UCF faces No. 20 USF in American semifinal

UNCASVILLE, Conn. Zakiya Saunders led all scorers with 22 points while surpassing 1,000 career points, Masseny Kaba tallied 13, and Korneila Wright and Aliyah Gregory each added 11 as the thirdseeded UCF women’s basketball team posted a 77-70 victory over No. 11 Temple in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference championship tournament Sunday in Mohegan Sun Arena.

“Overall, I think everyone on the team stepped up and scored,” UCF coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. “We did a good job of getting extra possessions and offensive rebounds. That is the way we want to play at UCF. Apply the press, get after it defensively and go in transition.”

In today’s 4:30 semifinal, UCF (21-9) — which found itself down 19-10 against Temple (12-19) before rallying — will face secondseeded and 20th-ranked USF (25-6), which rolled past East Carolina 80-44.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A’ja Wilson scored 16 points to help eighth-ranked South Carolina become the first SEC women’s program to win four consecutive tournament titles Sunday, snapping the nation’s longest winning streak at 32 with a 62-51 upset of No. 2 Mississippi State.

South Carolina also beat the Bulldogs last April for the program’s first national championship, and now the Gamecocks (26-6) have their third straight SEC tournament title at Mississippi State’s expense. Mississippi State (32-1) had not lost since that title game.

The Gamecocks outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-23.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Asia Durr scored 17 points and Sam Fuehring converted a key three-point play in the final minute, helping No. 4 Louisville beat No. 5 Notre Dame 74-72 to win its first ACC Tournament title.

Arica Carter had 16 points and hit four 3-pointers, Fuehring and Myisha Hines-Allen each finished with 15 and Durr, the ACC’s player of the year, sank four free throws in the final seconds to help the top-seeded Cardinals (32-2) win their first tourney title since 1993 when they won the Metro.

Jessica Shepard had 23 points and Arike Ogunbowale added 20 for the second-seeded Fighting Irish (29-3), who failed to win the ACC Tournament for the first time since joining the league. They had won the previous four.