutral for Oklahoma and Kansas State) and Texas, TCU, Notre Dame and Tennessee would have headed to Chicago instead of Birmingham (guessing better for Notre Dame and worse for Texas, TCU and Tennessee). So, we would have made the travel better for 2 teams, and worse for 4 teams – including the two #1 seeds.

I think Geno is probably right that it would be better in a regional format. At a minimum, if you are going to do a super-regional, why not have the two finals in that super-regional play on the same day and then they have the same travel and rest for the Final Four. Or maybe at least pick some more central super-regional sites so that teams are not travelling across the country.

But lets not make the statement that it is about travel for the fans and players. It is just as possible that four regionals would increase the amount of travel for the 16 teams – and it would certainly increase the travel if they went to the neutral courts for the first two rounds like the men’s tournament.

Today, Geno made one last statement, and it gave me a new impression of the Hall of Fame coach.

“Before I do leave here, though, I do have to say this, and not just because it’s women’s basketball. But I’ve been to these Final Fours for 24 years: This is the most women I’ve ever seen at a press conference since I started this 40 years ago. And I’m just really, really proud of you all. Really,”

The game of women’s basketball is growing, and it impacts more than simply the wonderful athletes who are on the court today. And while I have complained about some of the statements that Geno has made in the past and I don’t completely think he has thought through the ramifications of his statements, I do feel that it is coming from a place of sincerity. He is simply doing his best to help promote the equality of women’s sports.

Geno Auriemma is doing great work, and it is not simply because he has led the Connecticut Huskies to another Final Four.

And just so that it doesn’t get lost in the rambling, Dawn Staley of South Carolina is doing incredible work as well. She had some great comments in her press conferences that put all the honor and accolades on her players. She is a fantastic coach who has started to create her own dynasty and Hall of Fame career. South Carolina is going to be competitive for years to come because Dawn Staley is there. She simply didn’t say anything controversial to make the Lunatic rant. In a way, that should be recognized and rewarded more.

I have to admit – the Lunatic is a little grumpy. There are a lot of things that I am struggling with as March has faded into April meaning another college basketball season is about to end.

I love watching the Cinderella teams – one of the best parts of March Madness is watching some non-power conference school like McNeese or Drake come out of nowhere and upset a few teams to show they belong in the mix. And while I understand that won’t happen every year (and honestly, it is impressive it happens as often as it does), but I still missed having it this year.

I hated watching my Boilermakers lose on a last second basket – after feeling that the play never should have happened because of a foul that wasn’t called. I hated watching even more as that same team then proceeded to eliminate the team I picked to win the tournament on a foul that was called that was nowhere close to as obvious as the no-call on Braden Smith. If Cooper Flagg fouled J’Wan Roberts on that rebound, Braden Smith was assaulted while guarding Milon Uzan driving to the basket.

The only coach that I had not heard anything truly negative about was Duke’s Jon Scheyer – and he lost in a way that coaches shouldn’t allow their team to lose.

Both Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson have lost multiple head coaching jobs due to recruiting violations – and Pearl’s Auburn Tigers were involved in the FBI probe that rocked college basketball despite not really seeming to punish any of the teams involved in it.

Florida’s head coach Todd Golden and assistant coach Taureen Green have been involved all year in a Title IX investigation. Multiple women said Golden engage in sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and cyberstalking, while an athletic department employee said Green sexually assaulted her at a meeting a year ago. The case against Golden was closed (which was unclear on whether or not there was no sexual harassment or simply that it did not break Title IX) while they are still investigating Green.

I don’t typically go looking for trouble about the coaches or players – I would hate to know what I could find about the teams that I root for. But the two remaining coaches left surely have not been considered the most ethical of the coaching profession. I guess I should just be happy that Pearl got eliminated in the process.

