Friday was a huge upset for #1 Ladies UConn fans as the team lost to #3 Arizona by 10 points.
From the very first possession on Friday night, Arizona’s national semifinal game against Connecticut was an exercise in slow, grind-it-out basketball, with a lot of missed shots and long, labored possessions. It was exactly what Arizona wanted.
The Wildcats immediately established their strategy: suffocating defense with the steals to show for it, energetic rebounding and lots of 3-point shots. They pestered the No. 1 seed Huskies possession after possession, racking up a few more fouls than was optimal but ultimately throttling their heavily favored opponent from start to finish to secure a 69-59 victory and their first trip to the N.C.A.A. women’s basketball title game. [..]
The Wildcats had a 32-22 lead at halftime, having held Connecticut to its lowest-scoring half of the season.
The Huskies appeared to be within spitting distance for much of the second half without really sparking a significant comeback. Most of its efforts were led by junior Christyn Williams, who had 12 points in the first half and finished with 20 to lead the Huskies. But Arizona never really let up, and Williams fouled out with less than five minutes to play.
Tonight Arizona, making its first trip to the Championship game, will face #1 Stanford who has not seen a title since 1992.
For the first time, two teams from the Pac-12 will fight for the national title in the N.C.A.A. women’s tournament final as top-seeded Stanford faces Arizona, a No. 3 seed. [..]
Only six prior N.C.A.A. women’s title games have featured teams within the same conference: Three were between Southeastern Conference teams, two were within the Big East and one was in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Stanford made it into the final by the skin of its teeth, defeating South Carolina, 66-65, then watched Arizona reach its first national-title game in program history.
These are the winners and the scores for the Final Four:
| Time | Network | Seed | School | Record | Region | Score | Seed | School | Record | Score | Region |
| 6:00 | ESPN | 1 | S. Carolina | 22 – 4 | Hemisfair | 65 | 1 | Stanford* | 25 – 2 | 66 | Alamo |
| 9:57 | ESPN | 3 | Arizona* | 16 – 5 | Mercado | 69 | 1 | UConn | 24 – 1 | 59 | River Walk |
These two teams will play for the Championship:
| Time | Network | Seed | School | Record | Region | Score | Seed | School | Record | Score | Region |
| 6:00 | ESPN | 3 | Arizona | 16 – 5 | Mercado | 53 | 1 | Stanford* | 25 – 2 | 54 | Alamo |
TMC for ek hornbeck