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Biggest blowouts in women's championship history: Where does UConn-South Carolina rank?
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- Biggest blowouts in women's championship history: Where does UConn-South Carolina rank?
UConn women's basketball is a national champion for the 12th time in program history.
And boy, did Paige Bueckers earn her first national title in style. The Huskies defeated South Carolina 82-59 in the 2025 women's NCAA Tournament national championship game from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The championship is the first for the Huskies since 2016.
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The 23-point victory is a historic margin for a national championship game. But how dominant was UConn ?
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Here's where the 2025 women's national championship game ranks among the biggest blowouts in women's championship game history:
UConn- South Carolina score
The Huskies earned a dominant 23-point victory over the Gamecocks in the 2025 women's NCAA Tournament championship game. The margin of victory was tied for the third-largest in championship game history.
UConn led by as many as 32 points with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter. That margin would have still been a point short of the biggest margin of victory in history.
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Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd each had 24 points for the Huskies, while Bueckers added 17 points. The UConn Big 3 combined for 65 of the team's 81 points. They also had a combined 26 rebounds, nine assists, six steals and five blocks.
From the onset, UConn was in command of the game, leading for all but 3:21 of the 40-minute game. The Gamecocks' last lead was at 11-8 with 5:59 left in the first quarter. The Huskies finished the quarter on an 11-3 run to lead 19-14. They extended the lead to 36-26 at halftime.
But the second half is when UConn really took over. With 4:20 left in the game, UConn led 80-48 and had outscored South Carolina 44-22 in the second half. South Carolina ended the game on an 11-2 run to avoid a worse margin of loss.
What is biggest blowout in women's NCAA championship game?
UConn holds the distinction of having the biggest blowout in women's NCAA championship game history. The Huskies defeated Louisville 93-60 in New Orleans in the 2013 national championship game.
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Freshman Breanna Stewart scored 18 of her 23 points in the first half as the Huskies captured their eighth national title at the time.
The championship opened UConn's four-peat as champions through 2016. The Huskies also had the second biggest blowout in championship game history with a 31-point victory over Syracuse during the 2016 national championship game against the Orange.
Geno Auriemma subbed out his starters with 1:32 remaining in the game.
Biggest blowouts in women's NCAA championship history
The Huskies also have the second-biggest blowout victory in the history of the NCAA championship games. They actually own six of the top-eight blowouts, accounting for half of their championships, which is the most in NCAA history.
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Tennessee has the second most blowouts on the list with four of them.
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1.2013: UConn 93, Louisville 60 (33 points)
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2.2016: UConn 82, Syracuse 51 (31 points)
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T-3. 2023: UConn 82, South Carolina 59 (23 points)
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T-3.1987: Tennessee 67, Louisiana Tech 44 (23 points)
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T-5.2009: UConn 76, Louisville 54 (22 points)
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T-5.2005: Baylor 84, Michigan State 62 (22 points)
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7.2014: UConn 79, Notre Dame 58 (21 points)
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T-8.2012: Baylor 80, Notre Dame 61 (19 points)
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T-8.2000: UConn 71, Tennessee 52 (19 points)
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T-10.1993: Tennessee 83, Georgia 65 (18 points)
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T-10.1998: Tennessee 93, Louisiana Tech 75 (18 points)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women's championship blowouts: Where does UConn-South Carolina rank?
