South Carolina returns to the NCAA title game and gets a rematch of 2022 against Bueckers and UConn

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The journey has been more challenging than usual, but Dawn Staley and defending national champion South Carolina are still getting the job done.

The Gamecocks (35-3) overwhelmed Southeastern Conference rival Texas 74-57 on Friday night in the Final Four of the women's NCAA Tournament, advancing to the title game Sunday against UConn (36-3), an 85-51 winner over No. 1 overall seed UCLA.

Coach Geno Auriemma's Huskies traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, in the regular season and dominated the Gamecocks, winning 87-58 on Feb. 16.

This is the seventh time The Associated Press preseason Nos. 1 and 2 teams will play in the women's NCAA championship game. South Carolina beat UConn in the 2022 title game after the teams began that season ranked 1-2.

The No. 1 preseason team is 6-0 in the previous title games against the preseason No. 2. The Huskies' Paige Bueckers will try to end that streak as she seeks a national title, the only prize left in a remarkable collegiate career. UConn's loss to South Carolina in 2022 concluded an injury-marred sophomore season for Bueckers, who is expected to be the top overall pick in the WNBA draft.

South Carolina enters its third title game in four years coming off its best all-around performance of this tournament and is trying to become the first program to repeat as national champion since Auriemma led UConn to four straight titles from 2013-2016.

UConn has won a record 11 national titles, and South Carolina’s emergence as a perennial championship contenders has come in the nine years since the Huskies have won a title, Auriemma suggested that Sunday’s matchup is only fitting.

"We’ve certainly played each other a number of times in big, big games … and so it does feel like the two most prominent programs right now in women’s college basketball are playing for the right to be national champions,” Auriemma said.

“They deserve to be here,” the UConn coach added. “We deserve to be here.”

Unlike previous title-winning teams led by Staley, South Carolina has endured a difficult run to the title game. Her resilient squad lacks superstars but finds ways to win.

Following double-digit victories over Tennessee Tech and Indiana in the first two rounds, the Gamecocks won close games against No. 4 seed Maryland and No. 2 seed Duke in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.

They started slowly again Friday night, took their first lead early in the second quarter and wore down Texas after halftime.

The bench, led by freshman Joyce Edwards, once again sparked the Gamecocks. South Carolina’s reserves scored 35 points against the Longhorns, with Edwards finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

“Obviously, we have one more to go and we’re just really excited to get going on Sunday,” South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao said. “We’re going to be really prepared and ready. It’s going to be a 40-minute battle.”

UConn, appearing in its record 24th Final Four, advanced to the title game for the 13th time. It will try to become the fourth school to beat three No. 1 seeds on the way to an NCAA tournament title.

The others to do it: Tennessee in 1987, Louisiana Tech in 1988 and Baylor in 2005. In addition to toppling UCLA, UConn beat Southern California in the Elite Eight.

Bueckers can hardly wait.

"We prayed, we prepared and hoped to be playing on the last day of the season,” she said. “We got that opportunity, so we don’t want to take it for granted.”

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South Carolina guard Bree Hall (23) reacts after hitting a three point basket against Texas during the second half of a national semifinal Final Four game during the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

From left, UConn forward Sarah Strong (21), guard Paige Bueckers (5) and guard Azzi Fudd (35) react during the second half of a national semifinal Final Four game against UCLA during the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

South Carolina guard Bree Hall (23), forward Chloe Kitts (21) and forward Sania Feagin (20) react late in the second half of a national semifinal Final Four game against Texas during the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5), forward Sarah Strong (21) and center Jana El Alfy (8) react late in the game against UCLA during a national semifinal Final Four game of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao (0) reacts during the second half of a national semifinal Final Four game against Texas during the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The Justice Department argued in an emergency appeal to the justices that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis overstepped her authority when she ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to the United States.

The administration has conceded that Abrego Garcia should not have been sent to El Salvador because an immigration judge found he likely would face persecution by local gangs.

But he is no longer in U.S. custody and the government has no way to get him back, the administration argued.

Xinis gave the administration until just before midnight to “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return.

“The district court’s injunction—which requires Abrego Garcia’s release from the custody of a foreign sovereign and return to the United States by midnight on Monday—is patently unlawful,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court papers, casting the order as one in “a deluge of unlawful injunctions” judges have issued to slow President Donald Trump's agenda.

The Trump administration is separately asking the Supreme Court to allow Trump to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to the same Salvadoran prison under an 18th century wartime law.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, denied the administration's request for a stay. “There is no question that the government screwed up here,” Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote in a brief opinion accompanying the unanimous denial.

The White House has described Abrego Garcia’s deportation as an “administrative error” but has also cast him an MS-13 gang member. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia said there is no evidence he was in MS-13.

Xinis wrote that the decision to arrest him and send him to El Salvador appears to be “wholly lawless,” explaining that little to no evidence supports a “vague, uncorroborated” allegation that Abrego Garcia was once an MS-13 member.

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who has never been charged or convicted of any crime, was detained by immigration agents and deported last month.

He had a permit from DHS to legally work in the U.S. and was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing a journeyman license, his attorney said. His wife is a U.S. citizen.

In 2019, an immigration judge barred the U.S. from deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

A Justice Department lawyer conceded in a court hearing that Abrego Garcia should not have been deported. Attorney General Pam Bondi later removed the lawyer, Erez Reuveni, from the case and placed him on leave.

Prisoners look out from their cell at the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Friday, April 4, 2025, during a tour by the Costa Rica Justice and Peace minister. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

FILE - Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA's Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA's Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)