Connecticut women in the Final Four for an eighth straight season
Connecticut forward Breanna Stewart shoots over Dayton forward Ally Malott. Stewart scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to help send the Huskies back to the Final Four.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Geno Auriemma and his Connecticut Huskies are back in a familiar place — the Final Four.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 27 points to help Connecticut beat Dayton, 91-70, on Monday night to advance to the national semifinals for an eighth straight season.
Now the Huskies stand two wins away from a third straight national championship. They accomplished that same feat from 2002 to 2004.
Unlike the first three games of the tournament, when Connecticut won by an average of nearly 48 points, the Huskies got all they could handle from the seventh-seeded Flyers, who weren’t intimidated by the top seed, for the game’s first 20 minutes.
“When we’re challenged, sometimes that’s when we’re at our best, and that’s what we talked about in the locker room, and I couldn’t be prouder of them and happier for them ... especially tonight against a great, great team,” Auriemma said. “Boy, I’m glad we don’t have to play them again.”
Trailing at the half for the first time in two seasons, Connecticut scored the first nine points of the second half during a 15-3 run to take a 58-47 lead with 13:56 left.
A little more than a minute later, Mosqueda-Lewis hit her fifth three-pointer of the game, giving her 393 in her career to break the NCAA record for threes. That made it 62-49.
Dayton (28-7) couldn’t get within seven the rest of the way thanks in a big part to Mosqueda-Lewis, who finished the game with seven three-pointers.
“It eases my mind a lot,” Mosqueda-Lewis said of getting the record. “Now I only have one thing to worry about — a national championship.”
The Huskies also turned up their defensive pressure. The Flyers shot 51% (18 for 35) in the first half, but could only manage to hit 37% in the second half.
Breanna Stewart added 23 points and 16 rebounds, while Morgan Tuck had 23 points for the Huskies (36-1). Stewart was selected as the most outstanding player of the region.
Connecticut will play Maryland in the national semifinals Sunday night.
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