UConn women reach 13th straight Final Four
River Walk Region final UConn 69, Baylor 67
SAN ANTONIO — It took a great game from phenomenal freshman Paige Bueckers and a last-second stop with a disputed non-foul call to keep UConn’s run of Final Four appearances going.
Bueckers scored 28 points and top seed UConn used a huge run spanning the final two quarters to beat No. 2 Baylor on Monday night and reach a 13th consecutive Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
“Each year that we do it, I still can’t believe it,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who was showered by his team with confetti after the game.
UConn has made the national semifinals every season since 2008 and won six titles during that span. The Huskies will face Arizona on Friday night. The Wildcats are playing in their first
Final Four after beating Indiana.
Bueckers was 6 years old when UConn started its run of appearances in the national semifinals.
The Huskies (28-1) trailed 55-45 late in the third quarter before scoring 19 consecutive points, including 10 by Bueckers, who became the third first-year player to make first-team All-America.
Baylor (28-3) wouldn’t go away as Bueckers went cold in the final minutes. Trailing 64-55, NaLyssa Smith, an All-American herself, ended the Lady Bears’ drought with 6:47 left and sparked a 12-4 burst that got Baylor within one after DiJonai Carrington converted two free throws with 19.3 seconds left.
After a timeout, Baylor fouled Christyn Williams, who missed both free throws to give the Lady Bears one last chance.
Carrington, who finished with 22 points, drove the lane to the left and missed a contested jumper from the baseline where a foul could have been called, but wasn’t.
“I personally don’t see it as a controversial call. I’ve seen the replay, and one girl fouled me in my face and one girl fouled me in my arm,” Carrington said.
LeBron James even tweeted that a foul should have been called. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey agreed.
“I’ve got still shots and video from two angles. One kid hits her in the face and one kid hits her on the elbow,” Mulkey said.
Men
Midwest Region final Houston 67, Oregon State 61
INDIANAPOLIS — Houston overcame a blown 17-point lead to hold off Oregon State 67-61 in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four for the first time in 37 years.
Quentin Grimes hit a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to break a 55-all tie. The second-seeded Cougars (28-3) spent the first half building a big lead behind a dominant defense, but they spent the second half hanging on as the 12th-seeded Beavers tried to add one more surprising result to a Midwest Region bracket beset by upsets.
Grimes’ 3 from near the top of the arc finally steadied the Cougars, and Houston knocked down enough free throws down the stretch while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3½ minutes.
That sent the Cougars on to the national semifinals to face Baylor.
Marcus Sasser scored 20 points to lead Houston, while Grimes added 18. Fittingly, it was DeJon Jarreau who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Region.
Jarreau finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
This will be Houston’s first Final Four since Hakeem Olajuwon and coach Guy Lewis led the Cougars to the 1984 title game.