No. 1 USC eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by No. 2 UConn

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The USC Trojans were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite 8 on Monday night as they were taken down, 78-64, by the Uconn Huskies at Spokane Arena. It is the second consecuive year that the Trojans have been downed by Paige Bueckers and the Huskies in the Elite 8.

Bueckers dropped 30+ for the third consecutive game, continuing her legendary tournament run. She finished with 31 to go along with 6 assists, four steals and three rebounds. In the process, the senior also moved into third place on Uconn's all time scoring list, passing Napheesa Collier. She now trails only Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore, solidifying herself among elite company.

Forward Sarah Strong also had a huge night for the Huskies as she contributed 22 points and 17 rebounds, draining four of her six shots from long range. Strong and Bueckers combined for nearly 70% of Uconn's points in the contest as the Trojan defense had no answer for them.

Rayah Marshall had her most effective game of the tournament for USC, dropping 23 points and grabbing 15 rebounds as she helped the Trojans dominate in the rebounding department 42-31 overall. Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen were the next-highest scorers as the pair each dropped 10. 

In the end, it was the Huskies relentless attack from the three-point line that led them to victory. They shot at a clip of 45.5% from deep compared to the Trojans, who managed to go just 23.1%. 

Following a neck-and-neck first quarter, Uconn would pull away in the second as they shot 8-15 in the period to give themselves some breathing room. The pair of late threes from Bueckers helped the Huskies open up a 14 point lead heading into the locker room.

With 7:26 left in the third, the Trojans trailed by their biggest deficit of the night at 44-25. However, they were able to find a late-quarter burst as a 21-7 run helped them close the gap to five as Oelhoffen was able to beat the buzzer for two. 

In the fourth, however, the Trojans went ice cold from the field as they converted on just 3 of their 13 shot attempts. It was not enough to stay in the game as an 8-13 shooting quarter from the Huskies helped them secure the victory. 

Despite not having the star power of JuJu Watkins in their favor, USC managed to make things difficult on Uconn for the majority of the conest. Nonetheless, the Huskies will be moving on to Tampa Bay for the Final Four as they battle No. 1 seed UCLA with a ticket to the NCAA Championship on the line.