FIBA Basketball
USA - Terps shock Heels; Blue Devils overwhelm LSU
<FONT class=txt face="">BOSTON (NCAA Women) - Underdogs Maryland mauled the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke swept aside Lousiana State University in Sunday's NCAA Women's Final Four action. Carolina were big favourites to advance to</FONT>
BOSTON (NCAA Women) - Underdogs Maryland mauled the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke swept aside Lousiana State University in Sunday's NCAA Women's Final Four action.
Carolina were big favourites to advance to the championship game but the second-seeded Terps, the youngest team in a star-studded Final Four, got a combined 47 points from sophomores Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper to post an 81-70 victory.
Number one seeded North Carolina lost both of their games against their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals this season.
Despite showing their youth at times and finishing with 26 turnovers, the Terrapins (33-4), normally a solid outside shooting team, dominated the interior behind Harper, Langhorne and freshman Marissa Coleman to gain their first win in three Final Four appearances.
"I tell you, all season long this team has played with a chip on their shoulder and I really felt like they have had to fight for respect every step of the way," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "They got a lot of believers tonight."
Harper was incredibly active throughout, finishing with a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds.
"I felt that Carolina had so many weapons and so do we," she said. "I just wanted to play confidently and have fun out there and that's what I did."
Langhorne made her first seven shots and scored 16 points in the first half as Maryland claimed a 36-34 advantage. A pair of three-pointers by Jessica Sell helped the Tar Heels take a 42-40 lead just after the break, but the Terrapins regained control with a 25-12 run.
Harper had 10 points during the burst and Langhorne added a pair of baskets, both scoring the bulk of their points inside. A 39% three-point shooting team this season, Maryland did not hit their first shot from the arc until freshman Kristi Toliver had one made it 63-52 with 8:11 left.
"I saw some of their faces in the second half," Langhorne said of the Tar Heels' demeanor during those critical minutes. "They were looking a little stressed. I definitely saw it in their eyes. Once we got that 11-point lead I think they were looking a little nervous."
Harper's layup with 7:10 left finished the surge and gave Maryland a 65-54 lead before North Carolina crawled closer.
Alex Miller buried a three-pointer with 3:19 left and Ivory Latta, who overcame an apparent left knee injury in the first half, had a three-point play moments later to pull the Tar Heels within 69-66 with 2:54 to go.
The Terrapins' lead was down to 70-68 after a basket by Erlana Larkins, who led UNC with a career-high 28 points. But junior Shay Doron, the lone Maryland starter not a sophomore or freshman, had a free throw and a pull-up jumper to make it 73-68 with 91 ticks remaining.
"Nobody stepped up on me, they both held their ground," Doron said of her jumper that deflated North Carolina's bench. "I tried that in the first half and had a turnover on the exact same play and I was like, 'I'm not doing that again.' So I just shot it with confidence and it went in. It was a big momentum shot."
Latta made two free throws 25 seconds later but the Tar Heels would not score thereafter and Harper's layup with 39 seconds to go helped seal it.
Maryland finished one of eight from long range but outscored North Carolina in the paint, 50-38. Coleman finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, Toliver had 14 points and Doron chipped in eight.
Toliver had 12 turnovers, including seven in the second half, when she scored nine points.
"When you look at the turnover stats to see that we won the game with 26 turnovers and our leader at the point having 12, that's just because of how aggressive (North Carolina) played," Frese said. "(Toliver) did a tremendous job. The pressure that she faced for 40 minutes bringing up the ball. ... she's such a great player."
Larkins also had 10 boards and five steals and Latta scored 14 points, but needed 17 shots to do so. The Tar Heels were outrebounded, 41-31, and had 17 turnovers.
"You gotta get the rebound, we know that," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "We'll watch the tape, come up with different schemes and try to get them next year."
"I think we just kind of buckled down and said, 'We have to rebound in order to win this game.' So that's what we did," Harper said.
Larkins was resigned to the fact that, despite a fine individual effort, her season ended on a sour note.
"I just think Maryland from the tip of the ball, they wanted it really bad and they showed it out there today and came out with the win," she said.
LSU bedevilled
Duke had no desire to see Seimone Augustus gain that elusive national championship.
