The No. 2 Huskies downed No. 1 USC 78-64 in the Elite Eight on Monday as the Trojans were without star JuJu Watkins, who suffered a torn ACL in the Round of 32. The Final Four appearance is the 24th for the Huskies, the most of any program in women's college basketball history.

Paige Bueckers carried UConn to its record 24th Final Four of the women's NCAA Tournament, scoring 31 points Monday night in a 78-64 victory over Southern California, which couldn't overcome the loss of injured star JuJu Watkins.

USC put up a fight. But ultimately, Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong — and the absence of JuJu Watkins — proved too much to overcome. The Trojans opened an early lead over UConn and then rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit to cut the UConn lead to five points to close the third quarter.