College Women's Basketball Capsules: UConn wins NCAA record 71st straight game
HARTFORD, Conn. — The top-ranked Connecticut Huskies made women's college basketball history Monday night — not that you would have known it by watching them.
Tina Charles scored 16 points and Maya Moore added 11 to help UConn win an NCAA record 71st straight game, a 59-44 victory over No. 6 Notre Dame in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
The Huskies didn't gloat, though. They didn't even celebrate. Just another night's work for coach Geno Auriemma's latest dynasty.
At the final horn they just shook hands with the Irish — the way they have with opponents after nearly every other game during their incredible streak.
"I can't think anything is more important than winning and playing in the Big East championship for these kids," Auriemma said.
UConn surpassed its own mark set from Nov. 9, 2001, to March 11, 2003. Unlike that amazing run, which ended in a loss in the Big East conference tournament semifinals to Villanova, this Huskies team has thoroughly dominated its opponents in every game, winning all of them by double digits.
"After the season, the last game we play we can look back and see what we've done," said Kalana Greene, who scored 15 points. "You don't want to celebrate about wins. We don't plan on our season being over any time soon."
The Huskies are focused on bigger goals — not just winning a 16th Big East conference championship but also a seventh national title. Connecticut (32-0) will face No. 9 West Virginia, the second seed in the tournament, on Tuesday night for the league championship.
But even top teams haven't posed much of a challenge for the Huskies since they beat Georgia Tech to start this run on Nov. 16, 2008.
With Monday's win over Notre Dame (27-5), UConn improved to 13-0 against top-10 opponents, winning by an average of 26.2 points. Even second-ranked Stanford lost by 12 when the teams met in late December.
UConn has rarely even trailed during its streak. The Huskies have been behind for a total 86 minutes in the 71 games. It's been even more uncommon for UConn to be down in the second half — only facing a deficit three times after intermission. None of those scares lasted long. There hasn't been a need for any late-game rallies or last-second shots by the Huskies.
Notre Dame kept this one close for a half.
UConn only led 25-22 at the break — its lowest scoring output in nearly three years. The Huskies then asserted themselves, led be Greene.
The senior hit just one of eight shots in the first 20 minutes, but scored the first four points of a decisive 13-4 run that gave UConn a 49-35 lead with 9:00 left. Moore's deep 3-pointer capped the spurt.
Notre Dame, which was led by Skylar Diggins' 10 points, was only able to close to 10.
Even with the incredible numbers that this team has put up, Auriemma is still partial to the 2002 team that started the previous record streak. Those Huskies, led by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, featured four of the first six picks in the WNBA draft.
"I think that group would beat this group," Auriemma said. "But that's not important because they'll never have to play each other."
Bird and Ashja Jones, who also played on the 2002 team, were in the XL Center for the quarterfinals on Sunday.
The mood Monday was tempered when Huskies guard Caroline Doty caught an elbow from Ashley Barlow in the head with a minute left. She was on the ground with the training staff huddled around her for a few minutes before she woozily got up.
"She may have a concussion, we're not sure," Auriemma said. "We'll evaluate her. If she has a concussion she's not playing tomorrow."
Connecticut had already beaten Notre Dame twice during the regular season — including a 25-point win in South Bend seven days ago. But the Irish have a history of ending notable winning streaks.
Notre Dame stopped Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak in football in the 1950s, UCLA's 88-game winning streak in men's basketball in the 1970s and North Carolina's 92-game winning streak in women's soccer in the 1990s.
For 20 minutes it looked as if Notre Dame might have some of that luck. It was a sloppy first half as neither team could put together a sustained run. The Huskies took their biggest lead of the half on Doty's 3-pointer with 8:37 left that made it 19-14. Notre Dame answered scoring six of the next eight points to close within one.
The Irish had plenty of chances to take the lead, but couldn't get over the hump.
"We got embarrassed the first two games and wanted to play to our potential today," said Diggins, who scored all her points in the first half. "We had little lapses. They are a great team and we know that."
Everybody else does, too.
Xavier is A-10 perfect, tops Temple 57-55 in OT
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Xavier's players gathered at midcourt, bouncing with glee on the big basketball logo and giving a most emphatic answer to their own question.
"Who runs this league?" they chanted. "We run it!"
Perfect in the regular season. Perfect in the tournament. The Musketeers are the champions of the Atlantic 10.
Xavier scored the game's first 14 points, blew the lead in the second half and survived overtime Monday in a 57-55 win over Temple, claiming the No. 5 Musketeers' third conference title in four years and an automatic NCAA bid.
