The Guru’s March Madness Daily Report: Second Half Thrusts Send 1-Seeds UConn and UCLA to Final Four; Texas Meets Michigan and South Carolina Meets TCU Monday Night for Other Two Spots in Phoenix

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

UConn and UCLA, the nation’s top two women’s teams, used strong second half finishes Sunday afternoon to punch their tickets to the Women’s Final Four this weekend in Phoenix while the other two slots will be determined Monday night when Texas meets Michigan and South Carolina plays TCU.

Notre Dame (25-11), which as the sixth seed led by South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo of Merchantville in suburban Philadelphia knocked out three-seed Ohio State in Columbus last weekend and two-seed Vanderbilt in Friday’s Sweet 16 opener of Fort Worth (Texas) Region 1 in Dickies Arena to reach the unbeaten Huskies (38-0), stayed on the defending NCAA champions’ heels into midway through the third quarter when UConn began gaining separation from a familiar rival and on to a 70-52 victory.

Part of the thunder from advancing to the Huskies’ 25th appearance at the tournament’s final rounds as Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma picked up his 1,288th victory, was stolen from their male counterparts a few hours later when freshman Braylon Mullins sank a desperation 3-pointer with 0.4 remaining to complete a comeback from a 19-point deficit and edge top-seeded Duke 73-72 to return to the men’s finals for the third time in the last four seasons.

The Duke (27-9) women also suffered a blown lead after Friday’s last second game-winner downed two-seed LSU in Golden 1 Center to send the Blue Devils back to the Elite Eight against the Bruins, only to have a halftime advantage on UCLA (35-1) evaporate in the third period sending coach Cori Close’s squad to a 70-58 victory in Sacramento (Calif.) Region 2 and a return to the Final Four, which they achieved last year for the first time in the NCAA era that began in 1981-82.

Led by Ann Meyers-Drysdale, UCLA won the the national title under the AIAW in 1978, the first year that organization went to a Final Four format.

UCLA’s only loss was way back near the beginning of the season to Texas, the last time the Bruins, who have won 29 straight including a sweep of the Big Ten, trailed at the half.

Senior center Lauren Betts had 23 points, 10 boards, and five blocks for UCLA.

“I was pretty mad, didn’t like how that first half happened,” Betts said. “I could have been a lot more effective. A game like this you got to take care yourself out of your head. This is the Elite Eight and my senior season is on the line, so got to wake up a little bit.”

Taina Mair scored 21 for Duke, which is guided by former Tennessee star Kara Lawson, also in charge of the USA women through the current Olympic cycle.

The Bruins, who were down eight at the half, in the third bolted from a 45-41 deficit in the third on a 10-2 run going in front 47-45 on a 3-pointer from Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens.

“They’re a really good team,” Mair said. They’re super experienced.

“When they came out, we just didn’t have a response to it. So credit to them for going into the locker room and making the correct changes to be able to win the game. But they played a great second half.”

Back in Texas, Auriemma, the winningest combined men’s and women’s coach in the NCAA, who wore a cowboy hat and did a short dance on the court after the win, said this group is the proudest he’s been over taking all those superstar teams to the Final Four.

“This group, they don’t have that kind of swagger, trash-talking kind of mentality,” he said. “It’s not the kind of team that I’ve had in the past that has gone this far undefeated. It’s not. They don’t have that kind of mentality off the court, on the court. They are just a bunch of really nice kids that play hard for each other.”

Sarah Strong had 21 points in the Huskies’ 54th straight victory while freshman Blanca Quinonez scored 20 off the bench, and Azzi Fudd had 13 points, four assists, and three steals.

“He’s usually all serious or like anxious, grumpy,” Strong said. “Just seeing him let loose and be his true self was really good.”

“He doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean,” Fudd said. “He doesn’t give out compliments too often, depending on who you are. So, to hear him say that, it does mean a lot, and we feel the same way. We love this team so much.”

Hidalgo had 22 points, 11 boards, and her three steals in the ninth NCAA tournament meeting between the Irish and the Huskies extended her season record to 202 and single tourney mark to 29.

“They’re very, very physical,” said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, who also played for the Irish against the Huskies under Hall of Famer and Saint Joseph’s grad Muffet McGraw. “They try to take away every option that you have. They are very disciplined. They play well together, and they just play hard.”

The Final Four will be set after Monday’s ESPN doubleheader, Texas (34-3) meets Michigan (28-6) in Fort Worth Region 3 at 7 p.m., the winner meeting UCLA in one of Friday’s national semifinals, while three-seed TCU (32-5) at 9 p.m. meets one seed South Carolina (34-3), the winner meeting UConn.

Should that semifinal be Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks and UConn, it would be the rematch of last season’s lopsided win by the Huskies in the championship in Tampa, Florida.

The Other Two Tourneys

The title game in the three-year old WBIT, also run by the NCAA, will be set Monday afternoon after a doubleheader on ESPNU in Wichita, Kansas, while later the Fantastic Four of the long running WNIT will be set following three games at separate sites.

The Ivy League nearly had two teams still alive in the WBIT field, but Harvard fell 64-61 at Wisconsin in overtime.

Columbia (23-8), however, won 74-68 at California (21-15) as Perri Page scored 24 points, Ivy player of the year Riley Weiss collected 22 points and Mia Broom scored 17 sending the Lions into Monday’s 2:30 p.m. contest against Wisconsin (16-17) at the Charles Koch Arena.

Several years ago in 2023, Columbia, prior to the WBIT, in a larger field advanced to the WNIT title game.

 In the other game at 5 p.m., BYU (25-11), the only No. 1 seed to advanced this far, will face Kansas (22-13), pitting two Big 12 teams against each other.

On Sunday, in one of Great Eight games in the WNIT, South Dakota (26-9) at home in Vermillion won 65-56 over Montana State (27-8) as Molly Joyce scored 31 points.

On Monday, the three other NIT games will air on ESPN+.

AT 6 p.m., Saint Joseph’s former standout and assistant coach Katie Kuester will guide Army (26-7) in Huntingdon, W.Va. against host Marshall (25-9), the furthest a Patriot League team has advanced in the WNIT.

At 7:30 p.m., George Washington (18-17) is at Illinois State (22-13) at Normal, while at 8 p.m., Cleveland State (26-9) is at Arkansas State (26-9) in Jonesboro.