***BREAKING NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR – Notre Dame’s junior forward Natalie Achonwa, injured during Monday night’s win over #2 seed Baylor, is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, according to the Real Sports Entertainment Network contributor Sean Ellis. Number one seed UND will be without Achonwa at the Final Four in Nashville after she went down at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend holding her left knee on the way to the locker room.
UCONN, NOTRE DAME HEADED TO FINAL FOUR
As many expected, the two NCAA Div I women’s teams at the top of the heap at regular season’s end are headed to the Final Four after running roughshod through the NCAA Women’s Tournament in March. UConn and Notre Dame, both undefeated No. 1 seeds, advance to Nashville, home of the 2014 Final Four on April 6 and 8 at Bridgestone Arena.
On Monday, the UConn Women Huskies defeated #3 seed Texas A&M 69-54 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln Nebraska. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis finished Monday’s Elite Eight round with 17 points, advancing her Huskies to the Final Four for the seventh straight year. UConn (38-0) won their 44th straight game with Monday night’s victory. For Texas A&M, Courtney Walker led with 14 points. The Aggies completed their first six shots of the second half, cutting into UConn’s eleven point halftime lead, a pair of Jordan Jones 3-pointers getting A&M within three, at 40-37 early second half. A short time later, UConn cranked up the transition game, going on a 10-and-0 run, outscoring the Aggies 27-12 and up 18 points with 3 minutes left in the game, ahead of the runaway win.
At Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in South Bend, home favorites Notre Dame Fighting Irish advance to the Music City national semifinals on a 28 game win streak following an 88-69 win over #2 seed Baylor Monday night. Jewell Loyd scored 30 points for the undefeated Irish, who head to the Final Four for the fourth straight season, only the sixth school to claim such a feat. Baylor’s star guard Odyssey Sims, who played her final game with the Irish, amassed 1,054 points in her stellar college career, eight points short of NCAA record-holder Jackie Stiles’ single season record.
The Irish were behind in the first half 21-17 with senior Kayla McBride on the bench in early foul trouble. Following a 14-0 run, the home crowd along for the ride, the Irish regained the lead, 24-21 on the way to a 44-32 advantage at the half. Odyssey Sims cut back that lead to 46-41 for the Lady Bears on the nine points she scored early on after the break. Two back-to-back offensive fouls enraged Bears coach Kim Mulkey, getting her a technical foul. After her Bears closed to within 65-60, the Irish took over, scoring 16 of the next 20 points, rolling to victory and on-court post game celebration.
TOURNEY ELIMINATIONS INCLUDE LADY VOLS, REST OF SEC
Number One seed Tennessee Lady Vols are bounced from the Louisville Region semifinal in a 72-62 upset loss to #4 seed Maryland at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville on Sunday. The Lady Terrapins are playing in their ninth regional final and first since 2012 thanks mostly to the stellar play of Alyssa Thomas, who scored a career-high 33 points, the most allowed to a single player by the Lady Vols this season. The 33 points, along with 13 rebounds, set her school record 65 career double-doubles.
The Lady Vols will miss making it to the Final Four for a sixth straight season, squashing a “GrindFor9” campaign chase for a ninth national championship. Vols head coach Holly Warlick conceded her team’s inability to stop Thomas, saying she “did everything she wanted to do.” Senior Meighan Simmons scored 31 points in her last game as a Lady Vol. Maryland will face Louisville on Tuesday.
GAMECOCKS, TIGERS ELIMINATED
All three SEC teams playing on Sunday lost, including #1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks, in another semifinal upset, this time 65-58 to #4 UNC in Stanford region at Maples Pavilion. For the Tarheels, Diamond DeShields, a knee injury aggravated in the first half, shook it off to finish with 19 points, helping her team advance to play second-seeded Stanford Tuesday night. Sunday’s win gets the Tarheels one game closer to a reunion with ailing head coach Sylvia Hatchell, whose doctors cleared her to travel to Nashville for the Final Four. Hatchell has just completed her final chemotherapy session for leukemia.
The LSU Lady Tigers are out, bounced from the Louisville regional semifinal following a 73-47 drubbing by #3 Louisville on Sunday. Tournament favorite Shoni Schimmel scored 19 points on the injury-riddled and undermanned Lady Tigers, dressing just eight players in Sunday’s loss. The Lady Cardinals, who led by as many as 29 points with just over 2 minutes left, advance to take on Maryland Tuesday night. For LSU, Danielle Ballard finished with 24 points. The Tigers shot 24 percent in their worst NCAA tournament loss ever.
STANFORD ADVANCES
Number 2 seed Stanford advances into its own regional final and a Mavis Pavilion match-up with #4 seed North Carolina on Tuesday night. The Cardinal took care of #3 PSU 82-57 on Sunday. Stanford star Chiney Ogwumike scored 29 points, finishing with 15 rebounds, hoping to get her team to its first final four since a streak of four of them ended in 2013’s 61-59 loss to Georgia in the regional semifinals in Spokane, Washington. For Penn State, 15 turnovers included seven in the first half, versus Stanford’s one, with 10 Cardinal assists hastened an exit from the Stanford regional.
