Jana El Alfy's parents traveled from Egypt to watch the freshman center and UConn win a title
South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts (21) is double teamed by UConn forward Sarah Strong (21) and center Jana El Alfy (8) during the second half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
UConn center Jana El Alfy (8), forward Ice Brady (25) and guard Morgan Cheli (23) react during the second half of the national championship game against South Carolina at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
UConn center Jana El Alfy (8), forward Ice Brady (25) and guard Morgan Cheli (23) react during the second half of the national championship game against South Carolina at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts (21) is double teamed by UConn forward Sarah Strong (21) and center Jana El Alfy (8) during the second half of the national championship game at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
UConn center Jana El Alfy (8), forward Ice Brady (25) and guard Morgan Cheli (23) react during the second half of the national championship game against South Carolina at the Final Four of the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jana El Alfy's parents flew from Cairo to Poland to New York to Tampa to watch their daughter play with UConn for the first time.
They got to see her celebrate a championship with the Huskies.
Advertisement
El Alfy, a 19-year-old starting center, was limited by foul trouble and had two points and two rebounds in UConn's 82-59 victory over South Carolina on Sunday. The powerful, 6-foot-5 Egyptian played a key role in a semifinal victory over UCLA and should be a major force for Geno Auriemma's program next season and beyond.
'I'm so happy to watch my daughter live in the final,' her father, Ehab El Alfy, told The Associated Press at halftime. 'I'm so proud of her. It's an amazing moment for me.'
Ehab El Alfy and his wife, Dina Gouda, traveled 25 hours to see their daughter play in person. They waited for UConn to make the Elite Eight, hoping to see two games. Jana had six points, eight rebounds and four blocks against UCLA to help the Huskies advance.
UConn fans treated Ehab El Alfy and his wife like celebrities on the concourse of Amalie Arena. They were stopped by several Huskies supporters to pose for selfies.
Advertisement
'This is a wonderful team, wonderful teammates and staff,' Gouda said. 'I love all of them. All of them are like sisters, like family. Everywhere I walk, I feel the love and I see how much they love Jana. I'm very proud.'
El Alfy's love for basketball came from her dad. Ehab El Alfy is the head coach of the Egyptian women's national team. Jana led the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup with 21.4 points per game and was fourth in the tournament with 11.0 rebounds per game. She led the 2022 U18 African Championship tournament with 24.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, powering Egypt to silver. Jana also competed at the 2021 FIBA U16 African Championship and the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup.
'From 5 years old, she started playing basketball and she followed me every game,' Ehab Al Alfy said. 'She always played (up). I expected her to play at a high level. I'm so happy she's playing at UConn.'
Jana averaged 5.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in the regular season, coming back from an Achilles tendon injury that forced her to redshirt as a freshman.
Advertisement
'It's awesome,' Ehab El Alfy said about his daughter winning a national title.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
41 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Alert: The Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Game 3: Pacers rally in the 4th, beat Thunder 116-107 to take 2-1 lead in NBA Finals
Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench, Tyrese Haliburton added 22 and the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3 on Wednesday night. Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points. The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss. "So many different guys chipped in," Haliburton said. Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth. Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night. History says the Pacers are in control of the series now; in the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times — an 80.5% clip. Advantage, Pacers. It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties; to put that in perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties: Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times. TJ McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana; since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game. 'We just had guys make plays after plays,' Haliburton said. 'Our bench was amazing.' The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso — a hard foul, for certain — with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104. But the Pacers — at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years — kept control the rest of the way. ___ AP NBA: recommended
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Game 3: Pacers rally in the 4th, beat Thunder 116-107 to take 2-1 lead in NBA Finals
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench, Tyrese Haliburton added 22 and the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3 on Wednesday night. Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points. The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss. 'So many different guys chipped in,' Haliburton said. Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth. Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night. History says the Pacers are in control of the series now; in the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times — an 80.5% clip. Advantage, Pacers. It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties; to put that in perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties: Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times. TJ McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana; since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game. 'We just had guys make plays after plays,' Haliburton said. 'Our bench was amazing.' The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso — a hard foul, for certain — with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104. But the Pacers — at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years — kept control the rest of the way. ___ AP NBA:
