South Carolina is the women's NCAA basketball champions

South Carolina is the women's NCAA basketball champions

Transcript¹

The University of South Carolina beat the University of Connecticut 64-49 to become the women's NCAA basketball champions. The men's winner will be decided² Monday when North Carolina faces Kansas.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Now to some other news this morning, this coming from the basketball court. Before last night, the celebrated³ University of Connecticut women's basketball team had played in 11 national championship games and won all of them. That perfect record is no more. On the court in Minneapolis, the South Carolina Gamecocks dominated UConn from start to finish and won 64-49. It's the Gamecocks' second championship since 2017. Joining us now is NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman. Tom, a lot of buzz about this game going in. South Carolina was the overall No. 1 seed, but UConn finally seemed to hit its stride after an up-and-down season. The betting types said it would be close. A 15-point win, though, is not close. What happened?

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE⁵: (Laughter) The betting types must have not believed how big and relentless⁶ and good South Carolina is. It was obvious from the start. The Gamecocks blasted to a 13-2 lead. They were grabbing nearly every rebound⁷. In fact, for the game, they got 25 more rebounds⁸ than UConn. That's a whopping figure. The Huskies made a few runs, got within six points late in the third quarter, but that was as close as it got.

MARTINEZ: Now, we heard a lot about South Carolina's player of the year, Aliyah Boston, who's really virtually unstoppable under the basket. How much of a difference was she in the win?

GOLDMAN: You know, she was very good with 11 points and 16 rebounds. Almost every outing, she gets a double-double. That's double figures in points and rebounds. But in this game, the star was 5-foot-7 senior guard Destanni Henderson. Her last game was her best. She had a career high 26 points, and it was her aggressive defense⁹ on UConn star Paige Bueckers - that was a big reason why Bueckers never fueled a serious comeback. And Henderson talked about that defense on ESPN right after the game.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DESTANNI HENDERSON: I knew I had to use my speed and make sure I stay with her. I think that's what we've been practicing all along. And the first time we played them, that really worked out well for us. So I knew to come into this game, we had to bring the same momentum¹⁰.

GOLDMAN: So a great game for Destanni Henderson, who, A, has to be the darling of headline writers everywhere - you know, the ones who wrote after the game "Team Of Destanni." Sorry. Now, one other note - this is South Carolina's second championship under Dawn Staley. She's now the first Black head coach in men's or women's Division I basketball to win multiple titles.

MARTINEZ: All right. Now, it seems like we've got a pretty big men's game tonight, men's championship tonight, two well-known programs, two blue bloods - Kansas and North Carolina. How do you think this one's going to go?

GOLDMAN: Kansas is favored by four points, like South Carolina was in the women's final. But I would be very surprised if the Jayhawks have a similar runaway¹¹ win. North Carolina showed us all how good it can be in that epic¹² semifinal win over Duke Saturday, which sent legendary¹³ head coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement¹⁴. What's worrisome for the Tar⁴ Heels, though, is the health of their best big man, Armando Bacot. He turned an ankle against Duke, but he's apparently¹⁵ moving well. He's ready to go. That's critical because North Carolina has to be able to defend the Jayhawks' 6'10" 250-pound David McCormack, who was devastatingly¹⁶ good in the Jayhawks' semifinal win over Villanova.

MARTINEZ: All right. A four-point spread, Kansas favorite - who do you like?

GOLDMAN: Kansas. The Jayhawks are a really fast team, very good defensively, they pressure opponents full court. They have McCormack down low, and among other really good players, a talented and versatile¹⁷ guard, Ochai Agbaji. He was great in that 16-point win over Villanova, hitting six three-point shots. And, you know, I think people undervalue Kansas because it's a program that always seems to have very good teams but only one title to show for it in recent years. I also think this is as good a chance as the Jayhawks have had to win their first championship since 2008.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman. Tom, thanks a lot.

GOLDMAN: You're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

4 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

7 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

8 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

11 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

12 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

13 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

14 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 devastatingly   

adv. 破坏性地，毁灭性地，极其

参考例句：

• She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比，魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。
• I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。

17 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。