GREENVILLE, S.C. — Alexis Morris hit two foul shots with 10 seconds to play as No. 3 seed LSU reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008, beating second-seeded Utah 66-63 on Friday night.
Down 64-63, the Utes had a chance to back in front, but Jenna Johnson — a near 75% foul shooter — missed both attempts with 4.7 seconds to go. Utah's Dasia Young had her hands on the rebound, but LSU's Sa'Maya Smith took it away.
Morris added two more foul shots for a three-point lead. The Utes had a final chance, but Young’s 3-point try from the left corner hit the side of the backboard as time expired.
LaDazDazhia Williams scored a season-high 24 points and Angel Reese had her 31st double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds for LSU (31-2). Morris finished with 15 points.
Coach Kim Mulkey's team will face ninth-seeded Miami on Sunday night for a spot in the Final Four. The Hurricanes overcame fourth-seeded Villanova and the nation's leading scorer Maddy Siegrist 70-65 earlier at the Greenville 2 Regional.
LSU hadn’t advance this far since reaching the Final Four 15 years ago. This is Mulkey's second season coaching the Tigers.
Williams, a fifth-year grad transfer who played at South Carolina and Missouri, was dominant down low as she made 11 of 14 shots and finished a point shy of her career best.
Gianna Kneepkens led Utah (27-5) with 20 points. Alissa Pili, a second-team AP All-American, had 14 points, but took just eight shots as LSU denied her the ball.
The Tigers came out fast as Reese and Morris helped build a 13-6 lead.
But Utah, the Pac 12 regular-season champions, were on its own mission to win three games in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. The Utes put together a 19-5 run behind the outside shooting of Kennady McQueen and Kneepkens.
Kneepkens' jumper with five minutes left pushed Utah's lead to 25-18 with LSU starters Kateri Poole and Reese on the bench with two fouls apiece.
Reese, Poole and fellow LSU starter Flau'jae Johnson fouled out in the final minutes.
MIAMI 70, VILLANOVA 65
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points — including a stickback for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 seconds left — to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday for its first trip to the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament.
The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) hung on down the stretch after Villanova made its push back behind the latest big-scoring effort from All-American Maddy Siegrist.
When it was over, longtime coach Katie Meier turned and started jumping to hug her staff, while players and cheerleaders sprinted to midcourt to celebrate. Meier soon made her way to the sideline near a vocal set of Hurricanes fans and gave two thumbs-up amid the cheering, while Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace with teammate Ja'Leah Williams.
Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title against the LSU-Utah winner for a trip to the Final Four.
Siegrist, the nation's scoring leader, had 31 points, 13 rebounds and five steals for fourth-seeded Villanova (30-7). It marked her third 30-point outing in as many tournament games, pushing her to the No. 2 single-season scoring total in Division I history.
Yet it wasn't enough down the stretch, with Siegrist coming up empty in a couple of key moments late. First came when she posted up Destiny Harden inside, but a quality look on a turnaround hit the backboard before coming off the rim with her team down just 67-65.
Moments later, after a Miami free throw, Siegrist missed wildly from the other side of the lane as Villanova had a chance to extend the game. Instead, Miami secured the rebound, and Roberts hit the clinching free throws with 11.1 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.
Consider it the latest entry in a wild NCAA novel for the Hurricanes. They first rallied from 17 down to beat Oklahoma State. Then Harden hit the late shot to win at 1-seed Indiana and get them back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 31 years.
Now they have a chance to play for — and celebrate — a whole lot more.
LOUISVILLE 72, OLE MISS 62
SEATTLE — Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points to help fifth-seeded Louisville beat No. 8 seed Mississippi 72-62 on Friday night and advance to the final of the Seattle 4 Region.
The Cardinals (26-11) will face second-seed Iowa on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four. The Hawkeyes beat Colorado 87-77, behind the play of Caitlin Clark.
It's the fifth consecutive year that Louisville reached at least the Elite Eight. Expectations were high for the Cardinals under coach Jeff Walz to start the season as the team was ranked seventh in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25 poll. With many new players, the Cardinals lost four out of six games in late November and early December.