It makes me sad because it makes me not want to root for either team, and the athletes (hopefully) had nothing to do with it. I will probably get myself back in the mood to watch the games – if they are anything like Saturday’s semi-finals, we should have a fantastic championship. It is unclear if anyone can stop Walter Clayton Jr. after his 34 points against Auburn. But if anyone can figure it out, it is the defense from the Houston Cougars.

I am hoping that the game this afternoon is more exciting than Friday night’s semi-finals. To be fair, that is not the fault of South Carolina and Connecticut (or Texas and UCLA). The Gamecocks and Huskies came out and demonstrated while they are two of the most successful women’s programs in history.

To be the best, you have to beat the best. And there will be no doubt by the end of today. Connecticut has been to 16 of the last 17 Final Fours. South Carolina has won 2 of the last 3 National Championships.

You have two of the best coaches in the game with Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley.

You have two teams that are built differently. The UConn Huskies are built around their stars – Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are built around their depth. The leading scorer for the team – Joyce Edwards – has come off the bench in all but 1 game. They have had 7 players lead them in scoring for a game over the season.

I think South Carolina likes it that way – last year, all anyone could talk about was Caitlyn Clark, and yet what was being forgotten was that the South Carolina ladies were 38-0. And of course, in a rarity in basketball, the best player on the court didn’t win – the best team did as South Carolina stayed undefeated by winning 87-75.

As a fan, I hope that it is a close game. But there will certainly be no doubt that the winner will be a worthy champion. They will have beaten the best in the game – you could not ask for more.

As mentioned, it seemed to be a game of runs. As the second half kicked off, Cooper Flagg seemed to take control of the game – as he went from 8 points to 20 points scored in the game quietly. And the Blue Devils had built a 14 point lead with about 8 minutes left in the game.

But a pivotal play happened with around 8 minutes. LJ Cryer hit a three pointer and as the players boxed out for the rebound, ex-Boilermaker Mason Gillis threw his arm out and hit Joseph Tugler in the face, which ended in a flagrant foul. LJ Cryer hit the first free throw but missed the second one, but the rebound went to Houston. Cryer would then hit a jumper and suddenly, the lead went from 14 to 8. Then, the Houston defense got intense and the Houston offense realized they have a better chance to score in the lane. J’Wan Roberts hit a layup, and Joseph Tugler put back an offensive rebound, cutting the lead to 4 with 5 minutes to play.

Tyrese Proctor would get fouled driving the lane and hit two free throws to stop the scoring run. And with 3 minutes left, it looked like Cooper Flagg hit the dagger on a pretty play where the ball went in to Maliq Brown and immediately kicked out to the corner to Flagg for a three-pointer. But the Cougars kept clawing away at the lead.

Emanuel Sharp made a layup, Joseph Tugler stole the ball from Tyrese Proctor as the Cougars pressed, and Sharp drew a foul hitting two more free throws. But on the following in-bounds, the Cougars fouled Cooper Flagg trying to catch the pass. So, with 1:26 to play, Flagg made it a 66-59 lead.

Then, utter chaos happened. Emanuel Sharp got the ball in the lane and Khaman Maluach fouled him from behind and cut the lead to 5 from the line. But on the inbounds play, Joseph Tugler reached across the line and hit the ball while it was still in the Duke player’s hands for a technical foul. Kon Knueppel would hit the technical free throw and make the lead 6 with 1:14.

Houston decided to play defense, and Tugler got his redemption, as Knueppel drove the lane and Tugler blocked the shot. Milos Uzan rushed the ball up the court, almost slipped and lost the ball, and kicked it out to the wing to Emanuel Sharp who hit the three pointer. It was now a 3 point game with only 33 seconds to play.

Duke once again struggled to get the ball in, and it was stolen by Mylik Wilson. Wilson rushed out to the three-point line and shot a fade-away three pointer which missed. But Tugler flew in and slammed the rebound home – it was now a one point lead.

Duke got the ball in and broke the press, so Houston was forced to foul Tyrese Proctor. And Proctor missed the front end of the one-and-one. And on the defensive rebound, the referees called a questionable foul on Cooper Flagg – either over-the-back or grabbing J’Wan Roberts. With 19 seconds, Houston is suddenly going to the line with a chance to take the lead.

