Huskies out, ending 14-year Final Four streak

UConn is human after all. 

The Huskies will miss the Elite Eight for the first time in 18 years, crashing out of the NCAA women’s tournament in a hail of turnovers. The 73-61 loss to third-seeded Ohio State on Saturday also ends the Huskies’ streak of consecutive Final Four appearances at 14, an NCAA record.

Second-seeded Connecticut struggled with Ohio State’s press, coughing the ball up 25 times including 18 in the first half alone. The Buckeyes converted those miscues into 23 points.

But the turnovers weren’t UConn’s only problem. Leading scorer Aaliyah Edwards was in foul trouble for most of the game – she played just 17 minutes – and finished with just four points, 13 below her average.

Lou Lopez Senechal led UConn with 25 points, but it wasn’t enough. The Huskies didn’t shoot all that poorly, finishing at just over 45%. But they looked out of sorts everywhere on the court and could never get anything going consistently. They were down 36-26 at halftime, just the sixth time in tournament history they’d trailed by double digits.

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Ohio State, meanwhile, played loose and with energy, stacking together run after run and always having a ready answer when UConn did seem on the verge of putting something together. Big Ten freshman of the year Cotie McMahon led the way with 23 points before fouling out while Jacy Sheldon added 17.

UConn has been plagued by injuries in what has been an uncharacteristic season. Paige Bueckers, the national player of the year two years ago, is out with a knee injury. Azzi Fudd missed most of the year before returning for the Big East tournament.

That lack of depth caught up with the Huskies against Ohio State. When Edwards got into foul trouble and Ohio State clamped down, UConn had no one else they could go to to jump start them.

Now the 11-time national champions are going home in their earliest exit since 2005, and two of the most impressive streaks in all of college basketball are history.

Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour