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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Kristen Wong

Sarah Strong Joins UConn Icons Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore With Cool Final Four Stat

Connecticut Huskies forward Sarah Strong (21) plays against the UCLA Bruins during the third quarter in a semifinal of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament at Amalie Arena. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The UConn Huskies rolled past No. 1-seeded UCLA, 85-51, in the Final Four of the women's NCAA tournament Friday night and are hoping to win their first NCAA title since 2016 and 12th under coach Geno Auriemma.

The No. 2 Huskies will face No. 1 South Carolina in the NCAA championship Sunday afternoon with everything on the line for Paige Bueckers in her final season before she goes pro. But, it'll also mark a momentous occasion for star freshman Sarah Strong, who has been showing that the Huskies will be just fine when Bueckers enters the WNBA draft later this month.

Strong, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2024 class, averaged 16.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists this past season and has firmly established herself as a key part of UConn's core.

In Friday's win over the Bruins, Strong put up a team-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting to join the likes of UConn legends Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore as the only Huskies freshmen to record 20 points or more in a Final Four game. Moore did it once in 2008, and Stewart did it twice in 2013.

Just pure dominance.

What those Huskies icons have that Strong doesn't, however, is the ever-elusive NCAA title. Strong will look to change that Sunday against South Carolina.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sarah Strong Joins UConn Icons Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore With Cool Final Four Stat.

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