At last, the NCAA Women’s Basketball showdown came to a dramatic end. The South Carolina Gamecocks failed to defend their title, falling 59-82 to the UConn Huskies. Celebrations are in full swing for the victors, as they clinched their 12th championship—ending a nine-year title drought. While the win was undoubtedly a team effort, a few standout performances helped tip the scale in UConn’s favor. Many might assume Paige Bueckers was the game-changer—but are you sure about that? USWNT icon Kelley O’Hara seems to think otherwise, rallying behind Sarah Strong as the true difference-maker for UConn!

Honestly, you’re probably not the only one surprised by this opinion. Overlooking one of the team’s most important faces in favor of a freshman talent is not exactly typical. That said, it doesn’t take away from anyone’s individual contributions. Yet, in O’Hara’s eyes, it was the 19-year-old forward who proved to be the true “difference-maker” in the team’s victory.

“The difference maker is Sarah Strong,” began the former USWNT midfielder on the Just Women’s Sports podcast segment, ‘Sports are Fun.’ Further explaining her choice, O’Hara emphasized that what set Strong apart from the rest of UConn’s talented roster is the fact that she managed to win the title in her very first year. Not to mention, her efforts also played a crucial role in helping the team end their 9-year championship drought.

In fact, O’Hara made it clear that calling Sarah Strong a game-changer was in no way meant as a slight to any of the other star players on the team. “Again, it’s taking nothing away from Paige [Bueckers], Azzi [Fudd], and [Kaitlyn] Chen—all these players who have done incredibly well for UConn. But Sarah Strong, in my opinion, is a difference-maker. It’s gonna be huge for UConn moving forward,” added the 2-time World Cup champion.

Technically, the stats are also backing O’Hara’s claim. In the final game vs South Carolina, Sarah tallied 24 points, 5 assists, and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes of her time. Having arrived as one of the most anticipated recruits of UConn, the Madrid, Spain native more than just managed to fulfill the expectations everyone had of her.

In her debut season opener for 2024-25, she averaged 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and three blocks per game. For a freshman, these numbers aren’t just impressive—they’re historic, as only a handful of first-year players in NCAA history have achieved something similar. Being able to showcase such dominance at this stage even draws comparisons to UConn legend Breanna Stewart, a four-time national champion and WNBA MVP.

While we’ll let Sarah Strong bask in the glory, Bueckers doesn’t need to remain disheartened. The 23-year-old remains the projected number 1 draft pick for the WNBA. This is something that Kelley O’Hara’s former USWNT teammate had already predicted alongside a WNBA icon!

Backing Paige Bueckers was a slam dunk for Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird!

Before the commencement of the March Madness, Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird had revealed their Final Four bracket on their podcast A Touch More. The former USWNT forward had picked UCLA from Spokane’s Regional 1 and backed UConn from Regional 4. She completed her picks with South Carolina from Regional 2 and Notre Dame representing Regional 3. According to their predictions, UConn would be coming on top against UCLA, while South Carolina would be triumphing over Notre Dame to reach the finals.

And for the final, their pick was clear… any guesses? Well, of course, UConn. But that’s not all—Rapinoe went a step further by making a bold affirmation about Paige Bueckers. “UConn is going to win. Paige Bueckers is going to ride off into glory right into Dallas to start her WNBA career,” confidentially remarked Rapinoe.

While we all know how the actual top four looked like, one has to give it to both Rapinoe and Sue Bird for getting their final predictions right, unlike Alex Morgan, who had rather backed the USC Trojans to lift the title against South Carolina.