UConn rolls past Duke, earns shot at Gamecocks
Oregon, Notre Dame advance to Spokane regional final
ALBANY, N.Y. — Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies are in a familiar place — the Elite Eight.
Napheesa Collier had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help top-seed UConn beat Duke 72-59 on Saturday and advance to the regional finals for the 13th consecutive season.
The Huskies’ senior duo of Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse was key on the defensive end to help UConn to the win.
“We’re fortunate that our two seniors are two of the better defensive players in the country,” Auriemma said. “We can count on those two every game. Gabby’s going to play great every game. She plays at a certain level every game. Kia’s one of the toughest competitors we’ve had at Connecticut.”
UConn (35-0) will face defending national champion South Carolina on Monday night to try and advance to a record 11th straight Final Four.
“Last time we played them we got out to an early run so I don’t think any of us are expecting it to be easy (Monday),” said Williams, who had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Huskies scored the first seven points of the game, beginning with a banked-in 3-pointer from Nurse, and they were off and running.
Fifth-seeded Duke (24-9) was only down seven early in the second quarter when the Blue Devils went cold, going scoreless over the next 5½ minutes.
SOUTH CAROLINA 79, BUFFALO 63:
In Albany, A’ja Wilson had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Alexis Jennings added 20 points and the Gamecocks held off the upstart Bulls to keep alive their quest to defend their national title.
South Carolina’s dominance inside against the smaller Bulls (29-6) spelled the difference. The Gamecocks (29-6) outrebounded Buffalo 48-21, outscored the Bulls 20-5 on second-chance points, and had a 52-30 edge in the paint.
NOTRE DAME 90, TEXAS A&M 84:
In Spokane, Wash., Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half and Marina Mabrey added 25, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers, to help the top-seeded Irish beat the No. 4
seed Aggies in the regional semifinals.
Notre Dame (32-3) rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit and is back in its familiar spot of playing for a trip to the Final Four. Chennedy Carter scored 31 points for the Aggies (26-10).
OREGON 83, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 69: In Spokane, Ruthy Hebard had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Sabrina Ionescu just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and the second-seeded Ducks beat the 11th-seeded Chippewas (30-5).
Lexi Bando added 14 points for Oregon (33-4), which earned a second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight with its 12th win in a row.
The Ducks, coached by former University of New Mexico men’s player Kelly Graves, will play top-seeded Notre Dame in the regional final on Monday.