TAMPA, Fla. — Sarah Strong took all of 20 seconds to cut her piece of the national championship net.

She turned around for a moment, asking where to cut. When she secured her piece of history, Strong quickly waved to the sea of her teammates, coaches, family and alumni on the court at Amalie Arena. She clapped for herself, the piece of net tucked under her index finger, before she climbed down the ladder.

Then Strong disappeared into the crowd.

She had already joined her teammates in the initial rush of excitement and emotion to celebrate their big title win. She’d already taken several photos with her parents, joined by senior guards Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd to her mother’s delight. Allison Feaster (yes, the former WNBA player is Strong’s mother) laughed, her smile spread across her entire face as Fudd ran over for the family shoot. But Strong looked like she was ready to end the photo shoot five pictures ago.

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Nothing was surprising about Strong’s nature in the throng of UConn’s national championship celebration after the No. 2 seed Huskies crushed No. 1 seed South Carolina 82-59 Sunday. She has been a quiet star for the Huskies all season, wanting anything but to attract attention, even though her play on the court does the complete opposite.

Strong had a record-breaking performance in the NCAA tournament en route to UConn’s 12th national title. Her 114 points in the tournament were the most by a freshman in Division I history. Strong finished the run off with a game-high 24 points, tied with Fudd, and she led the team in rebounds (15), assists (5) and blocks (3) to go with three steals.

When UConn coach Geno Auriemma first saw Strong play in high school, he couldn’t think of a women’s player she compared to. But there was a men’s player that her game, passion and knowledge reminded him of.

“I said, ‘She’s Charles Barkley,'” Auriemma said. “Now, she’s a way better shooter than Chuck was. But I just think when you have a kid who’s that young, who knows the game so well, and no matter what situation she’s in on the court, no matter what part of the court, no matter what it calls for – she has the ability to do it. That’s very rare in professional basketball players, much less a 19-year-old college freshman.”

Strong is the only freshman in UConn’s history to log more than 600 points and 300 rebounds in a season, and she’s the only other freshman besides Huskies legend Maya Moore to score 600 points. Some of the strongest emotion Strong showed during the celebration was when Moore wrapped her in a hug. Then, Strong was beaming.

Against UCLA, Strong became one of three freshmen in UConn history to score more than 20 points in a Final Four game, joining Moore and Breanna Stewart, who won four straight titles from 2013-16. Strong also became one of now six UConn players to score 20-plus points in a championship game, a group that includes Moore, Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Tina Chalres and Fudd.

“The fact she’s only going to get better is extremely scary,” Bueckers said during pre-championship media Saturday.

The future of UConn is in good hands with Strong, and not just on the court. She’s also in line to take the mantle of the other half of Auriemma’s comedic duo from Bueckers.

Strong will likely grow into becoming more long-winded with her answers, but her brevity provided an opportunity for Auriemma to insert some comedic relief into the post game press conference.

Strong was asked about breaking the freshman scoring record in the NCAA tournament, which was set by the legendary Tamika Catchings in 1998, well before Strong was born.

“I feel like I did better than I was expecting,” Strong said matter-of-factly. “It’s cool to score that. That wouldn’t have happened without my teammates, though.”

Auriemma shook his head, looked down and sighed when he realized Strong wasn’t getting any more descriptive with her answer. When Strong was asked a few minutes later what Auriemma meant to her, he turned his head, watching her expectantly.

“I would say he means a lot to me,” she said as a grin started to break out on Auriemma’s face. “I feel he means a lot to everyone on the team. He’s a great coach, so I really look up to him.”

When she stopped, Auriemma motioned for Strong to keep going. She glanced as him, and Auriemma kept motioning for her to continue.

“What else do you want me to say?” Strong said as the room broke out into laughter.

There wasn’t anything else Strong wanted to say. But Auriemma’s smile when he turned to the room said everything she didn’t.