Uconn on brink of another Final Four
ALBANY, N.Y.» Coach Geno Auriemma and the powerhouse Uconn Huskies are in a familiar place — the Elite Eight.
Napheesa Collier scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as top-seeded Uconn beat Duke 72-59 on Saturday and advanced to a regional championship game for the 13th consecutive season.
Seniors Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse were key on the defensive end for Uconn.
“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 meet defending national champion South Carolina on Monday night to try to advance to a record 11th consecutive Final Four.
The Huskies scored the first seven points of Saturday’s game, beginning with a banked-in 3-pointer from Nurse, and they were off and running.
Duke (24-9) had given up an average of only 49 points in its first two games of the NCAA Tournament. Uconn had that by the end of the third quarter, much to the delight of the partisan crowd of 10,658 that attended the Albany Regional semifinals.
Duke was led by sophomore Leaonna Odom, who was dominant in the tournament, averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in wins over Belmont and Georgia. She scored 22 points Saturday.
South Carolina 79, Buffalo 63. ALBANY, N.Y.»
Alexis Jennings scored 20 points, A’ja Wilson added 20 points and 13 rebounds, and South Carolina stayed alive its quest to defend its national title.
Second-seeded South Carolina (29-6), whose only losses this season have come against ranked teams, has won six consecutive games. Buffalo (29-6), just the third Midamerican Conference team ever to play in the Sweet 16, was led by Cierra Dillard’s 29 points.
Notre Dame 90, Texas A&M 84. SPOKANE, WASH.» Marina Mabrey scored 25 points, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers, and Arike Ogunbowale also contributed 25 points to help top-seeded Notre Dame advance to the Spokane Regional championship game.
The Fighting Irish (32-3) rallied from a 13point deficit in the first half and are back in their familiar spot of playing for a Final Four berth.
Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M’S dynamic freshman, finished with 31 points and seven assists. The Aggies (26-10) have advanced to the Elite Eight only once since winning a national title in 2011.
Oregon 83, Central Michigan 69. SPOKANE, WASH.» Ruthy Hebard had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Sabrina Ionescu just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and second-seeded Oregon eliminated No. 11 seed Central Michigan.
Lexi Bando added 14 points for Oregon (33-4), which earned a second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight with its 12th win in a row.
Tinara Moore had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Central Michigan (30-5).