Walz wasn't concerned. The team started to get more comfortable on the court and made a run to the finals of the ACC Tournament, where they lost to Virginia Tech.
On Friday, the Cardinals were met with a stiff challenge from upstart Mississippi.
The Rebels (25-9) hadn't advanced this far since 2007, when the team made its fifth Elite Eight in program history. They were looking to become only the second No. 8 seed to reach a regional final, joining Southwest Missouri State, which did it in 1992.
Mississippi's defense under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin had been so good in the first two games of the tournament, keeping both Gonzaga and No. 1 seed Stanford under 50 points in each game.
Louisville reached that mark by the end of the third quarter on Merissah Russell's 3-pointer. That gave the Cardinals a 52-42 lead — their biggest of the game to that point. That 3 came shortly after Jones' three-point play extended a 46-40 lead to nine.
The Cardinals played their own stout defense for the second game in a row. The Cardinals held host Texas to 51 points in the second round.
Louisville got off to a slow start against Mississippi, but then Van Lith got them going and the Cardinals led 20-15 after one quarter. After a slow start to the second quarter that saw them give up the lead, the Cardinals still managed to hold a 34-29 advantage at the half.
They couldn't separate themselves from the Rebels until the end of the quarter.
Ole Miss cut its deficit to 58-53 with 2:32 left before Van Lith hit a shot in the lane to stem the Rebels' run. After Myah Taylor made the first of two free throws, Olivia Cochran had a three-point play with 2:17 left to make it 63-54 and pretty much seal the victory.
Marquesha Davis and Taylor each scored 19 points to lead Ole Miss.
IOWA 87, COLORADO 77
SEATTLE — Caitlin Clark scored 31 points and No. 2 seed Iowa shook disappointments the past two seasons and reached the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament with an 87-77 win over Colorado in the Seattle 4 Regional semifinals on Friday night.
After two straight tournaments where Clark’s season ended in the round of 16 and the round of 32, the Hawkeyes will play for a chance at just the second Final Four berth in school history on Sunday.
Clark was the catalyst for Iowa’s big second half, and the first-team All-American finished 11 of 22 shooting with four 3-pointers and eight assists. It was her 11th game this season scoring at least 30 points.
But she had plenty of help, especially after Clark sat a chunk of the first half after picking up two fouls. She had 13 points at the break.
Monika Czinano added 15 points, including a key basket in the paint with 1:10 remaining. Kate Martin scored 16 and McKenna Warnock scored 10. Iowa shot 54% for the game and 59% in the second half.
Iowa (29-6) will face either No. 5 seed Louisville or No. 8 seed Mississippi in the regional final on Sunday. It’s the fifth Elite Eight appearance for the Hawkeyes, but their only Final Four appearance came in 1993.
Frida Formann led Colorado (25-9) with 21 points, but 19 of those came in the first half when her shooting carried the Buffaloes. But Formann was shut down in the second half and fouled out with 6:37 remaining.
Colorado pulled within 76-70 on Quay Miller’s 3-pointer with 4:16 remaining and the deficit was down to 78-74 after Sherrod’s steal and layup with 1:40 left. But that was the last push by the Buffaloes as Czinano scored in the paint and Iowa made seven free throws in the final minute.
Aaronette Vonleh added 13 points and Miller had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Buffs.
Colorado lingered far longer than expected, but it was Iowa’s run in the early stages of the third quarter and keyed by its All-American that finally gave the Hawkeyes some cushion.
Clark started a string of 11 straight points for the Hawkeyes with a driving basket, added a 3-pointer off a loose ball and followed by a steal and layup that gave Iowa a 54-42 lead and forced Colorado coach JR Payne to burn two timeouts in 2 minutes.
Iowa eventually pushed the lead to 62-47 and Colorado could never catch up over the final 15 minutes leaving Clark and her team celebrating before the large Iowa contingent of fans walking off the court.
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