"There are certain points where you've got to really sit back and enjoy what you've accomplished, and today is one of those," Xavier coach Kevin McGuff said after the trophy was presented and the nets cut down at the Show Place Arena.
Xavier's 18-game winning streak includes a 14-0 run through the conference regular season and 3-0 in the tournament, joining 2004-05 Temple as the only A-10 teams to make it through both without a blemish.
Still, it wasn't easy. If Xavier had a noticeable flaw over the three days, it was a knack for letting up with a big lead. The Musketeers' usual sharpshooters hit some cold spells, forcing the team to rely on defense and rebounding to stave off the comebacks.
Sure enough, it was a defensive play that ended Monday's game. Tyeasha Moss stayed tight with Shaqwedia Wallace when the Temple guard drove to the basket to try to send the game into a second overtime. Wallace's shot in traffic bounced off the rim as time expired.
Xavier also had a 13-point lead cut to two by Richmond in the quarterfinals and blew an eight-point second-half lead before squeaking by with a two-point win over Charlotte in the semis. The lapses might cost the Musketeers when the NCAA pairings come out next Monday.
"We just didn't shoot it at the same rate this weekend," McGuff said. "As I told them after the game, if we'll continue to compete on the defensive end and the boards, we've got a chance to do something special in March."
Conference player of the year and tournament MVP Amber Harris tied a season high with 23 points, and Ta'Shia Phillips had a season-high 21 rebounds for the Musketeers (27-3), who shot 37 percent and appear in line for a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Temple (24-8), meanwhile, is poised for an at-large berth. The Owls, seeded third in the A-10, lost for only the second time in 11 games. They were led by 18 points from Wallace, 17 points from Kristen McCarthy and 17 rebounds from Jasmine Stone.
"If we can hang with the No. 5 team in the nation," McCarthy said, "we can hang with anybody."
After looking unbeatable with a 14-0 lead in the first six minutes, Xavier took a lazy shot or two and had the lead cut to six before settling down to take a 32-20 lead at halftime.
The Owls then came out relentless to the start of the second half, holding Xavier without a field goal for the first 5½ minutes and forcing seven turnovers in the first seven minutes. LaKeisha Eaddy pounded her chest after making a 3-pointer that tied the game at 33 with 14:36 to play.
It wasn't until overtime that Temple took its first — and only — lead of the game on Bennett's jumper with 3:52 remaining, but Special Jennings' 3-pointer put Xavier back in front. April Phillips' free throw then made it 57-55 with 2:40 to play.
Then nerves and defense took over. Neither team scored again. Wallace had a shot blocked by Ta'Shia Phillips, but April Phillips rushed an ill-advised shot at the other end to give Temple one last chance. After calling timeout with 5.5 seconds to play, Temple got the ball to Wallace for a final shot that didn't quite find the mark.
Then it was time to break out the chant.
"The A-10 is a terrific conference with great coaches and great players and I think underappreciated nationally," McGuff said. "And for us to go undefeated during the regular season and win the conference tournament says a lot about our players."
-- Joseph White
No. 9 WVU beats Rutgers 56-49 in Big East semis
HARTFORD, Conn. — West Virginia coach Mike Carey was happy to beat Rutgers in the Big East semifinals. His goal for the finals: just compete with top-ranked Connecticut.
Sarah Miles scored 18 points and Asya Bussie added 10 to lead the ninth-ranked Mountaineers (28-4) over the Scarlet Knights 56-49 on Monday night.
Khadijah Rushdan led Rutgers (19-14) with 12 points and Monique Oliver had 11.
West Virginia's win sets up a matchup between the tournament's top seeds. The Huskies beat No. 6 Notre Dame 59-44 in the first semifinal, recording an NCAA record 71st straight win.
The trip to the finals is the Mountaineers' first since they lost to UConn 50-44 in 2006.
"I told the girls after the game, we're going to come tomorrow night to compete, we're not coming to just show up," Carey said. "As long as our girls compete and play hard, I'm going to be satisfied with that, win or lose."
Monday's battle between two of the leagues top defensive teams lived up to its billing.
Both West Virginia and Rutgers shot just over 36 percent from the field and combined for 33 turnovers, 18 by Rutgers.
The game was tied at halftime, but the Mountaineers used a 9-0 run over five minutes in the second half to go up 38-31 lead and a 12-3 run to push that to 52-40 with 6½ minutes left.
Rutgers responded with a trapping press, and cut the deficit to six points twice. A free throw by Monique Oliver with 33.5 seconds left made it 55-49.
