Baylor into Final Four

TEMPE, Ariz. — The ugly stain on Baylor basketball is fading. The women are taking care of that.

Sophia Young scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the second-seeded Lady Bears are headed to the Final Four for the first time in school history after beating No. 1 North Carolina 72-63 Monday night.

Young, whose mother came from the West Indies last week to see her play in college for the first time, was named the MVP of the Tempe Regional.

The Lady Bears (31-3) extended their school-record winning streak to 18 games, leading by as many as 19 points in the second half against the Tar Heels (30-4), who had won 16 straight going into the game.

“You can coach a lifetime and have great teams that are expected to be in the Final Four and never make it,” said coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, who took over in 2000 and built the lackluster program into a powerhouse. “For our team to do it in five short years, I can’t say enough about our coaches and players. These are tears of joy.”

The Baylor men’s basketball team made it to the Final Four in 1948 and 1950, but that program gained infamy when a former player was accused of murdering a teammate in 2003.

“This means a lot and speaks volumes for what we’ve done for the Baylor University community,” Steffanie Blackmon said. “Last year we decided to be the shining light for the university because of everything that happened. We wanted to be something positive for Baylor.”

Chameka Scott, 0 for 9 from 3-point range in her previous two games, was 4 for 8 against North Carolina and scored 18 points for Baylor. Blackmon added 14 points.

The Lady Bears will take on LSU Sunday in Indianapolis.