WVU women advance to NIT finals
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Meg Bulger had 31 points and 11 rebounds and West Virginia extended its longest postseason run ever, holding off Kentucky 80-75 in double overtime in the semifinals of the Women’s NIT on Monday night. West Virginia (21-12) was scoreless for more than 111/2 minutes in the second half and squandered a 20-point lead, before rallying and outscoring Kentucky 14-9 in the second overtime.
Sarah Elliott finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Wildcats, who matched their season high with 23 turnovers and completed their longest postseason run.
West Virginia shot 11-for-23 from 3-point range. Sherrel Sowho led the way, going 5-for-7 and scoring 21 points. Bulger shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range.
Kentucky hit just 3 of 17 shots from beyond the arc, including 2-of-10 by Sara Potts.
Bulger, the leading scorer in the Big East, had eight points in the second overtime and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final 26.8 seconds.
The Mountaineers will play either Iowa or Southwest Missouri State for the WNIT title on Thursday.
West Virginia led 49-29 with 16:43 left, but didn’t score again until 5:09 remained. After Sowho’s 3-pointer put the Mountaineers ahead by 20 points, West Virginia had just three baskets and nine points in the final minutes of regulation.
Kentucky took its first lead at 53-52 with 2:27 left. West Virginia regained the lead before Potts made a 6-footer with 7.8 seconds left to tie the game.
After a West Virginia turnover, Kentucky freshman Samantha Mahoney missed a well-guarded 3-pointer at the buzzer.
After scoring 32 and 31 points in Kentucky’s two previous games, Potts finished with 29. Entering the WNIT, the senior guard’s career high was 30 points.
The teams traded the lead in the first overtime. West Virginia went just 4-of-8 from the line. Potts made two free throws with 15.9 seconds left to tie the game at 66-all, and Yolanda Paige missed at the buzzer for West Virginia.
Kentucky didn’t score for the first three minutes of the second overtime. Bulger scored with 1:53 left to give West Virginia a 72-66 lead, and the Mountaineers shot 6-for-8 from the line to help seal the win.
Baylor 72, North Carolina 63
EMPE, Ariz. – The Lady Bears are headed to the Final Four, a feel-good story for a Texas school usually on the sidelines when titles are passed around.
Sophia Young, whose mother came from the West Indies to see her daughter play for the first time, scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and No. 2 seed Baylor beat top-seeded North Carolina.
Young was named MVP of the Tempe Regional.
The Lady Bears (31-3) extended their school-record winning streak to 18 games, leading by as many as 19 points in the second half against the Tar Heels (30-4), who had won 17 straight going into the game.
LSU 59, Duke 49
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Finally met with a challenge in the NCAA tournament, LSU was up to the task.
The top-seeded Lady Tigers are going to a second straight Final Four after beating second-seeded Duke in the Chattanooga Regional final.
LSU was down early but tied it at halftime, went ahead in the opening minutes and never trailed again.
The Lady Tigers (33-2) will face second-seeded Baylor in the national semifinals on Sunday in Indianapolis.
All-American Seimone Augustus finished with 22 points and Sylvia Fowles added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
LSU beat its first three opponents in the tournament by an average of 36 points, but the competition was much tougher on Monday.
The Blue Devils (31-5) had a good game plan to go inside and take advantage of their bigger posts, and it worked early. Duke was ahead by as many as 12 in the first half, putting the Lady Tigers in their biggest deficit of the season.