Rushdan missed a jump shot that would have cut the lead to four, and Miles hit a free throw for the game's final point.
"We were just trying to get the ball to the middle and break the press and slow it down, because we did have the lead," Miles said.
Rutgers led early, before a pair of baskets from Miles, including a 3-pointer, sparked a 9-0 run that put the Mountaineers up 15-8 midway through the first half.
It was just 19-10 when Madina Ali converted a three-point play with just over seven minutes left.
The Mountaineers scored just one more field goal in the half, and didn't score another point until Ali hit two foul shots with 52 seconds left.
In between, Rutgers went on a 11-0 run, sparked by a 3-pointer from Brittany Ray.
The teams went into halftime tied at 25.
West Virginia has held 26 of its 32 opponents to fewer than 60 points, and dropped Rutgers to 2-11 this season against ranked teams.
But a four-game winning streak, including victories over Cincinnati and No. 13 Georgetown in this tournament, might be enough to get the Scarlet Knights a bid to the NCAA tournament.
"I think we picked it up, as coach says, better late than never," Rushdan said. "Although it took us 31 games to get here, we really made a good run. I believe a lot of people doubted us and didn't believe that we could actually get this far."
The 14 losses would tie the most for any team with an at-large bid.
C. Vivian Stringer has said the Scarlet Knights will not accept a bid to the WNIT if they don't get invited to the NCAAs.
This was the 50th meeting between the two schools. Rutgers leads the series 38-12, but is 6-6 against West Virginia since Carey became coach.
West Virginia also won the first meeting between the two teams this season, 55-51 on Feb. 16. in Morgantown.
Tuesday's final will be the 11th between the Big East's top two seeds, which have split the previous 10.
Connecticut beat West Virginia 80-47 at the XL Center on Feb. 2. Guard Liz Repella said they know they have to play with a bit more intensity to prevent another blowout on Tuesday.
"We played them good for 25 minutes, and you can't play good for 25 minutes against UConn and expect to win or even keep it close," she said.
-- Pat Eaton-Robb
Saint Mary's upsets Gonzaga in WCC title game
LAS VEGAS — Omar Samhan practically floated down the Orleans Arena hallway with a net around his neck when Mickey McConnell rushed up from behind, jumped and joyously shoved his Saint Mary's teammate, nearly knocking him down.
Easy there, MVP. After making mighty Gonzaga look ordinary, these remarkable Gaels need to stay healthy through their first peaceful Selection Sunday in years before a trip to the NCAA tournament.
McConnell matched his career high with 26 points, Ben Allen added a career-best 20 and Saint Mary's upset the 18th-ranked Zags 81-62 Monday night, winning the West Coast Conference tournament title game with stunning decisiveness.
Jorden Page scored 11 points and Samhan had nine points and seven rebounds for the Gaels (26-5), who earned the sixth NCAA berth in the small Bay Area school's history with a stellar shooting performance against top-seeded Gonzaga (26-6), the 10-time regular-season WCC champions.
Samhan, one of just two seniors in uniform for the Gaels, said he wanted this win "more than anything else in my life."
When the on-court celebration with dozens of their traveling fans finally ended in an arena nearly filled with Gonzaga supporters, the Gaels could finally ponder what they accomplished — even while thinking ahead to a week of celebrations in the verdant East Bay hills.
"The last two years, we've been sitting there on Selection Sunday, hoping and waiting," Samhan said. "One year we were in, one year we weren't. This year, we wanted to make sure."
Saint Mary's won the WCC tournament for just the second time since it began in 1987, beating Gonzaga for the first time in 10 tourney meetings — and it did it with an all-around impressive offensive game that included 68 percent shooting in the second half.
McConnell and Allen hit four 3-pointers apiece, propelling the Gaels to a first-half lead before an electric 18-7 run down the second-half stretch. McConnell credited his offensive flair to his talks with Bennett and Samhan after he failed to score in the Gaels' loss at Gonzaga earlier this season.
"I tried to be aggressive from the get-go, and luckily the shots went in," said McConnell, who jumped over press row to hug his parents before accepting the tournament MVP award. "I got a couple of open looks I wouldn't normally get."
Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett has been chasing the Gonzaga powerhouse for nearly a decade, establishing a recruiting pipeline to Australia and generally trying anything to become the closest thing to a rival for Gonzaga. When he finally caught the Bulldogs, even for a game, Bennett couldn't believe it just yet.
"It hasn't really set in," Bennett said. "It's not like we've done this a whole bunch of times. I was excited with about a minute left because, hey, we're getting this one done."
