Women’s Elite Eight starts to take shape

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — North Carolina State tried to push Teaira McCowan off the block, then attempted double-teaming the Mississippi State star before ultimately endeavoring to deny her the basketball altogether. None of it worked. McCowan still scored 24 points on perfect shooting, pulled down 15 rebounds and generally made life miserable for the fourth-seeded Wolfpack in an NCAA tournament regional semifinal Friday night. All of that helped the top-seeded Bulldogs breeze to a 71-57 win and earn a spot in the Elite Eight for the second straight season.

“You don’t see 6-foot-7 every day,” said Wolfpack coach Wes Moore, the former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach. “When they’re just lobbing it up to her, there’s not a whole lot you can do at times. You feel pretty helpless.”

The junior center wasn’t alone, though. Victoria Vivians added 14 points, Morgan William had 13 and Roshunda Johnson finished with 12, helping the Bulldogs (351) break their program record for wins in a season. They’ll have a chance to add to it Sunday, when they face No. 2 seed UCLA or No. 3 seed Texas for a second straight Final Four bid.

“This time of year, you lose, you go home,” said McCowan, who finished 11-of-11 from the field and made both of her foul shots. “You basically start over. So my team, my seniors — the four I’ve

got — I’m just trying to make it the best it can be, go as far as possible.”

Kiara Leslie had 27 points to pace the Wolfpack (26-9), who led early in the second quarter before coming undone. Foul trouble set in, Mississippi State clamped down defensively and Moore was hit with a technical foul as the Bulldogs pulled away.

“Great team,” Moore said, “but I couldn’t be prouder of my group. Great resiliency all year.”

The Bulldogs, who lost to South Carolina in last year’s title game, looked as though they would cruise to the doorstep of another Final Four when they roared to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter.

North Carolina State leaned on its defense, and one of the best rebounding margins in the nation, to claw back. Leslie’s 3-pointer early in the second quarter gave the Wolfpack a 20-19 advantage.

Mississippi State responded with another run, fueled almost entirely by its 6-foot-7 star. McCowan easily grabbed rebounds over the smaller Wolfpack, scored a series of layups and wound up with 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting in the first half.

The Bulldogs took a 36-41 lead into the break and were up 49-37 midway through the third quarter when the Wolfpack’s Akela Maize, who had tangled with McCowan all game, picked up her fourth foul.

Moore came unglued and was slapped with a technical, then continued his diatribe as the officials mostly ignored him. William made two foul shots and Johnson a layup for the four-point trip down floor, and the Bulldogs eventually pushed their lead to 20 points before coasting the the rest of the way.

“This team and these kids continue to set records at Mississippi State. Just proud of them,” Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer said. “Hat’s off to N.C. State. Wes had a done a tremendous job with that program. That team had our attention. They certainly had mine.”

› Oregon State 72, Baylor 67 LEXINGTON, Ky. — Aggressive rebounding and timely baskets certainly helped No. 6 seed Oregon State against No. 2 seed Baylor in their regional semifinal.

More impressive was the Beavers’ poise throughout as they handed the Lady Bears their first loss since November and earned a second Elite Eight appearance in three seasons.

Marie Gulich had 26 points, Kat Tudor added 16 and Oregon State shot 58 percent in the second half to upset Baylor.

Two years after taking down Baylor in the Dallas Region final, Oregon State (26-7) followed up with a steady performance to improve to 4-0 all-time against the Lady Bears while ending their 30-game winning streak. The Beavers had to withstand nine consecutive points by Alexis Morris that got the Lady Bears (33-2) to 69-67 with 42 seconds remaining before Katie McWilliams’ left-corner 3-pointer 30 seconds later provided a five-point edge.

That pivotal shot typified a night in which Oregon State stuck with its game plan and didn’t flinch for the brief times it trailed.

“When you play a team like Baylor, part of the tempo issue is you can’t turn it over,” Beavers coach Scott Rueck said. “You can’t hand them possessions by either a turnover or taking a quick, poor shot.

“I thought we took a couple early in the first quarter, but overall they just know how to win, and that leads to possessions like that against a great defense and a great offense.”

Morris missed two 3s and Natalie Chou another in the final 10 seconds for Baylor, which shot just 39 percent and was edged 38-37 on the glass.

Gulich shot 10-for-17 from the field and had nine rebounds for Oregon State, which shot 45 percent while winning for the 10th time in 11 games. Tudor was 5-for-10 shooting, including 4-for8 from long range. The Beavers went 9-for-20 from behind the arc.

Kalani Brown had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Baylor, which was outscored in all but the second quarter while losing for the first time since falling 68-62 at UCLA in November.