Louisville reaches Final Four with rout
Louisville players strutted around the court in championship T-shirts and hats, some adorned with pieces of the net.
Head coach Jeff Walz brushed off confetti dumped on him during an interview to climb the ladder and clip the rest of the nylon, happily twirling it to celebrate his top-seeded team’s dominant run through the NCAA Tournament’s Lexington (Ky.) Regional.
“It’s a great feeling,” Walz said. “I’m going to go home, and my 41⁄2-year-old and my 21⁄2-year-old (daughters), all they’re going to talk about is the confetti on the floor. That’s all they care about. To them, if we win, there’s confetti on the floor that I get to play on.”
Louisville’s next quest: Collect another net and more confetti in next weekend’s Final Four in Columbus, Ohio.
Asia Durr scored 18 points, Myisha Hines-Allen added 16 and Louisville, a No. 1 seed, earned its first Final Four berth since 2013 with a 76-43 rout of Oregon State, a No. 6 seed, on Sunday.
The Cardinals (36-2) ran the table in the regional while playing close to home. They did not trail in rolling to their 11th consecutive victory.
They outscored the Beavers 28-12 in the third quarter to break open the game and finish a four-game run through the regional by an average margin of victory of 27.5 points. Louisville outscored Oregon State 32-18 in the paint and scored 24 points off 17 turnovers against an Oregon State squad that succeeded with precise passing.
The Cardinals committed just three turnovers to tie an NCAA Tournament record.
Oregon State (26-8) outrebounded Louisville 32-28 behind 6-foot-5 Marie Gulich (14 points, eight rebounds), but shot 35 percent in losing for the second time in the past 12 games. Mississippi St. 89, UCLA 73: In Kansas City, Mo., Teaira McCowan had 23 points and 21 rebounds, Victoria Vivans added 24 points and the Bulldogs, a No. 1 seed, reached their second straight Final Four.
Morgan William scored 17, and Roshunda Johnson had 12 for the Bulldogs (36-1), who blew a good chunk of an 18point second-half lead before extending the school record for wins in a season.
“They’ve lived all year with a bull’s-eye on their backs. That’s hard to do,” said Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer, who arrived at the postgame news conference with the net draped around his neck.
Jordin Canada led the thirdseeded Bruins (27-8) with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Japreece Dean finished with 16 points, and Monique Billings and Kennedy Burke had 12 apiece, most of it coming when the Bruins were trying to rally from a 50-32 hole.
They closed to 74-68 on Dean’s three-pointer with 2:53 left, but they couldn’t get a stop. Instead, they traded basket for basket down the stretch, and Mississippi State managed to clinch the win from the foul line in the final minute.