Perez’s late basket lifts N.C. State over Irish
BRIDGEPORT, CONN. » Raina Perez’s steal at midcourt and layup with 14 seconds left lifted top-seeded N.C. State to a 66-63 win over fifthseed Notre Dame on Saturday in the Bridgeport Region semifinals.
It’s the Wolfpack’s first trip to the Elite Eight since 1998 when they reached the Final Four.
Trailing 59-51 early in the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack rallied, scoring 15 of the final 19 points capped by Perez’s layup. The Irish had one last chance, but Maddy Westbeld missed a 3-pointer from the wing and Perez hit both free throws for the final margin.
“We practice this and knew I could do it,” Perez said of the free throws. I’m just so happy I knocked them down.”
The Wolfpack had gotten within 63-62 when Elissa Cunane made the first of two free throws with 36 seconds left. After a Notre Dame timeout, the Irish got the ball inbounds in the backcourt and Dara Mabrey was stripped near midcourt by Perez, who took it in for the layup and the lead.
N.C. State (32-3) advanced to the regional final Monday night where it
will face second-seeded UConn.
Cunane scored 16 points and Kai Crutchfield added 14 for the Wolfpack.
Olivia Miles scored 21 points and Westbeld added 13 for the Irish (24-9). UCONN 75, INDIANA 58 » Paige Bueckers and Christyn Williams each scored 15 points to lead a balanced UConn offense in a win over Indiana (24=9) to advance the Huskies (28-5) into their 16th consecutive regional final.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a doubledouble with 10 points and 14 rebounds for Connecticut, which outscored the Hoosiers 46-32 in the paint.
Ali Patberg, in her seventh year of college basketball thanks to transfer and COVID-19 rules, had 16 points for the third-seeded Hoosiers.
Williams, coached
Jacksonville to title game, dies
Joe Williams, who coached Artis Gilmore and tiny Jacksonville University to the 1970 NCAA Tournament championship game against mighty UCLA, died. He was 88.
Williams, who also coached at Furman and Florida State, died in Enterprise, Mississippi, while in hospice care after a lengthy battle with cancer, his son Joe Williams Jr. said.
The Dolphins were one of the true Cinderella teams in NCAA Tournament history. Led by the 7-foot-2 Gilmore and unranked to start the season, they beat Western Kentucky, Iowa, Kentucky and St. Bonaventure on their way to the championship game.
Williams was willing to recruit Black players to Southern colleges when many coaches still refused to do so, his son said.