WOMEN’S NCAA DIVISION I BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT ELITE EIGHT

Down went Didi Richards and up went Connecticut. It was right after a tight tussle between No. 1-seeded UConn and 2nd-seed Baylor had the Bears go on a run to go ahead for 10 points as the 6-foot-2 Richards showed the way as the starting point guard and their top defender in this River Walk Region final Monday night.

That was with 7:03 left in the third quarter, long after the Huskies (27-1) surged to a 16-4 first-quarter lead and then held on to lead 26-24 after the opening quarter, and not long after the Bears went in front 39-37 at halftime. Binging the ball downcourt, Richards tumbled over, grabbed her leg, and went to the sidelines, to return for two plays, and then it was Baylor without her the rest of the way with a hamstring injury.

That was the break UConn needed. Led by freshman All-America point guard Paige Bueckers and junior guard Christyn Williams, it went on a 19-0 run, and had a new look without Richards to guard and without her stout defense on Bueckers, who wound up with the game-high 28 points that included 10 in the resounding third quarter, while Williams added a dozen points and finished with 21.

It was a tense 69-67 victory in an exciting match-up of two opponents who had split their previous four games, and now UConn, with not a senior on the roster, gets to face 3rd-seeded Arizona (20-5), with the Wildcats making their initial appearance in the Final Four after disposing of 4th-seeded Indiana, 66-53, behind 33 points, 11 rebounds and four assists from senior guard Aari McDonald.

It was close for three quarters, with Arizona up 27-23 at halftime and 48-42 after three quarters, but McDonald scored a dozen points in the final eight minutes and her side outscored Indy, 20-9, over that stretch. The Wildcats advanced by ousting 2nd-seeded Texas A & M and the Hoosiers upset No. 1-seeded North Carolina State.

As for UConn, with head coach Geno Auriamma back after missing the first two rounds when he tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic, the Huskies got their lead to 52-43 before a late run by the Bears (28-3) got them to within 66-63.

Then they fouled Williams and she missed both tries as Baylor now had a change to get closer, but when leading scorer Dilonai Carrington drove to the left side of the basket there were two UConn defenders and 6-3 freshman Aliiah Edwards either blocked the shot or fouled her, but play went on, Williams grabbed the rebound with three seconds left and made one-of-two for the 69-67 lead and a long full court throw by Carrington was intercepted by Bueckers and the program was now going to its 13th straight Final Four.

Junior guard Ervia Westbrook added 11 points for the Huskies and she made 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Edwards brought down seven rebounds, one less then 6-5 junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who also had four assists. For Baylor, Niryssa Smith tossed in 14 points to go with 11 boards. UConn made 8-of-17 3s, the Bears 2-of-9, but they had a 41-34 rebounding edge.

In tonight’s Elite Eight twin bill, it will be overall top-seeded Stanford (27-2) taking on 2nd-seeded Louisville (26-3) in the Alamo Region final, and in the Hemisphere Region final, it will be No. 1-seeded South Carolina (24-4) meeting up with 6th-seeded Texas (21-9), which knocked out 2nd-seeded Maryland.