A virtual lock to claim her second straight honor as the nation's top player, Augustus was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 14 points as Louisiana State endured a 64-45 loss to Duke in the national semifinals.
Mistie Williams, who handled some of the defensive duties on Augustus, scored 14 points and fellow senior Monique Currie had 13 for Duke (31-3) which advanced to the national championship for the second time in school history.
"We worked so hard throughout the season on our defense because we were so offense-minded in the beginning of the year," Williams said. "As the season went on we knew that defense was going to help us win games toward the end of the season."
Playing in her third straight Final Four, Augustus, who entered leading the nation in scoring at 23.0 points per game, continued her struggles in her team's biggest games.
The senior is a combined 23-of-65 (35%) from the floor in the Lady Tigers' three Final Four games - all losses - and could not get going until it was too late Sunday.
After a disappointing effort, the superstar was able to see the positives of a stellar career.
"It's been amazing, a great ride," Augustus said. "It's unfortunate, we have been here three times and never got past the semis, but it's been a tremendous time here. I did what I felt like I wanted to do for this program - made history and hopefully made my mark."
Augustus took just two shots in the opening 20 minutes as Duke built a 26-15 lead, holding LSU (31-4) to the fewest points in a half in Final Four history.
After missing her first shot of the second half, the 6ft 1in senior had a layup to break her drought and pull the Lady Tigers within 32-20 less than four minutes in.
Augustus added a layup and a three-pointer and RaShonta LeBlanc buried a jumper as LSU sliced their deficit to 37-31 with 12:07 to go.
But Lindsey Harding scored on a layup moments later to spark a 13-1 run that essentially put away the game.
Williams and Currie both had a pair of baskets in the spurt, which Currie finished on a layup with 8:01 left to make it 50-32.
Harding had 10 points and five assists but was most valuable for her play on Augustus.
"Lindsey was really incredible," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, who will serve as an assistant to Team USA boss Anne Donovan at the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil later this year.
"The defense on Seimone was very good. And the defense off Seimone was probably better."
Augustus, who is a lock to be selected first overall in Wednesday's WNBA draft, made three straight jumpers in a span of 68 seconds, the last to make it 54-41 with 4:37 remaining. But the Lady Tigers got no closer.
"For the most part, I stayed in my game," Augustus said. "I let the game come to me. It's unfortunate that I didn't score like I normally score. I'm always mad if we're not running the offense as effectively as we can."
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Carolina were big favourites to advance to the championship game but the second-seeded Terps, the youngest team in a star-studded Final Four, got a combined 47 points from sophomores Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper to post an 81-70 victory.
Number one seeded North Carolina lost both of their games against their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals this season.
Despite showing their youth at times and finishing with 26 turnovers, the Terrapins (33-4), normally a solid outside shooting team, dominated the interior behind Harper, Langhorne and freshman Marissa Coleman to gain their first win in three Final Four appearances.
"I tell you, all season long this team has played with a chip on their shoulder and I really felt like they have had to fight for respect every step of the way," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "They got a lot of believers tonight."
Harper was incredibly active throughout, finishing with a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds.
"I felt that Carolina had so many weapons and so do we," she said. "I just wanted to play confidently and have fun out there and that's what I did."
Langhorne made her first seven shots and scored 16 points in the first half as Maryland claimed a 36-34 advantage. A pair of three-pointers by Jessica Sell helped the Tar Heels take a 42-40 lead just after the break, but the Terrapins regained control with a 25-12 run.
Harper had 10 points during the burst and Langhorne added a pair of baskets, both scoring the bulk of their points inside. A 39% three-point shooting team this season, Maryland did not hit their first shot from the arc until freshman Kristi Toliver had one made it 63-52 with 8:11 left.
"I saw some of their faces in the second half," Langhorne said of the Tar Heels' demeanor during those critical minutes. "They were looking a little stressed. I definitely saw it in their eyes. Once we got that 11-point lead I think they were looking a little nervous."
Harper's layup with 7:10 left finished the surge and gave Maryland a 65-54 lead before North Carolina crawled closer.
Alex Miller buried a three-pointer with 3:19 left and Ivory Latta, who overcame an apparent left knee injury in the first half, had a three-point play moments later to pull the Tar Heels within 69-66 with 2:54 to go.