Saint Mary's lost 83-58 to Gonzaga in last year's tournament title game in Las Vegas, and subsequently were denied an at-large NCAA berth. But even after losing stars Patty Mills and Diamon Simpson from last year's 28-7 team, these Gaels rebounded from two decisive regular-season losses to the Zags with a landmark victory in school history.
"It's hard to get to this position, and this group was finally able to knock the door down," Bennett said. "It feels great to beat the best team. It makes it a little more special for us."
Steven Gray scored 16 points and Matt Bouldin added 14 for Gonzaga, which had won nine of the last 11 WCC tournaments. Elias Harris managed just eight points on 3 of 13 shooting, and the Bulldogs couldn't match Saint Mary's second-half rally.
Gonzaga likely is still headed back to the NCAAs, but it won't get the WCC's automatic bid for just the third time in 12 years.
"They did lots of penetrating and hitting the 3s," Gray said. "We were getting caught off screens. It hurts to see them (celebrate). There's so many things you wish you could change."
The win was redemption for a string of entertaining teams led by Bennett and dotted with Australians. They've included high-scoring point guard Mills, who failed in his attempt to jump to the NBA this year, and current players Allen, Page and Matthew Dellavedova, who had seven points and six assists.
"We knew we were in for a tough game," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "They were hungry and desperate, with an NCAA tournament bid on the line. We didn't do a good job moving the basketball, and Saint Mary's stepped up and just made shot after shot."
While Gonzaga's thousands of traveling fans drowned out the smaller Bay Area contingent before the game, Saint Mary's made an outstanding start. McConnell hit a high-arching 3-pointer from well behind the NBA line to put the Gaels up 12-7 early, and they never trailed in the half while taking 10 more shots than Gonzaga and making just two turnovers.
After Demetri Goodson put the Zags ahead on the first possession of the second half, Saint Mary's moved back ahead 46-40 on McConnell's layup with 12:05 left, and Samhan didn't end up hurting the Gaels when he got a technical foul on the next possession for shoving Robert Sacre out of his way.
"Sacre was talking a lot before the game," Samhan said with a grin. "But we won."
-- Greg Beacham
Tournament Championship
Chattanooga beats Samford 72-67 for SoCon crown
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chattanooga coach Wes Moore was so frustrated with Michelle Davis' defense she spent a good portion of the second half of the Southern Conference title game on the bench.
"But then we just couldn't get over the hump. We were down like three it seemed like forever," Moore said. "I finally told the coaches, 'I've got to get MD, Michelle Davis, back in there because she can knock down a 3 for us.'"
Good move.
Davis hit two key 3-pointers down the stretch before Shanara Hollinquest put it away at the foul line, and Chattanooga rallied to beat Samford 72-67 on Monday night to win its eighth Southern Conference crown in 10 years.
The Lady Mocs (24-8) improved to 13-0 in league title games, but their latest trip to the NCAA tournament required a big comeback.
Down 11 points midway through the second half, Chattanooga turned on the defense while Davis got hot from the outside. Her 3 with 3:03 left gave Chattanooga its first lead of the second half, and she buried another 3 with 1:24 left to make it 64-60.
Hollinquest, voted tournament MVP, hit four free throws in the final 14 seconds left to put it away. She had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Davis scored 16 points.
"At the end of the game you're adrenaline is going," Davis said. "You don't feel anything. You just play your heart out."
Savannah Hill scored 26 points, but a six-minute second-half scoring drought doomed the Bulldogs (22-10), who were seeking their first NCAA bid. Samford is assured a trip to the WNIT.
"Obviously we were in new territory being the first time playing in a conference final," coach Mike Morris said. "Got to credit Chattanooga. They've got the experience and have been here before and that kind of showed up at the end. I told our team we got beat by a good team."
Chattanooga's players rushed to the middle of the floor for a group hug as the buzzer sounded and started yet another celebration for Moore's squad after a one-year NCAA tournament absence.
"I hate to say it, but this one was almost a relief," Moore said. "We've been through so much. We had two freshmen starting with Megan Rollins being hurt now."
Chattanooga routed Samford 92-62 at home in the final regular-season game, and early on it looked like it would be just as easy in the matchup of the league's top two seeds.
Despite having Rollins on the bench with a large cast on her left hand after breaking a finger a night earlier in the semifinals, the Lady Mocs dominated early.
Chattanooga's first five baskets were 3-pointers, with Kayla Christopher (11 points) hitting three of them as the Lady Mocs raced to an 11-point lead midway through the first half.
