No. 1 UConn tops No. 5 Duke, 72-59
ALBANY, N.Y. — Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies are in a familiar place — the Elite Eight.
Napheesa Collier had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help top-seed UConn beat Duke 72-59 on Saturday and advance to the regional finals for the 13th consecutive season.
The Huskies’ senior duo of Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse was key on the defensive end to help UConn to the win.
“We’re fortunate that our two seniors are two of the better defensive players in the country,” Auriemma said. “We can count on those two every game. Gabby’s going to play great every game. She plays at a certain level every game. Kia’s one of the toughest competitors we’ve had at Connecticut.”
UConn (35-0) will face defending national champion South Carolina on Monday night to try and advance to a record 11th straight Final Four.
“Last time we played them we got out to an early run so I don’t think any of us are expecting it to be easy [Monday],” said Williams, who had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. “A’ja [Wilson] doesn’t want her college career to be over on Monday. We know they are going to put up a fight and it will be a battle.”
The Huskies scored the first seven points of the game beginning with a banked-in 3-pointer from Nurse and they were off and running.
NO. 1 NOTRE DAME 90, NO. 4 TEXAS A&M 84
In Spokane, Wash., Muffet McGraw checked through the list of all the things Notre Dame did poorly early on.
Bad shot selection. Lack of rebounding. Not enough stops on defense.
“We got down big. We’ve been down in other games. We feel like we are poised and can come back,” McGraw said.
As McGraw expected, the topseeded Fighting Irish did have a comeback waiting and it landed Notre Dame back on the cusp of another trip to the Final Four.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half and Marina Mabrey added 25, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers, to help Notre Dame beat No. 4 seed Texas A&M 90-84 on Saturday in the Spokane Regional semifinals.
The Irish (32-3) rallied from
a 13-point first-half deficit and are back in their familiar spot of playing for a trip to the Final Four. They will face No. 2 seed Oregon in the regional final on Monday.
NO. 2 OREGON 83, NO. 11 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 69
In Spokane, Wash., Oregon’s run to the Elite Eight last season was a delightful surprise.
This year, the Ducks made it with a more businesslike attitude.
Asked if the team was elated to be returning to the regional finals after beating Central Michigan 83-69 on Saturday, guard Sabrina Ionescu replied: “Define elation.”
“We have high expectations of ourselves,” she said.
Ionescu just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for second-seeded Oregon, which jumped on No. 11 seed Central Michigan early in their Spokane Region semifinal and never really let up.
Ruthy Hebard had 23 points and 14 rebounds.
“This year it’s known we deserve to be where we are,” Ionescu said. “It’s more where we should be than jumping up for joy.”
NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 79, NO. 11 BUFFALO 63
In Albany, N.Y., that the upstate New York crowd wasn’t rooting for South Carolina didn’t matter one bit to A’ja Wilson.
Her imposing presence inside and her booming voice proved enough for the Gamecocks to escape Buffalo.
The 6-foot-5 Wilson, the consensus first pick in the next WNBA draft, had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Alexis Jennings added 20 points, and South Carolina held off the upstart Bulls 79-63 on Saturday to keep alive its quest to defend its national title.
“I just feel like my energy really helps my teammates,” Wilson said. “That’s the biggest thing. That’s my goal, whether it’s screaming at one or just screaming at everyone. That’s just how I operate. I really try to use that on every possession.
“We have to let each other know that everything’s going to be OK.”
That reassurance didn’t come until late in the game.
The Gamecocks led 55-48 entering the fourth quarter, and the Bulls stayed with them. A layup by Autumn Jones cut the lead to five, but after South Carolina committed a turnover, Buffalo center Cassie Oursler lost the ball out of bounds, the ball gently rolling off her fingertips under the basket at the other end, a critical miscue.