BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — When UConn’s Dorka Juhasz went down midway through the second quarter of the Bridgeport Regional championship game against North Carolina State, crumpled against the basket standard and crying, the energy left the building and the UConn crowd was silent.
The injury clearly shook up the Huskies, but they were able to hang on against a tough, experienced North Carolina State team that refused to go away and forced two overtimes.
Led by Paige Bueckers’ 27 points and 21 from Christyn Williams, UConn advanced to its 14th straight Final Four with a 91-87 double overtime victory over top-seeded NC State Monday night at Total Mortgage Arena.
The Huskies (29-5) will play Stanford Friday night in the national semifinal game at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Azzi Fudd added 19 points for the second-seeded Huskies.
Williams hit a shot with 5 seconds left in the second overtime to give UConn the final lead, and NC State’s last shot missed.
The score was tied at 61 after regulation and 77-77 after the first OT.
Bueckers, who was named the regional MVP, had 15 points in the overtimes.
Jakia Brown-Turner led NC State with 20 points, and Elissa Cunane added 18.
UConn took the lead when Bueckers hit a 3 to open the second OT and never gave it up.
Fudd had a nice pass to Aaliyah Edwards under the basket with 43 seconds left in the first overtime to give UConn a 73-70 lead. Jones hit a shot with 29 seconds left to cut the lead to one. Fudd then hit two free throws to extend the Huskies’ lead to 75-72.
Edwards fouled Kai Crutchfield on the 3-point line with 21.5 seconds left, and she hit two of three free throws to cut the lead to 75-74.
But Bueckers got fouled with 6.2 seconds left and hit both free throws to boost the lead to 77-74. NC State answered with a 3-pointer by Brown-Turner with 8/10ths of a second left to send the game into the second OT.
With 21 seconds left in the second overtime, UConn broke the press and Williams hit a driving layup to give the Huskies an 89-85 lead. The Wolfpack answered with a shot by Brown-Turner to cut the lead to 89-87 with 10.1 seconds left.
A shot clock violation by UConn and two missed free throws by Olivia Nelson-Ododa in the last minute and a half kept the score tied at 61. Crutchfield missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the game headed into overtime.
Like she did in the regional semifinal, Williams got off to a hot start, scoring nine points in the first quarter. UConn defense made a stop on NC State’s final shot attempt by Diamond Johnson and the Huskies led 16-14 after one quarter.
Nelson-Ododa picked up her second foul with 9:39 left in the second quarter and Juhasz came in off the bench. She hit her first shot a little over a minute later and Nika Muhl, who started the second in place of Bueckers, followed that up with a putback. When Evina Westbrook drove into the lane and hit a shot to give the Huskies a 25-16 lead, NC State coach Wes Moore called a timeout.
But the energy left the building when Juhasz went down hard under the basket with 6:19 left in the second quarter. Her teammates rushed to her and tried to help her up, but she couldn’t, clutching her left arm and crying. The arena was still. Juhasz finally was helped off the court, and the air seemed to go out of the Huskies.
Edwards missed two subsequent free throws. Jada Boyd hit two and NC State crept back, trailing 25-20.
Fudd brought a little of the energy back, driving to the basket for a layup with 5:18 left in the half and then hitting a 3-pointer to boost UConn’s lead to 30-20.
But UConn seemed aware that its post game — an important factor in the game against NC State’s 6-foot-5 center and leading scorer Elissa Cunane — had been diminished with Nelson-Ododa in foul trouble and Juhasz injured. The Wolfpack led in rebounding at halftime (20-18) by a slight margin — however, UConn had a 20-10 advantage in points in the paint and had a 7-0 advantage in second-chance points to keep the Huskies on top.
In the third quarter, both Edwards and Nelson-Ododa picked up their third fouls. North Carolina State cut the lead to 34-33 on a three-point play by Cunane with 8:29 left in the quarter. But Bueckers hit consecutive jumpers to boost the Huskies’ lead back to 38-33.
A steal by Westbrook and a fast break, resulting in a Fudd reverse layup, gave UConn a 40-35 lead and when Bueckers hit a jumper with 3:08 left, the crowd surged and UConn seemed to have regained some of its energy back.
But NC State closed out the quarter with a jumper by Boyd and a 3-pointer by Johnson with 30 seconds left to trim UConn’s lead to 44-43.
And the Wolfpack kept up the pressure in the fourth. Boyd went by Edwards to hit a shot to open the quarter and give NC State a 45-44 lead. A dagger 3-pointer by Johnson put NC State up 50-46 with 8:16 left and UConn coach Geno Auriemma called a timeout.
UConn fought back with Williams hitting a 3-pointer and a jumper to give UConn a 53-52 lead. Brown-Turner hit two free throws to wrestle the lead back. Boyd missed the first free throw but hit one to give the Wolfpack a 55-53 lead with 5:19 left.
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