Blowout City

So, then: UConn vs. South Carolina for the women's marbles.

And what a letdown that is.

No, not because of UConn and South Carolina. Because of UCLA and Texas, a pair of 1-seeds who were supposed to show up to the party but sent their regrets instead.

Texas, see, lost by 17 to the Gamecocks. It was a three-point game at halftime and still a six-point game with 4:54 to play in the third quarter, but then the Longhorns went almost four-and-a-half minutes without scoring, South Carolina outscored them 11-2 in the interim, and that was pretty much that.

Texas scored just 22 points in the second half. It shot 39 percent for the game. In the second half, the Longhorns made just eight field goals.

Meanwhile, in the other semifinal ...

You know that old Woody Allen saying about how 80 percent of life is just showing up?

Well, UCLA flunked the 80 percent part.

Like the Longhorns, the Bruins scored just 22 points in one half, only in their case it was the first half. By that time they were down by 20, 42-22. And it never got any better, as Paige Bueckers and the Huskies rolled them like cookie dough, 85-51.

A 34-point rip, in a national semifinal game. With the 1-seed on the losing end. Holy guacamole, what an unscheduled trip to Blowout City.

Bueckers finished with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals, but she got plenty of help this time. Sarah Strong led the Huskies with 22 points, eight boards, two assists, a steal and a block; Azzi Fudd added 19, an assist and three steals and was 3-of-5 from the 3-point arc.

The Huskies never trailed, and the score was tied only once, at 4-4 on a layup by UCLA's Kiki Rice two minutes into the game. Eighteen seconds later Jana El Alfy tipped in a miss to send UConn back in front, and the Bruins never got even again.

So, then: UConn vs. South Carolina.

Here's hoping the suspense will last longer than it did Friday night. The women's game deserves it.