[Editor’s note: This article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 “Year in Review” magazine, which celebrates the year’s champions and relives the biggest moments from across the world of sports. Order your copy online today, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]
There might not be a championship run more picture-perfect than UConn women’s basketball’s 2025 national title.
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After three years of heartbreaking injuries and stunning losses, the Huskies sent superstar Paige Bueckers off to the WNBA by winning it all and snapping the program’s once-unthinkable eight-year title drought.
“It’s been a story of resilience, of gratitude, of adversity, of overcoming adversity, just responding to life’s challenges and trying to fuel them to make me a better person, a better player … and believing in what we do here as individuals, what we do here as a team,” Bueckers said after the Huskies cut down the nets in Tampa. “Just an overwhelming sense of gratitude for everything that’s happened through the ups and downs. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
To tell the story of the Huskies’ 2025 national championship, you have to start at the 2021-22 season.
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In December 2021, Bueckers, the 2020-21 national Player of the Year, suffered a tibial plateau fracture and was sidelined for 19 games. Without her, UConn snapped its 145-game regular-season conference win streak. Bueckers returned in late February and helped the Huskies reach the national championship game, yet they couldn’t compete against South Carolina. UConn’s loss in the national final was its first-ever after 11 previous title-game appearances.
Apr 6, 2025; Tampa, FL; Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers passes the ball against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half of the national championship of the women’s 2025 NCAA tournament at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn ImagesNathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Four months later, Bueckers tore her ACL and missed the entire 2022-23 season. And it wasn’t just her. That year, UConn had only four games (out of 37) with at least 10 players available, as injuries started to accumulate.
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The Huskies’ on-court production suffered. In February 2023, UConn lost to South Carolina and Marquette, snapping the program’s 30-year streak of not losing back-to-back games. That same season, the Huskies were upset by Ohio State in the Sweet 16, snapping their streak of 14 consecutive Final Four appearances.
Heading into the 2024-25 campaign, Bueckers’ final in Storrs, the pressure was higher than ever.
UConn lost 79-68 at rival Notre Dame on Dec. 12. Bueckers led with 25 points, yet the rest of the Husky squad looked discombobulated. Nine days later, the Huskies lost at home to USC, 72-70. While UConn went on to cruise through Big East play, something was lacking.
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The turning point came on Feb. 6 when UConn lost at archrival Tennessee, 80-76. Not only was the Huskies’ defeat their first to Tennessee since 2007, it proved they needed more than just Bueckers.
“We broke down defensively. We broke down offensively in a lot of ways. Some of our players that we were really, really counting on really struggled, probably more mentally than physically,” Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma said, reflecting back on the loss during the Final Four. “… You play games like that because you want to find those things out, and that was a huge, huge benefit for us.”
The Huskies closed the final month of the regular season playing better than ever. They beat 2024 national champion South Carolina on Feb. 16 in Columbia, 87-55.
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UConn won its fourth straight Big East regular-season and Big East Tournament titles, and began March Madness by completely obliterating Arkansas State in the first round and South Dakota State in the Round of 32. Bueckers led with 34 points against the Jackrabbits.
“It’s incredible to watch, but you almost feel sorry for the other team, because you know when Paige is locked in, there’s nothing you can do to stop her,” guard Azzi Fudd said after the game. “It doesn’t matter what shot she takes, the ball’s going to go in. … We have all the trust in the world in her. So we just got to sit back and enjoy the Paige show.”
UConn’s star guard was on a mission.
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In the Sweet 16 against Oklahoma, Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points to rescue UConn from a halftime deficit and win, 82-59. No other UConn player has ever scored 40 or more points in an NCAA Tournament game.
Apr 6, 2025; Tampa, FL; Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma holds up the net after the national championship of the women’s 2025 NCAA tournament against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesKirby Lee-Imagn Images
Then, in the Elite Eight, she scored 31 points, while freshman Sarah Strong added 22 and 17 rebounds in UConn’s 78-64 win over USC. The win advanced the Huskies to the Final Four for the 16th time in the last 17 tournaments.
UConn took down No. 1 overall seed UCLA in the semifinals 85-51, as Bueckers, Strong and Fudd combined for 57 points.
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And two days later, on April 6, the Huskies outplayed the Gamecocks in a rematch of the 2022 national championship game—except this time, they were victorious. UConn’s star trio combined for 65 points, while no one on South Carolina finished with more than 10 in a 82-59 decision.
Bueckers wore the championship net around her neck for what felt like two straight days. Fudd, who was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, sobbed on stage as confetti rained down. Into the early hours of the next day, the team celebrated with some of the program’s most iconic legends: Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Rebecca Lobo.
UConn’s championship win not only topped off Bueckers’ collegiate career with the ultimate prize, but it signified UConn’s return to the throne of women’s college basketball. The Huskies now own the most national championships, 12, in college basketball history.
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“I just kept thinking something good has to happen because if we were going to lose, it would have been before now. I don’t think the basketball gods would take us all the way to the end,” Auriemma said. “They’ve been really cruel with some of the kids on this team. They’ve suffered a lot of the things that could go wrong in their college careers as an athlete.
“So they don’t need any more heartbreak. So they (the basketball gods) weren’t going to take us here and give us more heartbreak. I kept holding on to that. I’m glad they were rewarded. This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I’ve been a part of since that very first one.”
Related: Athlon Sports Commemorates the Champions of 2025 With ‘Year in Review’ Magazine
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Dec 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
