Uconn Women Survive
NCAA women
Kara Wolters scored 18 points and had one of Connecticut’s three key blocks down the stretch as the Huskies beat Virginia 67-63 Saturday to win the NCAA East Regional title in the closest call of their unbeaten season at Storrs, Conn.
The Huskies (33-0) blew a 19-point first-half lead and trailed 44-37 at the half before winning their 37th straight game at home and earning a trip to the Final Four at Minneapolis. They will meet Stanford.
The Huskies’ win was much harder than the other 32 wins this season, the first time an opponent had come within 10 points and the first time top-ranked Connecticut scored fewer than 71.
Mideast Regional
At Knoxville, Tenn., Dana Johnson scored 24 points and topseeded Tennessee beat Texas Tech 80-59 to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1991 and the eighth time in 14 years.
Tennessee’s senior class was on the verge of becoming the first never to play in a Final Four. But Johnson and fellow senior Nikki McCray wouldn’t allow it, dominating the Mideast Regional final from the start.
McCray had 22 points - 19 in the first half - and 11 rebounds. Johnson added 10 rebounds, as did Pashen Thompson, to give Tennessee (33-2) a 52-33 edge on the boards and a 24-9 advantage in second-chance points. Latina Davis added 11 points for the Lady Vols.
Texas Tech (33-4) was led by Tabitha Truesdale with 17 points and Noel Johnson with 15.
Tennessee ran its homecourt winning streak to 64 games, and its record in NCAA games in Knoxville to 26-0. The victory over Texas Tech means the third-ranked Lady Vols have played every other team currently ranked in the top 10 this season, with a 10-2 record.
Midwest Regional
Just when Colorado had a Final Four berth in its grasp, Georgia rose up and stole it.
Georgia overcame an 11-point deficit behind Kedra Holland’s outside shooting and beat top-seeded Colorado 82-79 to win the NCAA Midwest Regional at Des Moines, Iowa.
The third-seeded Lady Bulldogs (28-4) overcame serious foul problems and a season-high 35 points by Colorado’s Isabelle Fijalkowski to reach the Final Four for the first time in 10 years.
They’ll play Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee in the national semifinals in Minneapolis on Saturday. Colorado (30-3), still looking for its first Final Four trip, lost in the regional finals for the second time in three years and had a 25-game win streak snapped.
West Regional
Stanford defeated Purdue 69-58 before 4,035 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, moving on to the Final Four.
Stanford (30-2) picked up the tempo markedly early in the second half.
Anita Kaplan, Stanford’s 6-foot-5 senior post player, provided the spark with two 12-foot jump shots that put the Cardinal up 39-28. The Stanford transition game had its first major success at the 14:40 mark, when guard Kate Paye stole the ball in the paint and went all the way for a layup and a 43-32 lead.
And when freshman Kristin Folkl, who made her first career start, drained a 3-pointer from the corner, it gave Stanford a 46-34 margin with 14:00 to go.
xxxx FINAL FOUR The NCAA women’s Final Four at The Target Center, Minneapolis.
Semifinals, Saturday UConn (33-0) vs. Stanford (30-2) Tenn. (33-2) vs. Georgia (28-4)
National Championship, Sunday Semifinal winners