Duke, UNC join Final Four

Alison Bales and Duke survived one of the NCAA tournament’s toughest stop along the road to the Final Four.

Bales dominated inside with 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks to lead the top-seeded Blue Devils to their fourth Final Four with a 63-61 overtime win Tuesday night over Connecticut in the Bridgeport Regional final.

The win snapped the Huskies’ 29-game NCAA win streak in the state of Connecticut and was the first meeting between the two teams in the NCAA tournament.

Duke (30-3) joins North Carolina and Maryland to give the Atlantic Coast Conference three Final Four teams, the first time one conference has had three-fourths of the national semifinals.

UConn’s Mel Thomas sent the game into overtime with a jumper with 20.7 left in regulation to tie it at 55-all.

Barbara Turner led second-seeded UConn (32-5) with 19 points and 12 rebounds but could only watch from the bench in the closing minutes when leg cramps forced her out of the game.

North Carolina 75, Tennessee 63: At Cleveland, the littlest Tar Heel put North Carolina back on the biggest stage in women’s hoops.

Ivory Latta ran things at both ends of the floor and sent top-seeded North Carolina to its first Final Four since its 1994 title season with a win over Tennessee in the Cleveland Regional final.

The 5-foot-6 (with heels on, maybe) junior All-American finished with 20 points, nine assists and four steals in 40 minutes for the Tar Heels (33-1), who will play Maryland in this weekend’s Final Four at Boston.

Latta scored nine of her team’s final 11 points, and picked up the assist on the other basket as North Carolina finally put away the Lady Vols (31-5).