MINNEAPOLIS — South Carolina’s Destanni Henderson sized up Paige Bueckers. It was two minutes into the fourth quarter of the 2022 NCAA national championship game between the Gamecocks and the UConn Huskies on Sunday night.
Henderson dribbled the ball with her right hand as Bueckers tried to cheat a ball screen. But Henderson burst through the gap that opened, driving hard down the lane. The 5-foot-7 senior guard elevated with UConn’s 6-3 Aaliyah Edwards on her hip and flipped the ball off the backboard and through the net. She ran back down the court as UConn reset, tongue poked out just a little bit, smirking.
“She was on fire,” South Carolina associate head coach Lisa Boyer said after the game. “It was her day, her night. And she took every advantage of it.”
Henderson ended the game with a career-high 26 points, four assists and three steals in South Carolina’s 64-49 victory over UConn for the program’s second national championship in five years. She is the first player since 2000 to score a career high in a national championship game. She had a hand in 34 of the Gamecocks’ 64 points, shooting 9-for-20 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Defensively, she helped hold Bueckers, 2021’s national player of the year, to 14 points. Bueckers shot 1-for-5 versus Henderson.
“I really didn’t even know that I had a career high,” Henderson said. “It’s just even more of a blessing, and just an honor to do it in this moment, a special moment, that all of us are going to remember forever.”
As the clock wound down in Target Center, the crowd started cheering for the Gamecocks. Even as the fans — led by South Carolina great and Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson — roared, Henderson stayed calm. When she was subbed out, coach Dawn Staley gave her a hug and slapped her on the back in celebration. Assistant Fred Chmiel wrapped Henderson in his arms and lifted her off the ground.
With the final seconds ticking away, Henderson stood near the bench, smiling, her…
Source : espn