But Samford, which reached the title game in only its second year in the league, quickly rallied. The Bulldogs hit six 3-pointers in the first half, storming to a 38-30 halftime lead.
The versatile Hill, who had added seven assists, scored on a post move and drilled a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to put Samford ahead 50-39 with 12:35 left.
That's when Chattanooga started going inside to Hollinquest, the league's player of the year.
Hollinquest added 10 rebounds and hit all 14 free throw attempts. Chattanooga was 20 of 23 from the line, while Samford attempted just eight free throws and was outrebounded 33-26.
Chattanooga has been a No. 12 seed in its last three NCAA trips and knocked off Rutgers in the first round in 2004 as a No. 10, but Moore is expecting a tougher road.
"We've had a couple bad losses. I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "It's going to hurt some. I think we'll probably get a little more of a challenge as far as a draw goes."
-- Mike Cranston
AP Poll
UConn still No. 1 in women's poll
A few more wins and Connecticut is set to become the second team to run through two straight seasons as the No. 1 team in women's basketball.
The Huskies are No. 1 in The Associated Press women's Top 25 for a 42nd straight time over a two-year span after receiving all 40 first-place votes from the AP's media panel.
Louisiana Tech is the only team to pull off the feat, from 1980-82. In all only six teams have run through the poll from start to finish at No. 1 — including three times by UConn.
The Huskies won their NCAA record 71st straight game Monday night, beating No. 6 Notre Dame 59-44 in the Big East tournament semifinals. The victory broke their own mark set from 2001-03.
Stanford, Nebraska, Tennessee and Xavier round out the top 5 for the third straight week.
Duke moved up two places to seventh after winning its first ACC conference tournament since 2004 on Sunday. Ohio State climbed to eighth after winning the Big Ten tournament. The Buckeyes were followed by West Virginia and Florida State. Both teams dropped two spots.
Texas A&M jumped four spots to 11th and was followed by Oklahoma and Georgetown. The Hoyas were followed by three more Big 12 teams — Iowa State, Texas and Baylor.
St. John's was 17th, followed by Gonzaga, Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Hartford, LSU, UCLA, Georgia and Michigan State rounded out the Top 25.
UCLA entered the poll for the first time since 2006. The Bruins were in the Top 25 for the first three polls that season before falling out. Virginia was the only team to drop out.
-- Doug Feinberg
Women's AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in the The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 7, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
| Record | Pts | Pvs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Connecticut (40) | 31-0 | 1,000 | 1 |
| 2. Stanford | 28-1 | 959 | 2 |
| 3. Nebraska | 29-0 | 920 | 3 |
| 4. Tennessee | 30-2 | 880 | 4 |
| 5. Xavier | 26-3 | 821 | 5 |
| 6. Notre Dame | 26-4 | 770 | 6 |
| 7. Duke | 27-5 | 764 | 9 |
| 8. Ohio St. | 30-4 | 734 | 10 |
| 9. West Virginia | 27-4 | 669 | 7 |
| 10. Florida St. | 25-5 | 616 | 8 |
| 11. Texas A&M | 22-7 | 588 | 15 |
| 12. Oklahoma | 21-9 | 553 | 11 |
| 13. Georgetown | 25-6 | 457 | 12 |
| 14. Iowa St. | 23-6 | 431 | 13 |
| 15. Texas | 21-9 | 415 | 18 |
| 16. Baylor | 22-8 | 382 | 14 |
| 17. St. John's | 24-5 | 373 | 16 |
| 18. Gonzaga | 26-4 | 346 | 17 |
| 19. Kentucky | 25-7 | 324 | 19 |
| 20. Oklahoma St. | 20-9 | 203 | 20 |
| 21. Hartford | 27-3 | 187 | 23 |
| 22. LSU | 20-9 | 113 | 21 |
| 23. UCLA | 22-7 | 107 | — |
| 24. Georgia | 23-8 | 86 | 22 |
| 25. Michigan St. | 22-9 | 44 | 25 |
Others receiving votes: Fresno St. 42, Georgia Tech 35, Virginia 33, Wis.-Green Bay 31, Iowa 19, Ark.-Little Rock 18, Middle Tennessee 17, TCU 17, Vanderbilt 13, Princeton 11, North Carolina 4, Syracuse 4, Bowling Green 3, Illinois St. 3, Temple 3, BYU 2, DePaul 1, Rutgers 1, Wisconsin 1.
Voter Ballots: http://tinyurl.com/ykagzmr
