SPOKANE, Wash. - It wasn't until there were two seconds left in the UConn Huskies' Elite Eight game that star Paige Bueckers relaxed off her USC Trojans defender, walked toward her teammates and clapped her hands in celebration.
It's far from mission accomplished yet for the Huskies and Bueckers, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next month's WNBA draft. But thanks to Monday's 78-64 victory over No. 1 seed USC in the Spokane 4 Regional final - in which the superstar guard finished with 31 points and six assists - the Huskies added the latest chapter to their extensive Final Four lore and positioned themselves two wins away from their ultimate goal: the program's 12th national championship.
"We're just so grateful, but we know like the journey isn't done," Bueckers said. "We want our story to continue as long as possible, and we have business to finish."
Leading the Huskies to a Final Four each season she's been healthy, Bueckers is the only player in NCAA tournament history to post four 25-point games in the Elite Eight. But the main force that drives her now is winning a title -- which would be her first and only after three previous heartbreaks in the season's final weekend.
"Where things go next week, I don't know, but I'm glad she's getting an opportunity," coach Geno Auriemma said. "That's all you want. It would have really, really disappointing to not be able to get to this week."
The Huskies will face No. 1 overall seed UCLA in a national semifinal Friday evening in Tampa, Florida. In what's become a nearly annual appearance, it marks UConn's 16th Final Four in 17 years and 24th overall - numbers that even Auriemma, who earlier this season became the sport's all-time wins leader, can't fully wrap his head around.
"There's Disneyland, there's Disney World and then there's UConn World," Auriemma said. "These are fantasy numbers that make no sense. You couldn't predict this and you couldn't script this at all."
In her final games in a UConn jersey, Bueckers has saved her best for last. Her performance Monday marked her third-straight 30-point game, tying own previous mark for the longest such streak in UConn history. Her 105 points across those contests are the most by a UConn player in any three-game span in program history. And she kept up her trademark efficiency on Monday night, hitting 9 for 11 shots and 4 for 8 from 3, altogether making her the first player with 30 points and 50% shooting in three-straight NCAA tournament games since Missouri State's Jackie Stiles in 2001.
"For her to get all the attention she gets, have all the demands on her life, all the expectations in her life, and still be able to deliver... when I say unique, I think she's closer to one or two or three of most unique players I've ever coached," Auriemma said. "And I'm really going to miss her."
The Trojans -- playing without national player of the year front-runner JuJu Watkins, who tore her ACL in their second-round NCAA tournament game last Monday -- put up a valiant effort without their superstar but fell just short of their first Final Four appearance since 1986. They were led by a 23-point, 15-board performance from senior Rayah Marshall.
"We lost a National Player of the Year, probably, one week ago today and we've won two NCAA tournament games, because they really became a team," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "I was just very proud of the way that we competed tonight. I think you saw the heart and character of our team on display."
The Trojans didn't just have to deal with Bueckers' big night, but also one from freshman Sarah Strong. The latter's 22 points and 17 rebounds made her the second freshman in NCAA tournament history with a 20-point, 15-rebound game in the Elite Eight or later.
"Sarah impacts the game in so many ways, that you just have so much confidence in her, so much belief in her," Auriemma said. "I don't know. Can't explain it."
UConn's defense made the Trojans uncomfortable for large swaths of the game, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half and holding them without a 3-pointer until the 6:44 mark of the third quarter.
Star Kiki Iriafen shot 3 for 15 and did not make a basket from the field after the 4:14 mark of the first quarter. After combining for 45 of USC's 67 points in previous round, the Trojans' top three freshmen of Kennedy Smith, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel managed just 21 on Monday. The team finished with its worst field goal percentage in a game this season at 32.8%.
Meanwhile, the Huskies' 10-for-22 effort from beyond the arc marked the first time this season USC allowed an opponent to reach double digits on 3-pointers.
Auriemma knew he would have to go to Strong early given the defensive attention he expected the Trojans to throw toward Bueckers. The freshman delivered, keeping the Huskies afloat with 10 of their 14 first-quarter point before the rest of the team picked up steam to close second frame. At the break - with UConn up 14, USC's largest halftime deficit of the season -- Strong and Bueckers had combined for more first-half points (28) than USC (25).
The Trojans edged the Huskies in the third, 21-12, making things interesting heading into the fourth. Senior Talia von Oelhoffen spurred the comeback bid with 10 third-quarter points that included a timely basket before the end-of-period buzzer, helping USC cut a 19-point deficit to just five. But UConn refused to panic. After dealing with a swath of injuries over the last three years - including advancing to the Final Four last season with just eight available players - UConn said it leaned on its past experience overcoming adversity to get each other through this test.
"We were built for this," Bueckers said. "Everything that we went through as a team, as individuals, we've weathered every storm that life has thrown our way. So why not weather another."
Added Auriemma: "It has toughened us up a little bit and it has made us a little stronger individually and collectively, believe in each other a little bit more."
Graduate student Azzi Fudd, who started the game shooting 0 for 9, helped UConn pull away down the stretch with eight points in the fourth. Her first basket came on UConn's initial offensive possession that frame, an elevator play that Auriemma had drawn up for his struggling star. She then hit another trey to put UConn up by 14 at the 6:54 mark.
"No matter what the first 30 minutes looked like, we told her the fourth quarter was hers, and she showed up like she always does," Bueckers said.
Fudd and Bueckers scored UConn's first 15 points of the fourth, which along with two late layups from senior Kaitlyn Chen, put the game just enough out of reach. USC never got closer than nine points from then on out.
After the final buzzer sounded, the Huskies gathered at center court, with lots of smiles, high-fives and excited pats. No dogpiles or jumping. As per UConn tradition, the nets at both baskets remained untouched. That's a ritual reserved for championships. But there were still moments of levity and celebration. Bueckers bear-hugged Strong, her heir apparent to Husky stardom. Bueckers' teammates dumped a cooler of confetti during her postgame interview on ESPN, and Bueckers returned the favor by dousing Auriemma during his own TV spot.
The two later shared a moment in the locker room after the game -- grateful for what they accomplished together, and hopeful of what's to come in, regardless of the final outcome, her final week as a Husky.
"At this time, you know it's coming to an end, and it's going to end whether you want it to or not," Auriemma said. "You just want to make it the best weekend of her career at UConn, and it's my job to help her do that."