Vanessa Bryant Mourns Late Daughter After UConn Wins National Championship: ‘Gigi Would’ve Loved Being There’

Vanessa Bryant was thinking of her late daughter Gigi as the University of Connecticut Huskies became the 2025 NCAA champions.

After the Huskies handily defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks in the championship game on Sunday, April 6, thanks to stellar performances by Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, Vanessa, 42, took to Instagram with her tribute.

Reposting UConn’s official graphic announcing they’re the champs, Vanessa wrote, “Gigi would’ve loved being there with you.”

In quotes, she added, ”When you think you can’t, UCONN’ – Gianna Bryant'” and two heart emojis, one of them broken for her late daughter, who would have been 18 years old and likely playing in March Madness.

Vanessa also tagged UConn’s basketball program and head coach Geno Auriemma, who has now won 12 national titles.

Gianna and her father Kobe Bryant were tragically killed in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020. Before her passing, Gianna was a big fan of the Huskies and the university loved her back. In 2020, CNN reported that Gianna “always wanted to play for the Huskies,” long one of the top women’s college basketball programs in the country.

One day after the fatal crash, UConn honored Gianna by draping her No. 2 jersey over one of their bench seats. A bouquet wrapped in blue and white ribbons was in front of it.

The X post was captioned, “Mambacita is forever a Husky 💙”.

After the Huskies won on Sunday, Bueckers was asked during a press conference if she’s thought about how Gianna would have been a member of the team. The UConn star said there had been times “throughout the whole tournament that God has really shown himself,” as seen in a video shared on X.

Bueckers shared that her mom has been staying in room 824, “both of Kobe’s numbers,” and “stuff like that.”

“I feel like a lot of that too is Kobe’s watching over us, Gigi’s watching over us,” Bueckers told reporters.