Kia Nurse, UConn return to Final Four after ousting reigning champs
Canadian senior contributes 11 points, 5 rebounds in victory
Crystal Dangerfield scored 19 of her 21 points in the first half, and top-seeded UConn routed No. 2 South Carolina 94-65 on Monday night to reach the Final Four for the 11th consecutive year.
The Albany Regional final featured the past two NCAA champions in a rare occurrence for the women's tournament. The Huskies (36-0) quickly turned it into a mismatch with stellar 3-point shooting. UConn went right at South Carolina in the opening quarter, hitting nine of its 14 shots — including 5 of 6 from beyond the arc — to go up 30-12.
Katie Lou Samuelson had nine points, including a four-point play, during the first 10 minutes. Dangerfield capped the opening burst with a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the end of the quarter.
Canada's Kia Nurse, from Hamilton, Ont., poured in 11 points and five rebounds to help the Huskies.
Earlier in the day, Nurse was listed as an honourable mention on The Associated Press all-American team.
Crowd on their feet as <a href="https://twitter.com/KayNurse11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KayNurse11</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MochaTrapuccino?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MochaTrapuccino</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/33katielou?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@33katielou</a> sub out of the game. Outstanding performance tonight from all 3 Lady Huskies <a href="https://twitter.com/UConnWBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UConnWBB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WFSBnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WFSBnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/UM4Pbep54n">pic.twitter.com/UM4Pbep54n</a>
—@CPowersTVThe Huskies stayed hot from behind the arc, connecting on 9 of 10 3-pointers in the half — including a perfect 5 for 5 by Dangerfield. Her last 3 of the second quarter made it 52-31 and delighted a crowd that included former UConn greats Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart, who helped the Huskies to four consecutive national championships. Stewart grew up 2 hours west of Albany.
Gabby Williams scored 23 points, Samuelson finished with 17 and Napheesa Collier had 16 as UConn scored the most points in school history for this round of the NCAA Tournament. Williams was named most outstanding player of the region.
The loss ended the stellar career of South Carolina post A'ja Wilson. The unanimous AP All-American, who grew up a few miles from the Gamecocks' campus, helped the school win its first national championship last season and guided the team to two Final Fours in her four years. She did all she could to make it a third trip to the national semifinals.
She finished with 27 points for South Carolina (29-7), but it wasn't nearly enough. Coach Dawn Staley took her star out with just over 3 minutes left in the game and her team down 31 points
Notre Dame rounds out Final Four
Kathryn Westbeld scored 20 points, Jessica Shepard added 18 and Notre Dame reached the Final Four for the eighth time in school history by defeating Oregon 84-74 on Monday night.
Westbeld came up with the biggest game of her Notre Dame career despite being slowed by an ankle injury from the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Westbeld had scored a combined 12 points in the previous four games, but she teamed with Shepard for an inside attack that hurt the Ducks.
Westbeld made 9 of 12 shots. Notre Dame (33-3) outscored Oregon 52-38 in the paint and outrebounded the Ducks 51-29 in the Spokane Regional final.
Arike Ogunbowale added 19 points and Marina Mabrey had 15 for the Irish.
Despite a handful of costly injuries along the way, the Irish are back in a familiar spot in the national semifinals. It's the sixth Final Four for Notre Dame since 2011 and old friend UConn awaits in the semis Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.