AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In just a few hours, college basketball will crown its 2025 women's champions. Defending champions South Carolina take on 11-time champions Connecticut. And the season finale will feature one of the all-time greats trying to finally get their hands on the top prize. Steve Futterman is covering the contest in Tampa and joins us now. Good morning, Steve.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So let's start with those two teams. They're pretty elite, aren't they?
FUTTERMAN: Absolutely. And, you know, no matter who wins today - and UConn, by the way, is the favorite - some sort of history will be made. As you mentioned, South Carolina is the defending champion, and a Carolina win today would make it not just two straight titles but three out of the last four, which these days usually earns you the title of a mini dynasty. Only two schools have ever shown this kind of dominance on the women's side - Tennessee in the late 1990s and UConn on several occasions.
Now, you mentioned UConn winning 11 times. Well, the 12th title today would make the UConn women the most successful program - women or men - topping the legendary UCLA men's program that over the years has featured great players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. The UCLA men, like the UConn women, have won 11 titles.
RASCOE: Now, what about the match-up? It isn't the first time these two teams have played this year.
FUTTERMAN: That's right. And they played in February. It was no contest. UConn simply destroyed South Carolina 87 to 58, a 29-point win. The game was played at South Carolina and it ended Carolina's 71-game, four-year home winning streak. Now yesterday, as the players, as they traditionally do the day before the game, met with reporters, that game was brought up. One of Carolina's top players, Te-Hina Paopao, said she issued a mea culpa to her teammates after that loss.
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TE-HINA PAOPAO: I knew I could have done better for my team, and I just felt like I let them down. And I knew I had to tell them that because I wanted to take accountability for that and knowing that I didn't perform my best.
FUTTERMAN: And she's been playing great since then. On Friday night, Ayesha, in the semifinal game against Texas, Paopao was the - Carolina's leading scorer with 14 points.
RASCOE: There's little doubt, though, who's the biggest name in this year's women's Final Four. It's UConn's Paige Bueckers. She's had a legendary tour, but she's never been a part of a championship team.
FUTTERMAN: That's right. And let's make clear, win or lose today, Paige Bueckers has had one of the greatest careers ever in women's college basketball. In her freshman year, when she was only 19, she was named player of the year. She's overcome an ACL tear, missing an entire season. You ask pretty much anyone who's played with her or against her, they talk about her remarkable basketball IQ. Listen to her coach, Geno Auriemma.
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GENO AURIEMMA: I trust Paige to do the right thing, ever since her freshman year. She just is the most incredibly positive human being I've ever been around.
FUTTERMAN: Now, Bueckers has come close to winning a championship three times. She's been in the Final Four, like today. And once in 2022, she was in the title game against - guess who? - South Carolina. Yesterday, she talked about what today is likely going to be like.
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PAIGE BUECKERS: I'm probably going to be sad, regardless of the outcome, just knowing that my college career is over. And this is my last time wearing the UConn uniform, so just enjoying that, embracing it, making sure I have nothing left to give after that game.
FUTTERMAN: And the tip off for today's championship game is 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
RASCOE: That's Steve Futterman in Tampa. Steve, thank you so much.
FUTTERMAN: Great to be with you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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