Love you, mean it

The GIST: And with that, the 2024–25 women’s college basketball season has come to an end. Hopefully, you had your notepad handy for yesterday’s sold-out national championship game because No. 2 seed UConn put on an absolute hoops clinic.

• The Huskies dismantled the defending champ No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks 82–59 to win their NCAA-best 12th program title. Turns out there is crying in basketball.

UConn’s best-in-the-country defense shines bright: The “defense wins championships” adage rang true for the Huskies, who held South Carolina to under 60 points for the second time this season. In fact, UConn dominated all tournament long, crushing opponents by a stunning 32.8 points per game.

• Their offense was just as mind-bogglingly good: The talented trifecta of superstar senior Bueckers, graduate student Azzi “Final Four Most Outstanding Player” Fudd, and freshman Sarah Strong combined for 65 of UConn’s 82 points.

• And these dogs did it in record-breaking fashion: Bueckers’ 477 career tournament points is the most in Huskies history (and third-best all-time) while Strong posted the most D1 tourney points ever by a freshman with 114. Shooters shoot.

Looking ahead: It’s the end of an era for Bueckers and a quartet of South Carolina stars — Te-Hina Paopa, Bree Hall, Sania Feagin, and (possibly) Raven Johnson — all five of whom could hear their names called in next week’s WNBA draft.

• The Gamecocks’ mass exodus is giving shades of the team from two seasons ago that lost all five starters and then went undefeated the following campaign.

• And with two members of UConn’s dominant three-pronged attack back in Storrs next season, not to mention legendary HCs in Auriemma and SC’s Dawn Staley sticking around, this growing rivalry between the Huskies and Gamecocks is one to keep an eye on.

The GIST: The Madness isn’t over just yet: No. 1 seeds Florida and Houston will battle for the men’s championship tonight at 8:50 p.m. ET on CBS in the U.S. and TSN in Canada. One (last) shining moment, loading.

What happened in the Final Four: One of the chalkiest Final Fours in history turned unexpectedly dramatic on Saturday. Call ’em comebacks, call ’em chokes — whatever your take, both of the victors came roaring back from sizable halftime deficits to survive and advance.

• In the early game, Florida emerged from a sloppy, foul-heavy second half to upset No. 1 overall seed Auburn 79–73. First-team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. put the Gators on his back with 34 points to top the Tigers for the second time this year.

• Then came the real shocker: Houston’s 70–67 win over No. 1 Duke, who had it in the bag until the literal last minute. Down by six with 34 seconds remaining, the Cougars clawed their way back with their signature defense, not to mention a 26-point night from guard L.J. Cryer.

Tonight’s matchup: No matter which team wins, the HC will be a first-time champ: Houston’s old-school HC, Kelvin Sampson, is seeking a ring to prove he’s one of the GOATs, while Florida’s problematic Todd Golden is among the youngest HCs to ever make the Final Four, let alone the title game.

• This will be a battle between Houston’s nation-best defense and Florida’s third-ranked offense, and the guard duel between Clayton and Cryer is bound to be captivating. And one thing’s for sure — it’s not over ’til it’s over.

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The GIST: The GR8 Chase is over — Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal in yesterday’s 4–1 loss to the NY Islanders, making him the top goal scorer in NHL history. Here’s a look at the historic hockey moment, by the numbers.

31: The legendary (though recently polarizing) Wayne Gretzky held the league’s all-time scoring record for 31 years after retiring with 894 career goals. Someone breaking his mark was considered impossible…until Ovi (who notably stirs his own conflicting feelings) started closing in.

1,487: It took Ovi 1,487 games to break Gretzky’s record, which is the exact number of NHL games “The Great One” played in his career. Spooky.

65: Of Ovi’s 895 career goals, 65 were empty-netters. While some think this stat lessens Ovechkin’s claim to greatness, Gretzky notched 56 empty-netters en route to his long-standing record. It’s just part of the game.

Two hours, 10 minutes and 37 seconds: That’s how long it’ll take you to watch all 895 of Ovechkin’s NHL goals, generously compiled by the Caps, the only team the Great Eight has ever played for.

39: Ovi’s still playing at an extremely productive clip at age 39. With five regular-season games remaining, he’s already scored 42 goals this season alone, only 23 less than his all-time season high of 65, which he accomplished in his prime 17 years ago. And with the postseason looming, he’s just getting started.