LAS VEGAS — The Utes twice had trouble inbounding the ball in the final eight seconds. One pass went off a BYU player’s hands out of bounds and the other was tipped by a Cougars defender and into the hands of freshman Michelle Plouffe, who was not the intended target.
No matter. Her 15-footer at the buzzer gave fifth-seeded Utah (17-16) a 50-49 victory over the top-seeded Cougars (23-8) in the semifinals Friday.
Plouffe grabbed Janita Badon’s bounced inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds left and sank the shot that completed a rally from nine points down.
“I would first like to thank Plouffe for saving me,” Badon said. “I just threw it in because I saw Michelle stood there and then I think it was (Kristen) Riley who tipped it and the ball went rolling to Plouffe. I was like, ‘Yeah, I meant to do that. I’ll take the credit.’ “
TCU 61, New Mexico 40
Helena Sverrisdottir scored 25 points and the Horned Frogs (22-9) never trailed after the opening minutes.
Men
San Diego St. 74, UNLV 72
The Aztecs, led by Kawhi Leonard’s 18 points, defeated the Runnin’ Rebels to advance to the MWC title game.
