On Sunday, UConn and South Carolina meet for the national championship. It might seem like these two women's college basketball programs are always meeting in the title game, but is that really the case?
Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley are no strangers to playing against each other, but what is the full story about these two programs and their past meetings?
Let's dig into the history of the rivalry between South Carolina and UConn, arguably the two premier programs in women's basketball at the moment.
Have UConn and South Carolina ever played for a national championship?
South Carolina and UConn have played each other for the national title before, but maybe not as you might think, as the two teams have only faced each other in the national championship game one time before.
That was in 2022, when South Carolina shut down the Huskies, 64-49. The Gamecocks spent the entire 2021-22 season ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation and were able to take down the Huskies in the title game. Destanni Henderson scored 26 points to lead South Carolina while Aliyah Boston had 11 points and 16 rebounds. On the UConn side, Paige Bueckers scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds.
There aren't a ton of players who appeared in that game and are set to appear in this year's game too, though some big names did on the UConn side, as Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd both started for the Huskies in the game. For South Carolina, the only current players who played in that game were Bree Hall and Saniya Rivers, who both came off the bench and scored exactly one point each.
UConn vs. South Carolina full program matchup history
While these two teams have only met in the championship game once, they've met a number of times outside of that, including a matchup this past February that saw UConn dominate, winning 87-58.
In 15 games all-time between these programs, UConn has 10 wins and South Carolina has five wins, though the first matchup in December 2007 came before Staley took over as the head coach in Columbia. UConn won that game 97-39.
The first matchup between Auriemma and Staley was Dec. 28, 2008, with UConn winning 77-48. After that, the teams didn't meet again until Feb, 9, 2015, another UConn win.
In fact, UConn won the first eight games between these teams before South Carolina's first win over UConn, a 70-52 win on Feb. 10, 2020.
The first time these teams met during the NCAA Tournament was in 2018, when UConn defeated South Carolina 94-65 in the Elite Eight. That is one of just two NCAA Tournament games between the two teams, with the other being the 2022 title game.
Before the UConn win earlier this season, South Carolina had won four in a row against the Huskies.
How many championships has South Carolina won with Dawn Staley?
Dawn Staley has led UConn to three national titles. The team won the championshipn in 2017, 2022 and 2024.
Last year, Staley's Gamecocks defeated Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 to win the title. Kamilla Cardoso was named MVP of the game, while current South Carolina players Chloe Kitts, Raven Johnson, Bree Hall and Te-Hina Paopao all started for that team.
On Sunday, Staley will look to bring South Carolina its fourth national title.
How many championships has UConn won under Geno Auriemma?
Geno Auriemma has led UConn to a number of titles, but it's been a bit.
The Huskies have won 11 championships, all with Auriemma at the helm. The team's first title came in 1995, with a roster that featured legends like Jennifer RIzzotti, Nykesha Sales and Rebecca Lobo.
For much of the 2000s and 2010s, UConn was the dominant program in college basketball, winning 10 of its titles in that span, but the program hasn't cut down the nets since 2016, when Breanna Stewart led the Huskies to their fourth consecutive titles.
The team has come close since, making the Final Four in all but one season, but a win on Sunday would give UConn and Auriemma their first title since 2016 and the 12th of his Connecticut tenure.