Baylor has just two wins to go for 40-0. Tennessee’s future is far less certain.
Brittney Griner had 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 blocks before being ejected with less than a minute left and top-seeded Baylor rolled over Tennessee, 77-58, Monday night in the Des Moines Regional final to advance to the Final Four.
“We’re so happy, but you can’t relax,’’ Baylor’s Destiny Williams said. “We have two more games left.’’
Shekinna Stricklen had 22 points for Tennessee (27-9), whose seniors became its first four-year class not to reach a Final Four.
The second-seeded Lady Vols now face an uncertain future, as Pat Summitt has yet to say if she’ll return for a 39th season as Tennessee coach. She announced in August she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.
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“This team is about Pat Summitt. This team has battled all year,’’ said Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick as she fought back tears. “I’m proud of them. I thought our team and coaching staff obviously was in a difficult situation. But I thought this team was responsive. I wouldn’t trade anything that we did this year.’’
The Lady Bears (38-0), who are back in the national semifinals for the second time in three years, will face Stanford, an 81-69 winner over Duke, Sunday night in Denver. Should Baylor win it all, it’ll become the first men’s or women’s team in NCAA history to finish a year with 40 wins.
Baylor held Tennessee to just 30.3 percent shooting from the floor. Much of that was because of the inside presence of the 6-foot-8-inch Griner, who was just one block shy of her fifth career triple-double.
“Defense wins ballgames for you,’’ Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “I guess I learned from two of the best. I learned from [Summitt] and [former Louisiana Tech coach] Leon Barmore, you better guard people. And these kids are going to guard you.’’
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A rather ugly game for a purist’s perspective got even uglier in the final 46.8 seconds.
Baylor’s Odyssey Sims, who led the Bears with 27 points, tumbled to the floor, and she and Stricklen had to be separated and were each assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.
No punches were thrown, but Griner and teammates Terran Condrey and Jordan Madden were ejected for leaving the bench. The NCAA said none of the players will be suspended for the Final Four.
As for Summitt, she was given a standing ovation from Tennessee and Baylor fans alike when she came out roughly 15 minutes before tipoff. But as defeat became apparent, she sat silently on the bench with her legs crossed.
Summitt has 1,098 wins, more than any basketball coach in NCAA history, but these Lady Bears were too much for her Lady Vols.
“It’s not fun for me to coach against Pat,’’ Mulkey said. “I don’t take great pleasure in that. But I have a job to do.’’
Stanford 81, Duke 69 - Nnemkadi Ogwumike will end her sensational senior season right where she has the rest: at the Final Four.
Ogwumike made it happen on both ends of the floor with 29 points and nine rebounds despite constant double-teams, sending top-seeded Stanford past No. 2 Duke in the Fresno (Calif.) Regional final for the Cardinal’s fifth straight Final Four berth.
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Chiney Ogwumike did plenty to seal the Denver trip, too - along with everybody else. Chiney Ogwumike grabbed 17 rebounds to go with 12 points, and freshman Amber Orrange came through with 13 points and four assists as the Cardinal extended their school-record winning streak to 32 games.
Nneka Ogwumike is headed back to the Final Four in her NCAA Tournament farewell with that elusive championship still in reach. Stanford (35-1), looking for the program’s first title since 1992, will play Sunday night against unbeaten Baylor at the Pepsi Center.
Chelsea Gray had 23 points, 4 rebounds, and four assists and Shay Selby scored 11 in her final college game for Duke (27-6), which fell short of reaching the program’s first Final Four since 2006. The Blue Devils never got clicking on offense the way they had in their three NCAA wins.
“It was a good run,’’ Selby said. “I think this one probably hurt the most. When you’re a sophomore or junior, it’s, ‘Oh, you have next year.’ I have no next year.’’