The Terrapins' lead was down to 70-68 after a basket by Erlana Larkins, who led UNC with a career-high 28 points. But junior Shay Doron, the lone Maryland starter not a sophomore or freshman, had a free throw and a pull-up jumper to make it 73-68 with 91 ticks remaining.
"Nobody stepped up on me, they both held their ground," Doron said of her jumper that deflated North Carolina's bench. "I tried that in the first half and had a turnover on the exact same play and I was like, 'I'm not doing that again.' So I just shot it with confidence and it went in. It was a big momentum shot."
Latta made two free throws 25 seconds later but the Tar Heels would not score thereafter and Harper's layup with 39 seconds to go helped seal it.
Maryland finished one of eight from long range but outscored North Carolina in the paint, 50-38. Coleman finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, Toliver had 14 points and Doron chipped in eight.
Toliver had 12 turnovers, including seven in the second half, when she scored nine points.
"When you look at the turnover stats to see that we won the game with 26 turnovers and our leader at the point having 12, that's just because of how aggressive (North Carolina) played," Frese said. "(Toliver) did a tremendous job. The pressure that she faced for 40 minutes bringing up the ball. ... she's such a great player."
Larkins also had 10 boards and five steals and Latta scored 14 points, but needed 17 shots to do so. The Tar Heels were outrebounded, 41-31, and had 17 turnovers.
"You gotta get the rebound, we know that," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "We'll watch the tape, come up with different schemes and try to get them next year."
"I think we just kind of buckled down and said, 'We have to rebound in order to win this game.' So that's what we did," Harper said.
Larkins was resigned to the fact that, despite a fine individual effort, her season ended on a sour note.
"I just think Maryland from the tip of the ball, they wanted it really bad and they showed it out there today and came out with the win," she said.
LSU bedevilled
Duke had no desire to see Seimone Augustus gain that elusive national championship.
A virtual lock to claim her second straight honor as the nation's top player, Augustus was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 14 points as Louisiana State endured a 64-45 loss to Duke in the national semifinals.
Mistie Williams, who handled some of the defensive duties on Augustus, scored 14 points and fellow senior Monique Currie had 13 for Duke (31-3) which advanced to the national championship for the second time in school history.
"We worked so hard throughout the season on our defense because we were so offense-minded in the beginning of the year," Williams said. "As the season went on we knew that defense was going to help us win games toward the end of the season."
Playing in her third straight Final Four, Augustus, who entered leading the nation in scoring at 23.0 points per game, continued her struggles in her team's biggest games.
The senior is a combined 23-of-65 (35%) from the floor in the Lady Tigers' three Final Four games - all losses - and could not get going until it was too late Sunday.
After a disappointing effort, the superstar was able to see the positives of a stellar career.
"It's been amazing, a great ride," Augustus said. "It's unfortunate, we have been here three times and never got past the semis, but it's been a tremendous time here. I did what I felt like I wanted to do for this program - made history and hopefully made my mark."
Augustus took just two shots in the opening 20 minutes as Duke built a 26-15 lead, holding LSU (31-4) to the fewest points in a half in Final Four history.
After missing her first shot of the second half, the 6ft 1in senior had a layup to break her drought and pull the Lady Tigers within 32-20 less than four minutes in.
Augustus added a layup and a three-pointer and RaShonta LeBlanc buried a jumper as LSU sliced their deficit to 37-31 with 12:07 to go.
But Lindsey Harding scored on a layup moments later to spark a 13-1 run that essentially put away the game.
Williams and Currie both had a pair of baskets in the spurt, which Currie finished on a layup with 8:01 left to make it 50-32.
Harding had 10 points and five assists but was most valuable for her play on Augustus.
"Lindsey was really incredible," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, who will serve as an assistant to Team USA boss Anne Donovan at the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil later this year.
"The defense on Seimone was very good. And the defense off Seimone was probably better."
Augustus, who is a lock to be selected first overall in Wednesday's WNBA draft, made three straight jumpers in a span of 68 seconds, the last to make it 54-41 with 4:37 remaining. But the Lady Tigers got no closer.
"For the most part, I stayed in my game," Augustus said. "I let the game come to me. It's unfortunate that I didn't score like I normally score. I'm always mad if we're not running the offense as effectively as we can."
PA Sport