UConn beats Penn St., heads to regional final
Penn State forward Talia East defends against Connecticut guard Bria Hartley during the second half of an NCAA women's tournament regional semifinal. (March 25, 2012) Credit: AP
Bria Hartley had 20 points and Kelly Faris added 15 yesterday as top-seeded Connecticut reached its seventh straight women's NCAA Tournament regional final, beating Penn State, 77-59, in a Kingston Regional semifinal.
"We wanted to make sure that this was a team thing more than looking around for someone to have a big night," coach Geno Auriemma said. "The team would have to play great defense and the team would have to execute offensively. I was really happy after the game to sit back and say that's exactly what it was."
The Huskies' stellar defense stymied the Nittany Lions, who averaged 87.5 points in the first two games of the Kingston Regional. "It's something we take a lot of pride in," Faris said.
The Huskies will face second-seeded Kentucky tomorrow night with a berth in the Final Four on the line.
Leading 36-27 late in the first half, UConn (32-4) used a 17-2 run to blow open the game. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis started the spurt with a three-pointer. Two free throws by Tiffany Hayes made it 43-29 at the break, and UConn scored the first 10 points of the second half to extend the margin to 53-29. Hartley (North Babylon) capped the run with a lay-in.
"We played too fast," Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. "We shot a lot of quick shots. We didn't show enough patience on the offensive end. When you do that against a team like Connecticut, you give up a lot of points in transition. Once they get on a roll, they're tough to stop."
Mia Nickson scored 19 points for Penn State.
Kentucky 79, Gonzaga 62: Keyla Snowden made five three-pointers as Kentucky (28-6) reached the regional final. Samarie Walker had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Kentucky.
RALEIGH REGIONALMaryland 81, Texas A & M 74: Laurin Mincy had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Maryland, which rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit against defending national champ Texas A&M in a regional semifinal. Alyssa Thomas had 21 points and nine rebounds for the second-seeded Terps (31-4), who will play Notre Dame for the right to go to the Final Four. Maryland held the Aggies (24-11) to one basket in the final 71/2 minutes.
Notre Dame 79, St. Bonaventure 35: Natalie Novosel had 16 points, Kalia Turner 14 and Kayla McBride 10 for top-seeded Notre Dame (33-3). The Fighting Irish shot 52.5 percent and led by 45 before matching a 22-year-old record for scoring margin at the regional stage. CeCe Dixon had 13 points for the fifth-seeded Bonnies (31-4). -- AP