The senior, who was a 62.5% free throw shooter, walked down to the other end of the court, and calmly sank both free throws. Houston has a 1 point lead!!!!

Duke got the ball into Cooper Flagg who tried to back-down Roberts, drove to the lane and took a fade-away jumper. Roberts played outstanding defense, Flagg’s shot hit the front of the rim and missed, and the Cougars grabbed the rebound.

LJ Cryer hit the two free throws to expand the lead to 3, Duke’s baseball pass got batted around to Tyrese Proctor, but his wild prayer from three was nowhere close to going in, and the comeback was complete. With 86 seconds left in the game, Houston was down 7 points. And they would go on to outscore Duke 11-1 to win the game.

At the end of the day, Houston’s defense won them the game. Over the last 10 minutes of the game, the only shot that Duke made from the field was Flagg’s three pointer with 3 minutes to play. All their other points were from the free-throw line.

I do feel a little bad for Duke. Cooper Flagg was called for a critical foul with 19 seconds to play on a rebound where there was some contact but it was hard to say it was anything more than what had happened throughout the game. But when the Blue Devils struggled to get the ball inbounds and kept turning the ball over, you could clearly see the Houston players holding the Duke players to not allow them get free to catch a pass. Its not clear to me how you are allowed to hold people during an inbounds play but you can’t have any contact on a rebound.

But it was still an amazing comeback. Everything had to work perfectly – Houston got some steals, Duke missed some free throws, and the Cougars finished off one of the most improbable finishes in Final Four history to advance to the championship game.

Congratulations to Houston and Florida for winning tonight and advancing to Monday’s championship!

It has kind of been a first half of streaks between Duke and Houston. With the score 10-8, Cooper Flagg started an 8-1 run with a dunk, followed by a couple of baskets by Kon Kneuppel and an offensive rebound put-back by Maliq Brown.

But the Cougars would come back with Emanuel Sharp hitting a three-pointer and J’Wan Roberts getting a layup to cut the lead to 18-15 with about 8 minutes to play.

After the timeout, it was all Blue Devils as they would go on a 13-4 run over the next 6 minutes, starting off with a dunk by Khaman Maluach, and also having a three-pointer by Kneuppel and being finished by Cooper Flagg getting fouled for a layup and free throw.

But LJ Cryer would hit two three pointers and Milos Uzan hit another three pointer to cut the lead back down to 6 before the half ended.

So Kon Knueppel led Duke with 12 points while LJ Cryer led Houston with 12 points. And Duke will head to halftime with a 34-28 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Auburn lead to disappear. The Gators came out of halftime with a huge intensity on defense, and in about two minutes, Will Richard made a layup and was fouled for a old-fashioned three-point play. Then, Walter Clayton Jr hit a three-pointer, Alijah Martin hit a three-pointer, and Walter Clayton Jr made a layup to go on an 11-0 run and take the lead.

It stayed close for the rest of the game, but Florida seemed to have Auburn rattled. Maybe the biggest thing that happened in the second half was that the Gators stopped Johni Broome – after scoring 12 points in the first half, he only got 3 points in the second half.

With about 4 1/2 minutes left, Walter Clayton Jr hit a wild three-point shot to give the Gators a 4 point lead, but Denver Jones answered with a three of his own to cut the lead back to 1. Both teams managed to lock each other down on defense as the game also seemed to get awfully physical. But Clayton Jr would eventually finish off a drive to the basket to give the Gators a three-point lead.

With 2 minutes left, Johni Broome drove to the basket and was fouled on a dunk attempt by Alex Condon. Then, the referees started reviewing for an off-the-ball flagrant foul. During the review, you could see Auburn holding a Florida defender from helping on Broome’s drive, but since it didn’t meet the criteria of a flagrant foul, the foul on Condon stood.

