UConn guard Caroline Ducharme holds onto the ball as Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon, left, and Taylor Thierry attempt to steal it during their Sweet 16 game on Saturday in Seattle. Caean Couto/Associated Press
SEATTLE — UConn’s record Final Four run is over, thanks to a monumental performance by Ohio State.
The Buckeyes ended UConn’s unprecedented streak of reaching 14 consecutive Final Fours, beating the Huskies 73-61 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
“The problem with streaks is the longer they go, you’re closer to it ending than you are to the beginning of it,” UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said. “It’s just a matter of time. I mean, it’s not if it’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time when it’s going to happen. And it was going to happen sooner rather than later.”
Cotie McMahon scored 23 points for the Buckeyes, who snapped their three-decade Elite Eight drought. The Buckeyes hadn’t made a regional final since 1993, when they eventually lost in the title game to Texas Tech.
“When I had the opportunity to come to Ohio State, this was certainly the goal and the vision to go farther than they have been going,” said Coach Kevin McGuff, who had never beaten UConn. “It’s not easy to get here, obviously. But I’m really proud of our team and our program of how we’ve evolved to be able to get to this point.
“Like I said, I mean, I have so much respect for Geno and his staff and all that they have accomplished. So for us to be able to win this game in the Sweet 16 is obviously extremely significant. They’re just hard to beat. They’re so well-coached. So this is a great win for us.”
The third-seeded Buckeyes (28-7) forced No. 2 seed UConn (31-6) into 25 turnovers, ending the Huskies’ season before the national semifinals for the first time since 2008. UConn hadn’t been eliminated this early since 2006.
“It’s an impossibility to do what we have done already,” Auriemma said. “What’s the next highest streak? … And you take that in stride and you say, yeah, it was great while it lasted and it’s a credit to all the players that we had and all the times that you have to perform really, really well at this level.”
Ohio State will play top seed Virginia Tech on Monday night in the Seattle 3 Region final with a trip to Dallas at stake.
This has been the most trying year of Auriemma’s Hall of Fame career. UConn was beset by injuries and illnesses to both players and coaches, including a torn ACL that sidelined star Paige Bueckers all season.
VIRGINIA TECH 73, TENNESSEE 64: Georgia Amoore scored a career-high 29 points and the Hokies (30-4) advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history with a win over the Lady Vols (25-12) in Seattle.
The Hokies (30-4) won their 14th straight game overall and advanced to a matchup with No. 3 seed Ohio State in the Seattle 3 Regional final on Monday night.
Amoore and the Hokies used a dominant stretch spanning the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third that built enough of a cushion to hold off Tennessee’s valiant rally over the final 12 minutes.
Amoore attempted 19 3-pointers in the Hokies’ second-round win, but shot only 14 this time around.
Kayana Traylor added 14 points and Elizabeth Kitley scored 12 points despite sitting a big chunk of the first half with foul trouble. The ACC Tournament champions had reached the Sweet 16 only once previously in school history and are now one win away from the Final Four.
Jordan Horston led Tennessee (25-12) with 17 points. Rickea Jackson scored 15 and Jordan Walker added 12.
The Lady Vols reached the regional semifinals for the second straight season, but haven’t been to the Elite Eight since 2016.
SOUTH CAROLINA 59, UCLA 43: Kamilla Cardoso scored 10 points while the reigning national champion Gamecocks (35-0) turned in their latest overwhelming defense-and-rebounding-first performance to beat the Bruins (27-10) in the Sweet 16 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Aaliyah Boston had eight points, 14 rebounds and two blocks for the Gamecocks (35-0), the top overall tournament seed and the headliner in the Greenville 1 Region.
It marked South Carolina’s 41st consecutive victory, securing the program’s sixth trip to the Elite Eight under Dawn Staley.
The Gamecocks will play for their fifth trip to the Final Four in Monday’s regional final against No. 2 seed Maryland.
It wasn’t an easy offensive operation for South Carolina, with UCLA sagging defensively to pack the paint in hopes of negating the Gamecocks’ size advantage behind Boston. But South Carolina dominated the glass from start to finish and used its length to turn every look into a difficult one for the fourth-seeded Bruins.
The Gamecocks entered the game ranked first in Division I in scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense and rebounding margin. They did nothing to change that, holding UCLA to 15-for-51 shooting (29.4%) º including 3 for 18 from 3-point range – while finishing with a 42-34 rebounding advantage that narrowed late after they led big.
Charisma Osborne scored 14 points to lead UCLA, which was in the Sweet 16 for the eighth time and first since 2019. The Bruins were trying to reach the regional finals for the first time since 2018 and only the third time in program history while pursuing their first Final Four appearance.
Once the game started, the Bruins tried desperately to close off the paint and dare the Gamecocks to shoot from outside.
But in a sign of what was to come, the Bruins kept missing shots that they needed to position themselves for a stunning upset. Worse, they failed to grab even a few of those misses to keep possessions alive early, with South Carolina going on to finish with a 15-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks were able to just keep grinding and relying on their length. They led 25-15 at halftime before finally breaking this open by matching their game-long point total in the third quarter.
That included a couple of way-too-familiar sequences for UCLA Coach Cori Close. Twice the Gamecocks managed to lob a pass inside to the 6-foot-7 Cardoso, who used her long arms to reach over 6-2 fronting defender Christeen Iwuala and snag the ball for easy under-the-rim finishes in traffic.
Or there was Brea Beal (10 points) using her right hand to tap out a loose rebound over Gabriela Jaquez before securing it, then dumping it immediately inside to Victaria Saxton inside for a soft hook as the lead steadily grew.
MARYLAND 76, NOTRE DAME 59: Diamond Miller scored 14 of her 18 points in the final two quarters to lead the Terrapins (28-6) to a victory over the depleted the Fighting Irish (27-6) in Greenville, South Carolina, as they reached the Elite Eight for the first time in eight years.
Shyanne Sellers also had 18 points for the Terps, who’ll play defending champion South Carolina, the top overall seed, on Monday night for a trip to Dallas for the Final Four.
Maryland used a third-quarter burst to put away the third-seeded Fighting Irish, who played once again without injured leading-scorer Olivia Miles after her knee injury at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament earlier this month.
Miles and guard Dara Mabrey, both starters, were injured spectators for Notre Dame, which hung tight with Maryland for 25 minutes before Miller and Shyanne Sellers took over.
Miller, a first-team All-American, shook off a poor first half as Maryland gained control. It was tied at 44-44 before Lavender Briggs made a 3-pointer and Miller followed with a three-point play as the Terps closed the third quarter on a 13-1 run.
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