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Strong scores 21 points, Quiñonez adds 20 and UConn beats Notre Dame, advances to Final Four

By The Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — All-America forward Sarah Strong scored 21 points, Blanca Quiñonez added 20 and defending national champion UConn beat Notre Dame 70-52 on Sunday in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final, sending coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies to their 25th Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The Huskies (38-0), who have won 54 games in a row, clinched the first spot for the Final Four in Phoenix. They will be going for their 13th national championship.

Azzi Fudd, UConn’s other first-team AP All-America pick, added 13 points and four assists.

Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (25-11), plus three more steals to increase her NCAA single-season record to 202 and single NCAA tourney mark to 29. But she also had five turnovers, the first time in her 10 NCAA tourney games with more turnovers than steals.

The ninth NCAA tourney meeting between the Huskies and the Irish was their first with a spot in the Final Four on the line. They had both made it that far the first eight times they met in March Madness, the last in 2019 when Notre Dame won a semifinal game over UConn and then lost to Baylor in the title game.

SACRAMENTO 2 REGIONAL

NO. 1 UCLA 70, NO. 3 DUKE 58

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Lauren Betts had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks to help UCLA rally from a rare halftime deficit and beat Duke, advancing to the women’s Final Four for the second straight season.

The top-seeded Bruins will play either Texas or Michigan in Phoenix on Friday in the national semifinals. UCLA is two wins away from the program’s first NCAA title.

Third-seeded Duke tested UCLA (35-1) like few teams had done this season. The Bruins struggled to get going offensively or contain the Blue Devils (27-9), who reached their second straight Elite Eight on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Ashlon Jackson against LSU in the Sweet 16.

Taina Mair scored 21 points to lead Duke, which also lost in a regional final last year.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Cheryl Reeve steps away from the WNBA grind for a Hall of Fame induction

By The Associated Press
Cheryl Reeve is taking a break from her busy WNBA season to head to Knoxville this weekend and be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She's only the second WNBA coach to enter the Hall of Fame, joining former Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor, who was inducted in 2001. “(I appreciate) the magnitude of this recognition of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the great work that has gone into this institution,” Reeve said. “To walk around and see the history of how much has been done years before I could ever have this opportunity to coach. Grateful to the WNBA because I think there was some consideration given schedule wise.” Reeve will be joined by WNBA greats Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne in this year's class. Parker and Delle Donne also will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. Other inductees include ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke, Kirkwood Community College coach Kim Muhl, Spanish star Amaya Valdemoro, French great Isabelle Fijalkowski and Clemson's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Barbara Kennedy-Dixon.
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