San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
North Carolina State holds off Notre Dame
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Raina Perez stole the ball at midcourt and made a go-ahead layup with 14 seconds left to send top-seeded North Carolina State to a 66-63 comeback win over No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday.
It’s the Wolfpack’s first trip to the Elite Eight since 1998 when they reached the Final Four.
N.C. State had lost in the Sweet 16 the previous three tournaments and looked as if it was going to make it four straight until the late rally led by Perez and Kai Crutchfield, who also came back for the extra COVID year granted by the NCAA.
“For this group it would have been hard for me to face the fact they they all came back and we still didn’t get over the hump,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “That makes me feel really good and I’m so excited for our program to do this, kind of break through. It took a whole four years of the Sweet 16 to get through that wall.”
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 3pointer
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.”
N.C. State (32-3) advanced to the regional final Monday night where it will face second-seeded UConn.
Olivia Miles scored 21 points and Westbeld added 13 for the
Irish (24-9).
“No one thought that we’d do this coming from a team that did not make the tournament last year and fought through a lot of adversity with COVID and injuries and players,” Miles said. “It’s just incredible to see what we’ve done and I’m sure we’re going to remember this feeling like we remembered the feeling last year and come back and go even farther.”
LOUISVILLE 76, TENNESSEE 64
Hailey Van Lith had 23 points and six assists, Emily Engstler had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the top-seeded Cardinals held off the Cardinals at Wichita, Kan., to reach the Elite Eight for the fourth consecutive time.
Kianna Smith also had 12 points for the Cardinals (28-4), who blew most of an early 15-point lead before pulling away late in the fourth quarter to set up a date with either No. 3 seed Michigan or 10th-seeded South Dakota for a spot in the Final Four.
Rae Burrell led fourth-seeded Tennessee (25-9) with 22 points, but she didn’t get a whole lot of help from her team, which had 18 turnovers.
CONNECTICUT 75, INDIANA 58
Paige Bueckers and Christyn Williams each scored 15 points to lead a balanced Huskies’ offense over the Hoosiers to advance the Huskies into their 16th consecutive regional final.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds for Connecticut (28-5), which outscored the Hoosiers 46-32 in the paint.
Azzi Fudd added 13 points for the Huskies, who face top-seeded
North Carolina State on Monday night in Bridgeport, Conn., in an attempt to earn a 14th straight trip to the Final Four.
Ali Patberg, in her seventh year of college basketball thanks to transfer and COVID-19 rules, had 16 points for the third-seeded Hoosiers, who finish their season at 24-9. Grace Berger had 13 points and Mackenzie Holmes added 12 for Indiana.
UConn led 37-33 at the half, but opened the second half with a 16-0 run to take control of the game.
Williams’ layup put UConn up by double digits for the first time at 44-33. Aaliyah Edwards’ free throw capped the run and gave the Huskies their first 20-point advantage at 53-33.
But Bueckers responded at the other end and the Hoosiers could not close the gap any further.
Indiana started strong. Holmes hit a turnaround in the lane for the first basket and the Hoosiers opened on an 8-2 run.
The Huskies got an early scare when Bueckers went down on a steal attempt and grabbed her surgically repaired left knee. She ran to the bench and had it worked on by trainers, but returned for the start of the second quarter.