UConn heads to Final Four
Samuelson’s 29 carry Huskies to 12th straight Final Four
UConn forward Napheesa Collier (24), guard Crystal Dangerfield (5) and guard Katie Lou Samuelson (33) celebrate at the end of a regional championship final against No. 1 Louisville in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament on Sunday in Albany, N.Y. With its 8073 victory over Louisville, No. 2 UConn finds itself in the Final Four for a 12th straight season, set to play in Tampa, Fla., against the winner of Monday’s Notre Dame-Stanford game.
UCONN 80 LOUISVILLE 73
ALBANY, N.Y. — Standing beyond the 3point line inside the Times Union Center, Crystal Dangerfield located Katie Lou Samuelson and leaped into the senior’s outstretched arms.
The pain and frustration that had filled Samuelson’s eyes during a performance to forget only two nights earlier was replaced by unadulterated joy.
“That was special,” Dangerfield would later say. “It’s hard to get into words.”
No explanation needed. The orange and blue confetti that the UConn players tossed into the air amid a sea of celebration said it all.
UConn is heading to the Final Four for a 12th straight year after knocking off Louisville, the top seed in the Albany Regional, 80- 73 Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t know what to say about our entire team’s performance,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “It was pretty special.”
Returning to the sport’s grandest stage wasn’t easy — far, far from it, in fact. Samuelson overcame a balky back and a damaged psyche, Auriemma overcame a bout of nausea, and the No. 2 Huskies ( 35- 2) overcame the unpredictability of the NCAA Tournament.
“I go into every game in the postseason and I’m thinking, this could be the day where it all kind of catches up to us, like at Baylor or at Louisville where we just walk in and we’re totally blown away,” Auriemma said. “I was nauseous all weekend thinking, this could be the day.
“Usually when we come to these regionals with the teams that I’ve had, I’m not nauseous. I’m like the happiest guy in the world, generally.”
The sight of Samuelson draining one 3pointer after another helped ease Auriemma’s nerves. Samuelson fought through a back injury to score a gamehigh 29 points — 23 more than she had in the Sweet 16 against UCLA on Friday. She sank a whopping seven 3- pointers, few bigger than the one that sailed over the 6- foot- 3 Sam Fuehring’s outstretched arms to extend the lead to 72- 63 with 3: 02 remaining.
The Cardinals ( 32-4) crept within two, 75- 73, with 28 seconds left, however Samuelson calmly sank a pair of free throws to ward off any chance of a comeback.
Forward Napheesa Collier, the region’s Most Outstanding Player, posted 12 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, while freshman Christyn Williams contributed 16 points, seven of which came in the fourth quarter as Samuelson was saddled with foul trouble.
And there was also Megan Walker, who connected on her first four attempts from beyond the arc to vault UConn out to a 10- point lead in the second quarter.
“I thought she was the difference for them,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said of Walker, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. “And I know it was in the first half, but she really kept them going and gave them a bounce.”
Louisville’s Asia Durr, a Naismith Player of the Year finalist, got off to an uncharacteristically shaky start, shooting just 1- of- 10 in the first half as UConn jumped in front, 41- 34. Durr eventually heated up, scoring 18 of her 21 points in the second half, but missed two free throws with Louisville trailing 77- 73 with 20.3 seconds left.
And so, UConn was able to overcome the sting of a 78- 69 loss at Louisville on Jan. 31. They’ll move on to face either No. 1 Notre Dame or No. 2 Stanford on Friday in Tampa, Fla.
“We knew for us to have a chance, Asia was going to have to have a better second half, and she did,” Walz said. “It just wasn’t enough from everybody. We had talked about it. We said our performance on the 31st of January, we were going to have to play better, and we just didn’t.”
“It’s not the first time I went 1- for- 10 throughout the whole year,” added Durr, who came in averaging a robust 21.2 points per game. “I’ve had bad nights, too.”
This one just happened to be a bit costlier. Durr scored back- to- back buckets to whittle UConn’s lead to 64- 61 with 5: 30 remaining, but Williams, a fearless
freshman guard, answered with a layup that rested on the rim for what felt like an eternity.
“That was crazy,” Williams said. “I got an offensive rebound earlier
( in the game) and I missed it. I was just like, ‘ Please go in.’ ”
Fuehring scored 15 and Jazmine Jones chipped in 10 points for Louisville. Dangerfield had 10 points for UConn.
With Samuelson on the bench, Louisville closed the third quarter on a 6- 0 run to trim UConn’s lead to 57- 53. But there would be no comeback.
Only another trip to the Final Four for the most dominant program in women’s college basketball.
“This team has really fought our way to get to this point,” Samuelson said. “We experienced a lot of ups and downs this year playing-wise, close games and close losses. And for us, to get to this point to win and to win the way we have and the way we’re playing right now as a team … it’s just special.”