Top-seeded Stanford prevails
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 12 years, 10 months AGO
Nnemkadi Ogwumike wants one final shot at an NCAA championship.
She would like nothing more than to carry her Cardinal to another Final Four, and she had 39 points and 10 rebounds in top-seeded Stanford's 76-60 victory over No. 5 seed South Carolina on Saturday night at Fresno, Calif., to get one win closer.
Now, Duke is all that stands in the way of a trip to Denver and the program's fifth straight Final Four.
Ogwumike shot 14 for 22 and made 11 of 12 free throws, and Toni Kokenis added 12 points and seven boards as the Cardinal (34-1) ran their school-record winning streak to 31 games with a hard-fought victory.
Markeshia Grant scored 14 points and made four 3-pointers and La'Keisha Sutton had 18 for scrappy South Carolina (25-10), which hung tough in its first regional semifinals since 2002 despite a significant height disadvantage.
Stanford will play Monday night against Duke.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer topped her former U.S. Olympic star, Dawn Staley. The two captured a gold medal together in the 1996 Atlanta Games, with VanDerveer taking a year off from Stanford to coach the Americans.
But it wasn't as easy as Stanford usually has it - South Carolina's guards regularly answered on the offensive end after baskets by Stanford. The Cardinal received their biggest push since a 74-71 overtime victory over rival California at home in Maples Pavilion on Jan. 28.
Nneka Ogwumike took over down the stretch, even playing with three fouls for the final 17:20.
She scored on a leaping layin off a reverse pivot with 9:23 left to put her team up 56-48. She hit one free throw with 8:54 to play, then drew a charge on Ashley Bruner moments later before scoring over Bruner for an 11-point lead of 59-48.
Duke 74, St. John's 47: At Fresno, Calif., Shay Selby took charge in the second half to finish with 18 points and seven assists, leading Duke past St. John's in the Fresno Regional semifinals.
Chelsea Gray, who grew up about 75 miles north in Stockton, scored 13 points and Tricia Liston had 15 for the second-seeded Blue Devils (25-5) in what became a surprising rout. Duke moved within one win of its first Final Four since 2006.
Selby had five points and two assists in the opening 4:55 of the second half and knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc that built Duke's lead to 49-29. She also had four steals.
Da'Shena Stevens scored 19 points in her final game for No. 3 seed St. John's (24-10), which didn't have another player with more than six points.
Baylor 83, Georgia Tech 68: At Des Moines, Iowa, Brittney Griner capped a sensational performance with a two-handed dunk and Baylor stormed into the NCAA regional finals for the third straight year with a rout of Georgia Tech (26-9).
Griner, who finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, got behind the defense and threw down her slam with 6:29 left in yet another rout for the Lady Bears - swinging briefly on the rim for good measure.
It was the second straight game in which the 6-foot-8 All-American dunked and the seventh slam of her college career. She's now tied with former Tennessee star Candace Parker, whose two dunks in NCAA tournament play had been the most.
Destiny Williams added 18 points on 9-for-10 shooting for the top-seeded Lady Bears (37-0), who'll play second-seeded Tennessee in the regional final on Monday night, the winner advancing to the Final Four.
Tennessee 84, Kansas 73: At Des Moines, Iowa, Meighan Simmons scored 22 points off the bench and Tennessee rallied to beat 11th-seeded Kansas and advance to its second straight regional final.
Glory Johnson added 18 points for the second-seeded Lady Vols (27-8).
The Lady Vols trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but they cut it to five by the break. Tennessee took the lead for good with a 19-9 run to open the second half, as Simmons had 16 points in the final 20 minutes.
Angel Goodrich had a game-high 23 points and Aishah Sutherland had 19 for Kansas (21-13).