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On Friday, UConn will take on South Carolina in the Final Four — a rematch of the 2025 national championship game. The Gamecocks were the 1-seed in the Sacramento 4 Region and reached Phoenix by beating 16-seed Southern, 9-seed USC, 4-seed Oklahoma and 3-seed TCU. This is their sixth straight trip to the Final Four.

The two teams didn’t face off during the regular season — a product of the Big East’s head-scratching decision to move back to a 20-game slate, which eliminated two non-conference contests for the Huskies.

This will be the first time UConn and South Carolina have played in the national semifinal. The previous two Final Four meetings came in the national championship game.

After cruising through its first 36 games without much of a challenge, UConn had to battle through two tough contests in the Fort Worth 1 Region. The Huskies scored their fewest points of the season but still came out with a win against UNC, 63-42, then held off a valiant effort from Hannah Hidalgo and Notre Dame en route to a 70-52 victory.

UConn struggled on offense in both contests. The Huskies shot just 10-44 from three across the weekend — Azzi Fudd, Sarah Strong and Blanca Quiñonez were the only Huskies to hit a triple in Fort Worth — and struggled to execute in the half-court. Luckily, the defense stepped up and allowed just two players — UNC’s Indya Nivar (20 points) and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo (22 points) — to reach double-figures.

Ultimately, UConn earned its way to a 25th Final Four.

On Wednesday, Sarah Strong won the Naismith Trophy — her second National Player of the Year honor this season after previously taking home the USBWA’s Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.

Strong prepared an acceptance speech and admitted afterwards she was so nervous to deliver it that she couldn’t eat all day. As for the actual hardware?

"A dream come true? I wouldn't say that,” she said. “But I mean, it's definitely a cool side quest."

Wooden Award: Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd are two of five finalists for the Wooden Award, which will be announced on Saturday, Apr. 10.

Pretty cool insight:

A look at UConn’s arrival in Phoenix:

Dual titles coming up again?

Former UConn practice player/manager/graduate assistant Kevin DeMille earns a big honor:

That’s a lot of viewers:

Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong are good on and off the court:

Thursday: Ahead of the Final Four, UConn and South Carolina will meet with the media. The AP National Player of the Year, Wade Trophy, and WBCA All-Americans will be announced as well.

Friday: UConn and South Carolina will square off in the national semifinal at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. local at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.

Saturday: If the Huskies advance, they’ll hold their pregame press conferences and media availabilities.

Sunday: The 2026 national championship game is set for 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local time from Phoenix.