UCONN Ladies Advance to Final Four for Thirteenth Year in a Row
Who ever said 13 is an unlucky number? With a win over Baylor last night, the UConn Husky Ladies advanced to their 13th consecutive Final Four appearance.
Sometimes it don't come easy, and that was the case last night for top seeded UConn as they had to overcome a 10 point deficit between the third and fourth quarters to earn the right to advance to the Final Four in this year's ladies NCAA Tournament.
UConn went on a 19-0 run after they trailed by 10 to turn things totally around and give them a 9 point lead. The game still went down to the final buzzer as second seeded Baylor controlled the basketball and looked to win it with just seconds remaining, however when Baylor guard DiJonai drove to the hoop she was met by not one, but two UConn Huskies who deflected what could have been a buzzer beater, and even though the replay showed some contact, no foul was called.
Even head coach Gino Auriemma had his doubts, especially when the Huskies were down by 10, according to newstimes.com, here's what he told his team, and what he had to say about the comeback:
I basically said, If this is how it’s going to be, then let’s just go home and say we tried. Or let’s get out and play, show some toughness. I don’t think they wanted to go home, I think they’d rather keep playing basketball, so that’s what happened. We went on that 19-0 run and to Baylor’s credit they came right back. … They could have easily gotten down 15, just like we could’ve easily gone down 15. But they’re a great team and they came back like we knew they would.
Auriemma also commented about the non-foul call that could have sent Baylor to the line with a chance to win.
I hadn’t seen the replay, but don't feel a need to apologize for the non-call. We probably fouled a number of times during the game and we didn’t get called for it. They probably fouled a number of times during the game and didn’t get called for it. Or we got … free throws because of non-fouls. I mean, you could go back and forth, the whole thing. The bottom line is the officials did what they’re going to do. And if they would have said it was a foul, I would be on the other end going, you can’t make that call.
With the 69-67 win, the UConn ladies will take on 3rd seeded Arizona on Friday in the Final Four semifinals.