Minneapolis — The first time these teams played this season, UConn and South Carolina, most of what the UConn players remember is the all-out demand of their practices increasing as coach Geno Auriemma called for them to be mentally and physically tougher.

"Those were the hardest practices that I've had since I've been here," UConn senior Christyn Williams said. "So that says a lot. They were just very demanding and, like, you weren't getting away with anything. So mentally, it was mentally taxing. It was very hard.

"I'm not going to go into specifics but just know that it was hard."

That was more than four months ago, a 73-57 loss to South Carolina in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, with the teams ranked No. 1 (South Carolina) and No. 2 (UConn) in the nation.

That same matchup will play out again Sunday with the national championship at stake when still-No. 1 South Carolina and national player of the year Aliyah Boston take on a UConn team which has taken a more circuitous route to its 14th straight Final Four due to injuries and illness.

UConn (30-5) and South Carolina (34-2) get started at 8 p.m. (ESPN) at the 18,798-seat Target Center, with most of those seats filled for Friday's national semifinals.

The No. 2 seed from the Bridgeport Region, UConn defeated defending national champion Stanford 63-58 in the semifinals Friday, the second straight No. 1 seed eliminated by the resilient Huskies. South Carolina topped another No. 1 in Louisville 72-59, getting 23 points and 18 rebounds from Boston, the 6-foot-5 junior forward who strung together a streak of 27 straight games this season with double figures in points and rebounds.

UConn and South Carolina also reached last year's Final Four in San Antonio but lost in the semifinals.

UConn is bidding for its 12th national championship, previously 11-0 in title games. South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley won the championship in 2017.

"The Bahamas was eons ago," Staley said Saturday in anticipation of the rematch. "What did we take from it? We're going to watch it a little bit because I liked how we were defending and we can compare what it looks like from back in November to what it looks like now. I think we've gotten better, but we did a pretty good job in the Bahamas."

In that first game, it was a two-point margin late in the third quarter before the Gamecocks' defense kicked in, holding the Huskies without a field goal for 7 minutes, 38 seconds over the third and fourth quarters. Evina Westbrook hit a 3-pointer for UConn's only points of the fourth quarter.

Boston had 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Paige Bueckers led UConn with 19.

The teams were scheduled to play again Jan. 27 at South Carolina but that game was canceled so that each team could reschedule a league game, just as well for UConn which was struggling at the time with a series of injuries, including to Bueckers.

"I think we lost our composure in the fourth quarter," Bueckers said of the first meeting. "I think that was the biggest thing, the biggest key in the whole game. Just making sure we play a whole 40 minutes and making sure we're prepared for the moment and stay composed and stay together. I think we're a lot more mature mentally, just in the way we're going to approach this game.

"I know it's a huge game. There'll be nerves and stuff, but to shake it off and stay composed and stay together like we have this whole season, will be key."

UConn's Auriemma and South Carolina's Staley are the two most recent U.S. Olympic women's basketball coaches, leading the American team to the last three gold medals.

Staley, speaking of UConn's injury-prone season, credited Auriemma with getting his team to the championship game. UConn had eight of 12 players miss at least two games with illnesses and injuries, including a 19-game stretch by Bueckers, the 2021 national player of the year.

"Adverse moments are either going to bring you together or they're going to pull you apart," Staley said. "They chose to come together and play as a cohesive unit and now it really didn't surprise me that they're here."

"For sure, it's kind of like coming full circle," UConn senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa said of South Carolina. "We saw them at the very, very beginning of the year, we went through our adversity and whatnot and we're back at this point. To me, it's kind of full circle."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

UCONN vs. SOUTH CAROLINA

NCAA tournament national championship

Location: Target Center, Minneapolis

Tip: 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Records: UConn 30-5, South Carolina 34-2.

Last game: UConn beat Stanford in the NCAA tournament Final Four Friday 63-58; South Carolina beat Louisville in the NCAA tournament Final Four Friday 72-59.

Last game's starters: UConn, 6-3 F Aaliyah Edwards (7.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg), 6-5 F Olivia Nelson-Ododa (9.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.7 bpg), 5-11 G Paige Bueckers (14.6 ppg, 4.1 apg, 1.5 spg), 5-11 G Christyn Williams (14.6 ppg, 2.3 apg, 1.5 spg), 5-11 G Azzi Fudd (12.5 ppg).

South Carolina, 6-5 F Aliyah Boston (17.0 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 1.3 spg, 2.4 bpg), 6-2 F Victaria Saxton (5.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 5-9 G Zia Cooke (10.7 ppg, 1.7 apg), 5-7 G Destanni Henderson (11.1 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.3 spg), 6-1 G Brea Beal (5.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg).

Noteworthy: For starters, UConn will have to contend with Naismith, Wade Trophy, Associated Press, USBWA and The Athletic National Player of the Year in Aliyah Boston, South Carolina's 6-foot-5 junior forward. Boston finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds in the Gamecocks' semifinal victory Friday over Louisville and had a string of 27 straight double-doubles this year. "I don't think it's a stretch to say that she might be the hardest person in America to guard," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "She scores if there's one, two, three, four people on her. It doesn't matter. She's able to carve out the space she wants. She gets the ball on the rim whenever she wants. She rebounds whichever ball she goes after. She just has a knack. ... I think she's the most important person in the country in terms of what she does for her team. How do we guard her? I don't know. I'm open for suggestions." ... UConn will counter in the post with 6-5 forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa and 6-3 forward Aaliyah Edwards, who combined for 18 rebounds Friday night to help lead the Huskies to a 46-37 rebounding edge over Stanford. ... UConn's Paige Bueckers, who missed 19 games this year after knee surgery, hobbled off the floor due to an injury with 5:07 to play Friday but came back in at the 3:13 mark. She didn't score again, but added a rebound, finishing with a team-high 14 points. "Some things, it's more an in-the-moment type of pain and you can shake it off a little bit. I was just stretching and making sure I could get back in the game as soon as possible," Bueckers said. "... I'm going to be ice bathing and making sure we're stretching and using all the recovery devices we can to make sure our bodies and minds are prepared for (Sunday)." ... UConn was 15-for-17 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter of the win over Stanford and 16-for-20 overall. Said Auriemma: "I'm as shocked as anybody that they're going in because all year long we have not been a good free throw shooting team. Then there are times when we have been. I think our free throw shooting is exactly like our team. When we're good, we're really, really good." The Huskies shoot 69.3% from the foul line, led by freshman Azzi Fudd (91.2%). ... South Carolina's two losses came at Missouri on Dec. 30, 70-69 in overtime, and versus Kentucky in the SEC tournament championship game, 64-62. ... The Gamecocks, who played 13 games against ranked opponents, won the SEC regular-season title and claimed the league's Coach of the Year (Staley), Player of the Year (Boston) and Defensive Player of the Year (Boston). Senior guard Destanni Henderson earned first team All-SEC honors along with Boston.

— Vickie Fulkerson