PORTLAND, Ore. —
It’s the star-studded matchup TV executives dreamed about. Paige Bueckers, Connecticut’s senior star, against USC’s freshman phenom JuJu Watkins. The headliners will surely help obliterate any women’s basketball TV ratings records during Monday’s Elite Eight contest. Yet a different matchup will decide who advances to the Final Four.
“It’s USC vs. UConn,” Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma said, “not Paige vs. JuJu.”
Watkins’ top-seeded Trojans face No. 3 Connecticut at 6 p.m. PDT (ESPN) in the Portland 3 Regional final on Monday at Moda Center in a potential changing of the guard in women’s basketball.