Fresno, Calif. – Sylvia Fowles climbed up the ladder and made the final cut before waving the net in celebration.
Her team in turmoil coming into the NCAA Tournament, Fowles has LSU right back where the Lady Tigers expected to be before their coach’s sudden resignation: a fourth consecutive Final Four appearance.
Fowles overpowered Connecticut with 23 points, 15 rebounds and an intimidating defensive performance that led third-seeded LSU to a 73-50 victory over the top-seeded Huskies on Monday night in the Fresno Regional final.
“Every time I go to sleep I dream about cutting down the net and having it around my neck,” Fowles said. “Tonight, that all came true.”
The Lady Tigers (30-7) handed Connecticut its most lopsided NCAA Tournament loss in 15 years and made the Huskies (32-4) look nothing like the program that dominated college basketball just a few years ago.
It’s been an emotional month for the LSU players, who had to deal with the aftermath of coach Pokey Chatman’s resignation March 7 amid allegations of improper conduct with a former player.
“I don’t think a lot of people thought that we would be where we’re going to be,” acting coach Bob Starkey said. “We handled the adversity.”
LSU will play Rutgers on Sunday, looking to advance to the championship game after falling short in the semifinals the previous three years. LSU joins UConn, Tennessee and Louisiana Tech as the only schools to make four straight Final Fours.
“This is more special,” Fowles said. “It’s more special because our team really came together. We’re playing our best basketball and we feel good about ourselves.”
Fowles blocked six shots, altered many others, had three steals, deflected passes and forced the Huskies into bad shots and turnovers.
The two players Fowles guarded most often – Tina Charles and Kaili McLaren – each went 0-for-5 from the field. UConn shot just 33 percent overall.
“I had a little swagger under my belt tonight,” Fowles said. “I wanted to prove a point that we can hang with anybody.”
Fowles also got help with some outside shooting from Allison Hightower and Ashley Thomas. Hightower hit three 3-pointers in the first half and Thomas hit two in the second after the Huskies cut LSU’s lead to 12. The Lady Tigers led by at least 10 points for the final 26 minutes.
RUTGERS 64, ARIZONA ST. 45 at Greensboro, N.C.: The fourth- seeded Scarlet Knights are headed to their second Final Four, using a dominating performance from center Kia Vaughn and inspired play from the rest of the roster to beat the third-seeded Sun Devils in the Greensboro Regional final.
“It was sort of like a dream where we just felt … as long as we stuck to our game plan – and that’s to continue to believe in ourselves – then we can continue to get it done,” forward Essence Carson said. “This entire run through the NCAA Tournament has been sort of unreal, but at the same time we understand that all the hard work we put in put us there.”
Vaughn had 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks while owning the lane. Matee Ajavon had 20 points, Carson added 11 and Epiphanny Prince had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (26-8), who led by 24 and held a 48-26 rebounding advantage in winning their seventh straight.
Rutgers used tough defense to take command, holding Arizona State (31-5) to one field goal during the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half.
“They put up a fight. They put up a good one,” Vaughn said “… They didn’t let me get anything easy. I worked hard.”