In a classic ball-don’t-lie moment, the All-American forward then missed both free throws, and in a wild scrum for the ball, it got hit out by Johni Broome through the legs of a Florida player. It looked like the ball might have hit the shorts of the Florida player, but with the ball not really changing rotation, they ruled that the call on the field stood – it was Florida ball.

In what might have been one of the biggest plays of the game, with the shot clock counting down, Walter Clayton Jr drove to the basket, got fouled by Denver Jones, and hit an acrobatic shot off the backboard. After Clayton hit the free throw, Florida had a 6 point lead.

Chad Baker-Mazara missed a three-pointer, but the Auburn defense was relentless at half court and they stole the ball from Alijah Martin. Auburn made a great drive to the basket and kicked out to Baker-Mazara for a three-pointer. But Alex Condon made a fantastic close-out forcing Baker-Mazara into a travelling violation.

This time, Florida was able to break the press but as the Gators tried to hit a lob pass for a dunk, Auburn blocked it out of bounds. On the inbounds, the Gators struggled to get the ball in and a jump ball was forced – but Florida retained possession. This time, they force the ball into Thomas Haugh who fought for the ball, went up for a layup and made it while getting fouled. He would miss the free throw, but Florida was now up 8.

Auburn rushed down the court, and as the announcers were saying you need to drive to the basket and get quick points, Chad Baker-Mazara threw up a three pointer from the wing to prove everyone wrong and cut the lead to 5. And then, they trapped Alijah Martin in the corner to force another jump ball – this time, giving the ball to Auburn.

But Miles Kelly would miss the three-pointer, Thomas Haugh would get the rebound and make one of two free throws to extend the lead to 6. Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford would drive all the way to the hoop and get fouled by Alex Condon – who fouled out. Pettiford hit both free-throws and it was still a 4 point game.

With 12 seconds left, Auburn fouled Thomas Haugh, and the normal 81% free throw shooter who had already missed 2 free throws went and missed both free throws! But Rueben Chinyelu (who had just checked in for Condon who fouled out) skied over everyone to get the offensive rebound, kick the ball out to Walter Clayton Jr, and force Auburn to foul again.

Clayton Jr calmly drilled both free throws, Tahaad Pettiford missed a desperate three-pointer, and the clock would run out on the Tigers.

Walter Clayton Jr finished the game with 34 points, and Alijah Martin added 17 points (including a couple of thunderous dunks) to help lead the Gators to the championship game. Congratulations to Florida on their 79-73 victory in the first semi-final game. Now the Gators will wait and see if they will be playing the ACC champion or the Big 12 champion for the National Championship on Monday. Hopefully, the Duke / Houston game will be as good as the first semi-final!!!

What a fun first half. While I have tons of respect for a strong defensive team, I have to admit that as a fan, it is super fun to watch an up-and-down fast-paced game like the one that Auburn and Florida are playing.

Johni Broome is showing why he is one of the finalists for player of the year, as he has led the Tigers with 12 points. He has been tough to handle in the lane, especially when he is backing his defending towards the basket.

Chad Baker-Mazara hit two three-pointers in the first part of the half in what was a fun game where each team kept taking the lead back and forth. Miles Kelly then hit two big three-pointers in the second part of the half, one that gave the Tigers a 29-25 lead with about 8 minutes left in the half, and a dagger from the wing with about 1:20 left to extend the Tigers lead to 9 at 43-34.

Florida’s finalist for player of the year, Walter Clayton Jr, is doing what he can to keep the Gators in the game, as he has 14 points. It is amazing watching him drive to the basket – anytime the Gators needed a basket, Clayton Jr seemed to be there to give them one. If it wasn’t Clayton Jr, it was Alijah Martin – who has added 10 points.

But the difference so far seems to be that when Florida drives the lane, Auburn’s defense has forced them into some bad attempts or turnovers.

So, Auburn is up 46-38 at halftime. Hopefully, both teams will be able to keep this pace up, since it is tons of fun!!!