March Madness Saturday: South Carolina stays perfect

SEATTLE — Third seed Ohio State outlasted second seed Connecticut to advance to the quarter-finals, take the game early and end UConn’s long streak to reach the final weekend of the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Ohio State won 73-61, stopping the Huskies from reaching the last eight for the first time since 2005 and the Final Four for the first time since 2007, a streak that has six national championships, including four straight from 2013 to 2016.

The Buckeyes took control in the second quarter with a crucial run that started when they were trailing by 8 points at halftime.

They found their flow with a pressing defense crowd that forced a flurry of turnovers and racked up 17 points. Perhaps more surprising than Ohio State scoring this stretch was their ability to hold the Huskies without even a field goal. attempt For nearly five minutes to start the second quarter.

“We lost our balance and we lost our balance a little bit, and I don’t think we ever got it back,” said longtime UConn head coach Gino Auriemma after the game.

UConn turned the ball over on eight straight possessions early in the second quarter, and watched one of their most important players get hurt.

Lou Lopez Senchal, a transfer freshman who took on a leadership role when Paige Bueckers lost for the season with a knee injury, left the court limping after collapsing to the floor with pain in her right knee while trying to set up a play. She came back in the second half and led the Huskies with 25 points.

UConn forward Alia Edwards, the team’s leading scorer this season, was also benched on key stretches due to a bad tackle. She was hit by only 4 points – and four shots.

Ohio State, led by Coty McMahon’s 23 points, held off several UConn drives in the second half, mostly by holding its aggressive defense.

Concern built on the UConn bench in the fourth as Ohio State players tried to keep their cool. The Buckeyes played with the confidence of a team that knows its strengths, and with the hunger of an underdog facing a program that was a dynasty.

With 90 seconds left, Ohio State slowed the pace as some players on the UConn bench struggled to watch the game draw to a close.

Ohio State has appeared in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament twice in a row. This was UConn’s 29th consecutive appearance. The last time Ohio State advanced to the eighth round was in 1993, when it reached the championship game and lost to Texas Tech.

Last season, UConn lost the championship game to South Carolina. The Huskies have not won the title since 2016.

Ohio State will face Tennessee or Virginia Tech in the eighth round on Monday night. Talia Mensburg

GREENVILLE, South Carolina — The University of California, Los Angeles, Women’s Regional Semifinal against South Carolina kicked off the defensive strategy nearly every team has tried this season against the undefeated Gamecocks. Sitting in zone defense, the Bruins dropped their guards below the free throw line to help defend against the towering South Carolina forwards.

South Carolina struggled, shooting just 38 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range, but UCLA couldn’t turn the reigning champion’s mistakes into points, falling 59-43 to send the Gamecocks to the eighth round.

South Carolina took advantage of the chances of the second opportunity and beat the Bruins offense, and its star forward Alia Boston took the lead, with 8 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The Gamecocks’ size difference was evident throughout, as South Carolina bullied the smaller Bruins into the paint, often bringing them down. One of the most notable plays in the game came when Camila Cardoso made a 6-foot-7 chase and hit An attempted punt by UCLA guard Londynn Jones, which knocked Jones to the ground.

“We always talk about we don’t want to get involved, like don’t go out on the floor and let any team beat us,” said Boston. “So I don’t think we view ourselves as bullies, I think we’re just playing our game and that’s just being dominant.”

South Carolina guard Zia Cook added that the team had too many nice players to be considered bullies.

“We have a lot of cheat codes on our team,” she said. After listing each player’s specialties, she added, “Everyone has super strength. It’s a blessing to have it.”

During the first three games from this common area at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, on Friday and Saturday, a few fans filled only the sections near the middle area, with most of the arena remaining empty. That changed on Saturday afternoon. Just as the Maryland-Notre Dame game was about to end and the South Carolina game was set to begin, fans in garnet jerseys swarmed the arena. They screamed with their team’s every score and booed anything for fourth-ranked UCLA.

The arena is considered a neutral regional site by the NCAA, but it effectively serves as the home game for South Carolina, the tournament’s No. 1 seed. UCLA head coach Corey Close acknowledged the damage done before the game but said the regional spots were “important to continue growing our sport.”

“Look how many upsets we had on the local courts in the first two rounds,” she said. “The bottom line is you have to play your best basketball, you have to be a strong team, you have to team together, you have to find ways to win.”

Cook said she does not believe the regional format is unfair and that South Carolina deserves to play in front of the fan base that coach Don Staley has built.

UCLA looked poised to threaten South Carolina’s quest for a second straight title. When the teams played in November, the Gamecocks overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and ended up winning by 9 points. After the game, South Carolina coach Don Staley told Close that they would see each other again.

Staley’s words were prescient, but this match has never been so close. South Carolina proved why they were the best team in Division I all season, with the height and fitness to overwhelm UCLA

South Carolina plays Maryland on Monday. – Chris Rimm

Diamond Miller leads Maryland to the eighth round.

GREENVILLE, South Carolina – When Notre Dame and Maryland matched up in December, the game quickly turned into a Diamond Miller show. Miller, a 6-foot-3 guard, scored her 31st point on an A.J Winner of the deceptive one-legged bird. She ran around the Notre Dame home court with her index finger to her lips to silence the crowd.

On Saturday, in the NCAA Women’s Round of 16, Notre Dame seemed intent on shutting down Miller’s bid. The Fighting Irish—sometimes a trio—teamed Miller when she got the ball in position.

But Notre Dame’s strategy to stop Miller at all costs left room for other players, who took advantage of the open look and kept the game close while Miller struggled. In the second half, Miller finally got into a groove, and second seed Maryland upset third seed Notre Dame, 76-59. Maryland will advance to its first quarterfinal game since 2015. Miller and guard Sean Sellers led all scorers with 18 points each.

“I felt like they were daring me to shoot,” said Maryland guard Lavender Briggs, who scored 12 points.

Notre Dame threw the first token hit of the game. Down by 5, the Fighting Irish scored 13 straight points in the second quarter, neutralizing Miller and leading Maryland’s half-court offense to forced shots and fumbled passes that resulted in turnovers.

But in the second half, Miller got away. And Maryland responded with a big third quarter, courtesy of Miller and Sellers. Maryland cruised at four.

Despite the eight-year drought, the eighth round is familiar to Maryland and its coach, Brenda Friese. Since it began in 2002, Maryland has been among the top teams in college basketball. The Terrapins have reached the eighth round six times and won the program’s only national title in 2006. – Chris Rimm