UConn beats Baylor, 69-67, for 13th straight Final Four

SAN ANTONIO — Paige Bueckers scored 28 points and top seed UConn used a huge run spanning the final two quarters to beat No. 2 Baylor 69-67 on Monday night and reach a 13th consecutive Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

“Each year that we do it, I still can’t believe it,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.

UConn has made the national semifinals every season since 2008 and won six titles during that span. The Huskies await the winner of Arizona and Indiana on Friday night. Neither of those teams has played in a Final Four.

It took a last-second stop and a disputed non-foul call to keep that streak going.

The Huskies (28-1) trailed 55-45 late in the third quarter before scoring 19 consecutive

points, including 10 by the freshman phenom Bueckers, who became the third firstyear player to make firstteam All-America.

“Paige got that look in her eye, started getting some buckets. And when Paige is scoring, the rest of the team really gains a lot of confidence,” Auriemma said. “Our defense got just really good at the end, and we got some great stops.”

Baylor (28-3) wouldn’t go away as Bueckers went cold in the final minutes. Trailing 64-55, NaLyssa Smith, an AllAmerican herself, ended the Lady Bears’ drought with 6:47 left and sparked a 12-4 burst that got Baylor within one after Dijonai Carrington converted two free throws with 19.3 seconds left.

After a timeout, Baylor fouled Christyn Williams, who missed both free throws to give the Lady Bears one last chance.

Carrington, who finished with 22 points, drove the lane to the left and missed a contested jumper from the baseline where a foul could have been called, but wasn’t.

LeBron James even tweeted that a foul should have been called.

No one has played UConn tougher over the last decade than Baylor, with each team winning four of the matchups. The Lady Bears (28-3) had won the previous two, including a 74-58 win at Connecticut in January of 2020.