Jasmyne Roberts converted a three-point play with 38 seconds remaining to put Miami ahead and the ninth-seeded Hurricanes pulled out a 70-65 victory against fourth-seeded Villanova on Friday afternoon in the Greenville Region 2 semifinals in Greenville, S.C.
Haley Cavinder made one free throw at the 24-second mark to extend the lead after the Hurricanes squandered a 21-point lead. Roberts finished with 26 points, including two foul shots with 11 seconds left.
Destiny Harden added 15 points for Miami (22-12), which was coming off Monday’s road win at top-seeded Indiana. The Hurricanes will meet third-seeded LSU in Sunday’s regional final.
An 11-0 run late in the second quarter helped boost the Hurricanes, who were playing a Sweet 16 game for the first time since 1992. They led by 17 points in the first half and held a 46-33 halftime lead. Miami scored the first eight points of the second half in 41 seconds.
Maddy Siegrist poured in 31 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for Villanova (30-7). She was 14-for-15 on free throws. Christina Dalce had 13 points for the Wildcats.
Siegrist had 15 of Villanova’s first 29 points. The Wildcats were sparked by a 13-0 burst to close within 57-51 as Miami didn’t score in the last five minutes of the third quarter. Villanova went ahead 60-59 on two Siegrist free throws with 5:31 to play.
No. 3 LSU 66, No. 2 Utah 63
LaDazhia Williams poured in 24 points, Angel Reese had 17 points and Alexis Morris made the winning free throws as the Tigers survived a shaky late-game stretch to defeat the Utes in the Greenville Region 2 semifinals.
Morris hit two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to put the Tigers (31-2) in the lead and added two more with two seconds left to finish with 15 points. Utah’s Jenna Johnson missed two free throws with 4.7 seconds left, but the Utes kept possession before Sa’Myah Smith’s steal set up the final foul shots for Morris.
Utah surged into the lead behind an 11-1 fourth-quarter run.
Gianna Kneepkens led Utah (27-5) with 20 points, while Isabel Palmer had 15 points and Alissa Pili added 14 points.
Utah led 33-29 at halftime and went up by six early in the third quarter. Williams and Reese combined for the next eight points, and there was a stretch of more than 13 minutes when the margin was never more than three points in either team’s favor.
Morris hit a 3 for a 60-52 lead with 3:40, but Kneepkens scored the next nine Utah points.
No. 2 Iowa 87, No. 6 Colorado 77
Caitlin Clark sparked a third-quarter burst and ended up with 31 points as second-seeded Hawkeyes eliminated sixth-seeded Buffaloes in the Seattle 4 Region semifinal.
Clark scored 10 points in the first six minutes of the second half as the Hawkeyes turned a deficit into a 57-44 lead.
Iowa (29-6) meets the Mississippi-Louisville winner in Sunday’s regional final.
Frida Formann scored 21 points, Aaronette Vonleh had 14 points and Quay Miller had 12 points for Colorado (25-9).
Iowa also received 16 points from Kate Martin, 15 points from Monika Czinaro and 12 points from McKenna Warnock.
Colorado closed to within 78-74 before the Hawkeyes scored the next seven.
Colorado led 40-39 at halftime, with Formann hitting four 3-pointers and racking up 19 points.
Iowa made 50 percent of its shots from the field and all six free throws in the first half. Colorado’s rebounding made a difference, largely because of 12 first-half boards on the offensive end.
Iowa led 15-5 before the Buffaloes stormed back.
No. 5 Louisville 72, No. 8 Ole Miss 62
Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points to help the Cardinals defeat eighth-seeded Rebels in the Seattle Region 4 semifinal.
Morgan Jones and Mykasa Robinson both had 11 points and seven rebounds for Louisville (26-11)
The Cardinals will face second-seeded Iowa (29-6), which held off Colorado 87-77 in the first semifinal, in Sunday’s regional final.
Marquesha Davis and Myah Taylor both had 19 points, and Angel Baker added 11 points for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss (25-9), which conquered top-seeded Stanford in the second round, went 4-for-15 on 3-pointers as its comeback bid fell short.
Van Lith went 4-for-4 on free throws down the stretch. The Cardinals backups outscored Ole Miss reserves by a combined 27-6.
Louisville led 34-29 at halftime, with its starters and reserves both accounting for 17 points. The Cardinals made four of their seven 3-point attempts before the break.
Ole Miss shot 36.4 percent from the field in the first half.
–Field Level Media
