TOLEDO, Ohio - After a first half that fell short of Notre Dame’s lofty standards, Coach Muffet McGraw told her team to settle down.
“We talked about trying to be a little more in control, and gave them a little different offense to run - that we thought might help that,” McGraw said. “In transition, we kept going through the middle of the floor where all the traffic was. We were just careless.”
It was a sloppier victory than McGraw would have liked, but the top-seeded Fighting Irish did pull away convincingly in the second half for an 84-67 victory over ninth-seeded Arizona State on Monday night. Natalie Achonwa had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Notre Dame advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 12th time in the last 18 years.
The Irish (34-0) are now two victory from their fourth consecutive Final Four - and they’re heading back home. The regional semifinals and final will be played at Notre Dame.
“Our fans, family and friends do so much for us,” Achonwa said. “To be able to go back and play in front of them, I know as a senior it means a lot to me.”
Notre Dame will face Purdue or Oklahoma State in the Sweet 16.
The Irish have won their past 15 games by double digits, although the Sun Devils (23-10) kept this one close until about midway through the second half. Deja Mann scored 16 points for Arizona State.
Notre Dame led 32-26 at halftime before scoring the first six points of the second. Led by the 6-foot-3 Achonwa, the Irish outscored Arizona State 46-34 in the paint.
Kayla McBride had 22 points and nine assists for Notre Dame.
The Sun Devils committed two early shot clock violations and fell behind 8-2, but Arizona State was able to avoid an early blowout. A three-pointer by Mann started an 8-0 run that gave the Sun Devils a 15-12 lead and forced Notre Dame to take a timeout.
Arizona State beat Vanderbilt in the first round despite foul trouble and turnovers, and the Sun Devils put Notre Dame on the line a lot as well. They also committed 14 turnovers in the first half, but they forced 12 by the Irish to keep the game competitive.
Notre Dame’s six-point lead at halftime equaled its largest of the game to that point.
In the second half, Notre Dame shot 53 percent from the field to leave Arizona State behind. The Irish were whistled for seven fouls in the first 4:02 after halftime, putting the Sun Devils in the bonus early, but Arizona State still couldn’t keep up.
Jewell Loyd’s layup in transition made it 55-39, and when McBride added a three-pointer from the left wing, it was 73-48.
Loyd finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Achonwa shot 8 of 10 from the field and fell a point short of her career high, set Jan. 12 at Virginia.
KENTUCKY 64, SYRACUSE 59
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bria Goss scored 17 points and third-seeded Kentucky held off No. 6 seed Syracuse.
Goss went 11 of 12 from the foul line as the Wildcats (26-8) ground out a victory two days after beating Wright State by 46 points. Syracuse’s physical play and its 2-3 zone defense had a lot to do with disrupting Kentucky’s rhythm and scoring opportunities in a 36-percent shooting performance.
The Wildcats offset those struggles with scrappy defense that forced the Orange into 23 turnovers and held them to 33 percent shooting, culminating with a victory that earned Kentucky a berth in the round of 16 of the Notre Dame Regional.
Syracuse couldn’t follow up its first NCAA Tournament victory, struggling to score after losing guard Brittney Sykes to a right knee injury on Saturday. Brianna Butler had 15 points for the Orange.
BAYLOR 76, CALIFORNIA 56
WACO, Texas - Odyssey Sims scored 27 points in her final home game and Baylor advanced to its sixth consecutive NCAA Sweet 16, taking over in the second half for a victory over California.
Sims punctuated a game-clinching 13-2 run with a long three-pointer with 4½ minutes left. Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey could only smile even though she appeared to be calling for a different play from the sideline. Sims scored 11 points in that spurt of about 5 minutes that pushed Baylor (31-4) ahead 66-52.
Afure Jemerig be had 17 points and Brittany Boyd 15 for Cal (22-10), a Final Four team last season.
Baylor, the No. 2 seed in the Notre Dame Regional, has a rematch with Kentucky (26-8) on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
OKLAHOMA ST. 73, PURDUE 66
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Brittney Martin had 20 points and 20 rebounds to lead Oklahoma State past Purdue and into the Sweet 16.
The Cowgirls (25-8) won their second consecutive, ending a 15-game stretch in which they had alternated victories and losses.
It’s the first time since 2008 and the third time Oklahoma State has ever reached the regional semifinals. The Cowgirls will face top-seeded Notre Dame on Saturday.
And it came on a night the fifth-seeded Cowgirls lost star point guard Tiffany Bias for nearly 10 minutes in the second half with what appeared to be a left leg or foot injury.
urdue (22-9) was led by Whitney Bays with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
After Bias left, Purdue closed to 52-46, but the Cowgirls regained control with a 9-4 run and never let Purdue get close.
Sports, Pages 20 on 03/25/2014