UConn in 10th straight Final Four
Everything UConn lost to graduation made another Final Four even more special for Geno Auriemma and his Huskies.
Napheesa Collier scored 28 points, Gabby Williams had 25 and the Huskies advanced to the national semifinals for the 10th straight year with a 90-52 victory against Oregon in Bridgeport, Conn., on Monday night.
“There were a lot of question marks going into the season and maybe they didn’t have any in their own minds,” Auriemma said. “They seemed to answer every single one of those questions. They deserve to be in the Final Four. They earned it.”
The Huskies’ 111th consecutive victory moved Auriemma past Pat Summitt for the most NCAA Tournament wins. Auriemma has 113 and counting.
Next for top-seeded UConn (36-0) is Mississippi State on Friday night in Dallas. The Huskies are two wins from a fifth consecutive title and 12th overall.
“It means a whole lot, especially with this group, because no one thought we’d be here. and we worked so hard this year,” said Collier, who earned Most Outstanding Player of the regional honors.
The Huskies jumped all over 10th-seeded Oregon (23-14), stopping its impressive run through the tourney.
Leading 6-4, UConn scored 17 straight points, starting with consecutive three-pointers by Saniya Chong. Nearly 4½ minutes later, she capped the burst with a layup that made it 23-4.
Oregon closed to 34-21 midway through the second quarter, but UConn put away the game by scoring 15 of the final 18 points of the half.
With Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson gone to the WNBA, UConn has a new trio leading the way. Collier and fellow sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson were honored as AP All-Americans on Monday, with Williams, a junior, making the second team.
Stanford’s Erica McCall and Karlie Samuelson, Katie Lou’s sister, received honorablemention All-America recognition. South Carolina 71, Florida State 64: Before they climbed the ladder to take their turn cutting the nets, Kaela Davis and A’ja Wilson started dancing. And dancing. The band blared inches away, and they danced some more.
“It was just one of those inthe-moment things, having fun. We love our band,” Davis said.
Davis scored 23 points as top-seeded South Carolina held off third-seeded Florida State 71-64 to win the Stockton Regional at Stockton Arena.
South Carolina (31-4) is back in the Final Four, chasing its first championship.
The Seminoles’ Leticia Romero cut the Gamecocks’ lead to five, 65-60, on a driving jumper with 3:51 left. Then Brittany Brown’s steal and layup at 3:25 made it 65-62, but Florida State wouldn’t get closer.
South Carolina has both its men’s and women’s teams in the Final Four.