Normalcy in odd year: UConn makes Final 4 13th season in a row
SAN ANTONIO — It took a great game from freshman Paige Bueckers and a lastsecond stop with a disputed noncall, but UConn extended its streak of Final Four appearances to 13 Monday night.
Bueckers scored 28 points and the topseeded Huskies used a huge secondhalf run to beat No. 2 Baylor 6967.
“Each year that we do it, I still can’t believe it,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma.
The Huskies will meet Arizona on Friday night.
Bueckers was 6 when UConn’s run began.
“To be part of that history is wild,” Bueckers said. “It’s why I came here . ... It’s surreal.”
The Huskies (281) trailed 5545 late in the third quarter before scoring 19 consecutive points, 10 of them by Bueckers, the third firstyear player to make firstteam AllAmerica.
Baylor (283) wouldn’t go away as Bueckers went cold in the final minutes. Trailing 6455, NaLyssa Smith, an AllAmerican herself, ended the Lady Bears’ drought with 6:47 left and sparked a 124 burst that got Baylor within one after Dijonai Carrington converted two free throws with 19.3 seconds left.
Baylor fouled Christyn Williams, who missed two free throws to give Baylor a chance. Carrington, who finished with 22 points, drove the lane to the left and missed a jumper from the baseline where a foul could have been called, but wasn’t.
“I’ve got still shots and video from two angles. One kid hits her in the face and one kid hits her on the elbow,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.
Arizona 66, Indiana 53: Aari McDonald scored 33 and No. 3 seed Arizona beat No. 4 Indiana to earn its first trip to the Final Four. McDonald, the Pac12 player of the year, did everything for the Wildcats, from slashing drives to a bankedin 3pointer. She briefly left the game with a twisted ankle with 2:35 left, but limped back on and scored six more points. Her threepoint play with 34 seconds left put the exclamation point on the victory.
Arizona (205), which will face UConn, made consecutive 3pointers in the middle of the fourth quarter, the latter from Helena Pueyo off a bullet pass from McDonald, for a 5750 lead in what had been a tight game.
The Hoosiers (216) went scoreless for nearly four minutes after tying it 4848.