San Antonio — From desperation to jubilation, this game encompassed everything for the UConn women's basketball team Monday night.

All of the history of the program, all of the oddities of the last season due to the protocols brought along with COVID-19, all of the sacrifices the Huskies made to be here, all of their resilience, all of the teachable moments for seven freshmen, all went into top-seeded UConn's breathless 69-67 victory over No. 2 Baylor at the Alamodome.

Freshman All-American Paige Bueckers finished with 28 points to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the River Walk regional final as top-seeded UConn advanced to an unprecedented 13th Final Four, a feeling UConn coach Geno Auriemma would later liken to Christmas morning.

"They're all special," said Auriemma, whose team will now remain in San Antonio to take on Arizona in the national semifinals Friday night at 9:30. "That's what I tried to tell everybody when they say, 'How does this one feel compared to all the rest?' They all feel amazing. There's never been one that felt bad. It's like Christmas. People say, 'How was your Christmas?' I never had a bad one. So it's all amazing. They're all amazing."

"It's so rewarding to hear that final buzzer go off and you win and you make it to the Final Four," Bueckers said. "It's really unexplainable the feeling you get from it. It's like a dream come true."

In a game between two of the most storied women's basketball programs in NCAA tournament history, Huskies vs. Bears, the night was worthy of a national championship, coming down to the final seconds.

Baylor (28-3) was the reigning national champion, beating Notre Dame for the 2019 title before last season's tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

UConn, meanwhile has made the Final Four every season since 2008, winning six of the program's 11 national championships during that time.

Christyn Williams finished with 21 points and seven rebounds for UConn (28-1). Evina Westbrook had 11 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa had eight rebounds and five blocked shots, as the Huskies overcame a 10-point deficit with a 19-0 run spanning nearly five-and-a-half minutes at the end of the third quarter into the fourth.

To finish, the Huskies led 68-63 on a fast break basket by Williams, started by a block on the other end by freshman Aaliyah Edwards, but Baylor scored four straight points on free throws to pull within 68-67 with 19.3 seconds to go in the game.

Williams then missed two free throws, prompting a Baylor timeout and one final possession for the Bears. Baylor's DiJonai Carrington, who led the team with 22 points, came down the floor and ran smack into a double-team of the 6-foot-3 Edwards, who blocked her shot, and the 6-5 Nelson-Ododa.

Williams got the defensive rebound and was fouled by NaLyssa Smith. This time, with .8 seconds left on the clock, Williams hit one of two free throws to ice the victory, although the final sequence later came into question by Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who believed without question that Carrington was fouled on her drive down the left side.

"You don't need a quote from me," Mulkey said. "I've got still shots and video from two angles. One (UConn) kid hits her in the face, one kid hits her on the elbow."

Auriemma attributed the non-foul call to "the nature of sports," and challenged anyone who wished to check every single call throughout the game and add them up.

"I mean, you could go back and forth, the whole thing," Auriemma said. "The bottom line is the officials did what they're going to do. It is what it is. I'm not going to sit here and apologize for it. And if people are going to want to talk about that the rest of the week, you're welcome to do that."

The game's first quarter was played at more the pace of an Indy 500, with UConn leading 26-24.

The Huskies led 16-4, with Edwards driving and hitting an off-balance layup. Baylor started its comeback slowly at first, with one free throw by Moon Ursin, but the Bears would finish with a 10-0 run to pull within 16-14, meanwhile Edwards picked up her second foul and left the game in favor of Aubrey Griffin.

Baylor tied the game at 28 on a layup by Ursin and took its first lead at 34-33 on a jump shot by Carrington. UConn led 37-34 on a pair of free throws by Bueckers, but Baylor scored the final five points of the half, all by Carrington, to lead 39-37.

In the third quarter, Baylor pushed the lead to double figures at 55-45 on a jump shot by Ursin, but UConn scored the final eight points of the third on a drive by Bueckers and consecutive 3-pointers by Williams and Bueckers to carve the margin back to two at 55-53.

UConn turned that 8-0 run to a 19-0 run by scoring the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, making it 64-55 on a reverse layup by Williams. Edwards first gave the Huskies the lead back at 55-53 with an offensive rebound and Bueckers responded with a jump shot, followed by a Bueckers 3-pointer and Williams' reverse. Baylor was charged with two offensive fouls during that span.

Baylor's Smith scored with 6:47 remaining to end the UConn run, setting up the furious finish.

In addition to Bueckers, UConn's Williams, Smith and Carrington of Baylor and Iowa's Caitlin Clark were named to the all-tournament team.

"I think it spoke for our mentality the whole season of just facing adversity and taking it with our chin and just fighting back," Bueckers said of clawing back from the 10-point deficit with 2:09 to play in the third quarter. "They hit us, they went on their runs. We just tried to stay confident. We just didn't want to go home and we wanted to keep competing and make it to the Final Four. I think we really just stuck together."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Follow Vickie Fulkerson in San Antonio on Twitter at @Vickieattheday