Mississippi State, Louisville advance

Will meet Friday night in Final Four

Teaira McCowan had 23 points and 21 rebounds and Victoria Vivans added 24 points as top-seeded Mississippi State beat relentless UCLA, 89-73, Sunday night to reach its second consecutive Final Four.

Morgan William added 17 points, and Roshunda Johnson had 12 for the Bulldogs (36-1), who blew a good chunk of an 18-point secondhalf lead before hanging on to extend their school record for wins in a season — and lock up a trip to the national semifinals in Columbus, Ohio.

They’ll meet another No. 1 seed in Louisville on Friday night.

Jordin Canada led the third-seeded Bruins (27-8) with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Japreece Dean finished with 16 points, and Monique Billings and Kennedy Burke had 12 apiece, most of their points coming when the Bruins were trying to rally from a 50-32 hole.

The only consistent offense UCLA could muster came from Canada, and most of that was at the foul line.

UCLA made one final run, trimming a 67-52 deficit to 67-61 with 6:52 to go. But after the teams traded baskets, Blair Schaefer knocked down her third 3 from the top of the key to silence the Bruins’ bench.

Lexington Region

Louisville 76, Oregon State 43: Asia Durr scored 18 points, Myisha Hines-Allen added 16 and Louisville (362) earned its first Final Four berth since 2013 with a 7643 rout of No. 6 seed Oregon State (26-8). Playing their first regional final in four years, the Cardinals never trailed in rolling to an 11th consecutive victory. Louisville outscored the Beavers, 28-12, in the third quarter to break the game open and complete its four-game run through the regional by an average margin of victory of 27.5 points.