LSU ladies push past Miami 54-42 to reach Final Four

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Angel Reese had 18 rebounds and LSU returned to the females’s Final Four for the veryfirst time in 15 years by pounding Miami 54-42 on Sunday night, bring a fast increase under second-year coach Kim Mulkey straight to the sport’s mostsignificant phase.

Alexis Morris scored 21 points and Reese included 13 for the third-seeded Tigers (32-2), who asserted control of a grinding, defense-first videogame. LSU’s length triggered Miami issues even with Reese — an Associated Press first-team All-American — having a harsh shooting day, and the Tigers balancedout their offensive missteps by controling the glass.

[Women’s Elite Eight highlights]

LSU shot 30.2% and went 1 for 12 from 3-point variety, consistingof missesouton on its veryfirst 9 efforts. But Miami was even evenworse from 3, missingouton all 15 attempts.

The third-seeded Tigers endedup with a 49-35 rebounding edge behind Reese, which led to a 15-3 edge in second-chance points — all frantically required on a day with offensive rebounds easily offered.

Mulkey is in her 2nd season at LSU, taking a resume with 3 NCAA titles from her time at Baylor along with some flamboyant sideline looks such as her glittering silver coat with white trousers for this one. She had warned that the Tigers were overachieving when they’re still enhancing a program for the long haul.

Maybe so, however they’re ahead of schedule after pressing their method through the NCAA Tournament’s Greenville 2 Region. The Tigers head to Dallas to face Ohio State or Virginia Tech in Friday’s nationwide semifinals. Reese, a Maryland transfer who has led Mulkey’s group all year with her physical play, was called the area’s most impressive gamer.

When the horn sounded, Mulkey turned to her bench and leaned forward to put her hands on her knees as though in shock. Players quickly started running to midcourt to commemorate — otherthan for Morris running straight to the scorer’s table and leaping on top of it.

Reese missedouton her veryfirst 9 shots and didn’t handle her veryfirst basket upuntil early in the 3rd quarter, endingup the day 3 for 15 from the field. But she went 7 of 10 from the free-throw line and contributed 4 helps, 3 takes and 2 obstructs.

Jasmyne Roberts scored 22 points for ninth-seeded Miami (22-13), which hadactually taken a wild trip here. The Hurricanes rallied from a big deficit to beat Oklahoma State in the veryfirst round, shocked No. 1 seed Indiana on the roadway, then beat Villanova in Friday’s Sweet 16 regardlessof blowing a 21-point lead.

The last win set off an psychological on-court event for Katie Meier’s lot, which had played with durability and athleticism to get to its veryfirst Elite Eight. The Hurricanes were attempting to match the record for lowest-seeded group ever to reach a Final Four, set by Arkansas in 1998.

But the Hurricanes hadahardtime from the start offensively, even as their defense kept them hanging around and leaving open chances to make a push.

Outside of Roberts — coming off a career-best 26 points versus Villanova — relatively no Hurricanes gamer might make a shot.

The Hurricanes shot 31.6% and plenty of their missedouton 3-guidelines came off tidy looks. Destiny Harden, who hit the shot to beat Indiana, scored 3 points on 0-for-9 shooting with 7 missedouton 3s.

It was a frustrating conclusion to an unbelievable run for Miami, and the school fell brief of making history twotimes in one day.

The males’s and ladies’s groups were each playing Sunday to reach the program’s veryfirst Final Four. The males pulled it off, whipping Texas in Kansas City, Missouri. That videogame went last throughout the veryfirst quarter of the females’s videogame — drawing cheers when the last play was revealed on the arena scoreboards.

Miami fought, however couldn’t total the double.

Reporting by the Associated Press.