Sarah Strong was sensational. Azzi Fudd was the Most Outstanding Player.
But in so many ways, UConn's NCAA championship win over South Carolina on Sunday was about Paige Bueckers.
Win or lose, Bueckers was playing the final game of a storied and sometimes tumultuous UConn career. The former prep sensation burst on to the NCAA scene as a freshman in 2021 when she earned multiple National Player of the Year awards.
Since then, a pair of devastating knee injuries stunted her progress and threatened her career. A tibia fracture and meniscus tear sidelined her for most of the 2021-22 season.