WF4: Notre Dame Denies UConn While Baylor Tops Oregon

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

TAMPA BAY, FLA. – Like old times Connecticut greats Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi were back in the house Friday night here at Amalie Arena but their return could not snap the Huskies out of their recent streak of NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinal misfortunes.

For one, the acclaimed duo now perform their trades in the pro world of the WNBA where Bird is a member of the reigning champion Seattle Storm while Taurasi has won past titles with the Phoenix Mercury.

For two, defending champion Notre Dame has Arike Ogunbowale and a solid core of Irish teammates, enough that the talent on UConn may also have luster but it is far less plentiful.

And so after the Huskies thrilled their fan portion of the near sellout crowd of 20,062 with a 64-55 nine-point lead Friday night within 7 minutes, 52 seconds of advancing to their 12th national title game where they’ve never lost, Ogunbowale lowered the boom again in yet another classic matchup of Philly-bred women’s basketball coaches in the top rivalry of the sport.

However, unlike last year when the Notre Dame senior zipped a long three-pointer in overtime as the regulation clock expired causing the Huskies to relive the exact same nightmare as they were dealt by Mississippi State 12 months previously, UConn seniors Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson had some moments to contemplate the end of their outstanding collegiate careers on to first-round draft status Wednesday night as the Irish emerged with an 81-76 victory and a spot in Sunday night’s championship (ESPN-TV, 6 p.m.) against overall number one seeded Baylor, which advanced in the semifinals opener with a last minute 72-67 victory over Oregon.

Thus instead of Geno Auriemma’s bunch (35-3) having a chance Sunday night to erase their only other regular season setback, this one dealt at the hands of top-ranked Baylor, it will be Muffet McGraw’s defending champs and preseason favorites (35-3) facing the Bears (35-1), blemished by just a loss to Stanford since opening night last November.

The matchup involves two female coaches in the title round for the first time since 2012 when both met with Baylor winning 80-61 in Denver, Colo.

From the impending doom of ending their current one-year reign just short of having the chance to extend it, Ogumbowale led Notre Dame back with a 14-point fourth period to finish with 21 in the half and an overall game-high 23.

The Irish got it done with a 13-4 run for a 68-66 lead and shortly thereafter following Samuelson’s shot for the Huskies’ last advantage at 73-72, Jackie Shephard returned the lead for good at 74-73 in the last minute and Ogunbowale put the lock on the outcome with four foul shots and Brianna Turner, sidelined last season, got three more from the line in a 9-0 run before UConn frosh Christyn Williams scored a meaningless three-pointer as time expired.

 The victory avenged the Irish’s surprising 89-71 upset at the hands of the Huskies to fall from the unbeaten column on Dec. 2.

Auriemma explained it without the deep pain suffered in last year’s defeat brought when the then injured and short-roster Irish became the second  straight lightning strike to befall his heavily favored squad.

“Obviously, we’re incredibly disappointed we didn’t win the game,” he said afterwards.

“But we played a great team. They played really, really, well when they had to.

“They were better than us when the season started and h were better than us tonight. They had more good players play better and contribute more than we did. 

“That’s just the way the world is. They deserved to win, and we didn’t do quite enough to win. That’s it.”

If you want to find the beginning of the third straight failure to add to the record 11-championship collection, trace it to Duke transfer Azure Stevens catching Auriemma by surprise  last April with her decision to forego her final year of eligibility to join the WNBA.

Following Ogunbowale, Jessica Shephard helped the Irish cause with 20 points and 13 rebounds. A year ago she was the key to the Notre Dame season following her transfer from Nebraska and gaining immediate eligibility.

Turner had 15 points and 15 rebounds while Jackie Young scored 10. 

“That was an amazing second half,” McGraw said. “First half, I thought we really struggled to score. The second half we really caught fire. I think we played our normal game in the third quarter.

“I thought Brianna Turner was outstanding on defense. She now has the blocked shot record at Notre Dame, beating Ruth Riley. So proud of her. She really kept us in the game in the first half. She had so many blocked shots.”

Turner blocked five for the game.

There were 26 lead changes and six ties.  

The Irish outrebounded Connecticut 54-37, including 22-11 on the offensive glass to give them an overwhelming 22-9 on second chance points.

Samuelson scored 20 points, Williams had 19, Collier had 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Megan Walker scored 14 points for the Huskies.

   “Arike in the second half, did what Arike does,” McGraw said. “She had some huge screens, made some great plays, and then free throws down the stretch.”

Ogunbowale on the comeback said, “We were scoring but we weren’t giving stops. Once we started getting stops, started getting scores, that’s when we went on a run.”

On the difference from a year ago, McGraw noted, “Well, I think Brianna gives us just a different look. What she can do offensively, she can switch out and guard the point, she can certainly guard the post. She’s a shot blocking presence inside. I think it makes us a little more dominant inside, which we won’t be so dominant against Baylor because they’re equally talented in the post.”

In  the Baylor win in a game with 12 ties and 12 changes in the opener against Oregon (33-5), the Bears trailed by three at 64-61 with 6:12 left before Lauren Cox scored inside and then Kalani Brown gave Baylor the lead following Ruthie Hebard’s steal that came up empty when Sabrina Ionescu, who has yet to decide to go pro since she turns 22 this year, missed a three for the Ducks.

Satou Sabally tied it for Oregon at 67-67 with 1:40 left giving the look that the night could be equally competitive if not quite the same as last year when shots at the finish decided both the Notre Dame outcome and also the Mississippi State win over Louisville in Columbus, Ohio.

Chloe Jackson put the Bears ahead with 41 seconds left in regulation, then Sabally missed inside, denying a chance for another tie, Cox then nailed two from the line with 18 seconds left before Ionescu and Sabally missed three-pointers to get closer with seven seconds left.

Brown finished the scoring in the game with a shot from the line.

The two All-American post players for Baylor combined for 43 points with Brown scoring 22 and Cox getting 21 and 11 rebounds. Didi Richards added 15.

Ionescu, holding the triple double record in the NCAA, had 18 points for Oregon while Sabally scored 16 and Erin Boley scored 14.

Baylor outscored Oregon 48-20 in the paint.

“We tried our best,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “We worked hard. In the end, they made plays and we diudn’t.”

On the Notre Dame win, Auriemma said of dealing with Ogunbowale, “She’s an almost impossible matchup one-on-one, you know. We knew they were going to score X-number of points. We knew we had to make shots and we didn’t.

“I thought we did everything else right, but shots we’ve been making all year long, we didn’t make them. Like I said, that happens at the Final Four. 

“Everything changes, you know. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough. They had so many layups that we can’t get. 

“A bunch of layups we did get, we didn’t make. They’re able to get layups almost anytime they want. We just don’t have the ability to do that.”