Notre Dame, UConn reach women’s Final Four

The UConn Huskies are headed back to a familiar spot: the Final Four.

Crystal Dangerfield led the way as top-seeded UConn routed regional No. 2 South Carolina 94-65 on Monday night in Albany, N.Y., to reach the national semifinals for a record 11th consecutive year.

UConn (36-0) will face former Big East rival Notre Dame on Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.

Though the Huskies are regular participants in the Final Four, they are not the defending champions. Their 111-game winning streak and run of four national championships were stopped by a last-second overtime loss to Mississippi State in last year’s semifinals.

“I think we definitely have something to prove,” Connecticut senior Gabby Williams said. “Not only to the rest of the world, but to ourselves as well.”

A’ja Wilson had 27 points for South Carolina (29-7).

Notre Dame 84, Oregon 74: Kathryn Westbeld scored 20 points as the Fighting Irish (33-3) won in Spokane, Wash., to reach the Final Four for the eighth time.

First-team All-America Sabrina Ionescu led Oregon (33-5) with 26 points, but the Ducks shot 8-for-31 in the second half and Ionescu had seven points after the break. Ionescu honored: Ionescu, a Walnut Creek native who attended Miramonte-Orinda, was named to the Associated Press All-America team.

She was joined by South Carolina senior center A’ja Wilson, the seventh player to make the AP All-America first team three times; UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson; Louisville’s Asia Durr and Mississippi State’s Victoria Vivians.

Briefly: Tubby Smith, fired two weeks ago by Memphis, agreed to become head coach at High Point, a source said . ... UCLA guard Aaron Holiday said he will forgo his senior year to enter the NBA draft. Holiday averaged a Pac-12-leading 20.3 points per game this season . ... Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop declared for the NBA draft . ... Iowa guard Connor McCaffery’s hardship waiver was approved by the Big Ten, giving him four seasons of eligibility.