Exhale! UConn holds off Baylor for 13th straight Final Four berth.
UConn outlasts Baylor to reach 13th straight Final Four
ANTONIO — They’re moving on. Again.
It wasn’t easy. But it’s not supposed to be in March. UConn, the most illustrious program in women’s basketball, knows that better than anyone.
The No. 1 Huskies are headed to the Final Four for a 13th straight tournament after outlasting second-seeded Baylor 69-67 in the River Walk regional final Monday night at the Alamodome.
Baylor appeared to grab control in the third, using a 12-3 spurt to push its lead to nine. The Lady Bears’ advantage grew to 10, but the Huskies stuck around. Eight straight points, five from Paige Bueckers, pulled UConn within 55-53 after 30 minutes.
And the Huskies continued to build on that. They ripped off 19 straight points, jumping back ahead 64-55.
A layup by Christyn Williams stretched it to 68-63 with 59 seconds remaining. DiJonai Carrington sank four straight free throws to cut it to 68-67. But Williams then missed a pair from the charity stripe with 17.2 seconds to go, setting up Baylor for a chance to win.
Down one, Carrington drove into the paint, but the 6-foot-3 Aaliyah Edwards and 6-5 Nelson-Ododa didn’t let her get off a clean look.
Bueckers led the Huskies with 28 points. Williams scored 21. Carrington paced Baylor with 22.
For the Huskies, it marked the continuation of a long, sometimes peculiar journey, one that began in late July during the heat of a pandemic. What lay ahead was daunting. COVID-19 fueled uncertainty about the season getting off the ground, and skepticism about whether it was sustainable outside of a WNBA-style bubble.
Those concerns only grew when a member of UConn’s Tier 1 bubble tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the program to pause activities prior to its Nov. 28 opener. The Huskies canceled
their first four games, including a Top-10 showdown with Louisville, and waited. And waited.
As if that didn’t create enough angst, the Huskies had yet to establish an identity. Without a returning senior, not to mention anyone who had won a national championship, the Huskies were something of an unknown — a rarity in Storrs.
The season was nothing short of chaotic, with the virus continuing to wreak havoc on the Huskies’ schedule. Among the games wiped out was a Jan. 7 trip to Baylor after coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19.
Yet, there the Huskies were Monday, on the doorstep of another trip to the national semifinals.
UConn started off hot from the floor, hitting seven of its first 10 shots to build a 16-4 lead. But Baylor countered with 10 straight points to pull within two, and took its first lead at 34-33 early in the second quarter.
The Lady Bears were as expected, tough and physical. It became a little tougher for the Huskies to match their intensity after Edwards played only eight minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.
UConn went the final 3:03 of the half without scoring, allowing Baylor to pull ahead 39-37.