They came here wanting to enjoy the experience of their first trip to the Final Four. Embrace the spotlight, soak it all up, the Huskies said in the weeklong buildup to Sunday’s national semifinal game against Syracuse.
There was, in the end, little to like about the last game of Washington’s magical march in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. The fourth-seeded Orange used its frenetic pace and relentless full-court pressure to blitz the No. 7 seed Huskies en route to an 80-59 victory Sunday night.
Syracuse (30-7), also playing in the Final Four for the first time, advances to Tuesday’s championship game against top-ranked Connecticut, which defeated Oregon State 80-51 in Sunday’s first semifinal.
The Orange, who defeated the University at Albany in the first round of the tournament, lead by as many as 24 in the historic victory over the Huskies. Syracuse’s win marks the first 30-win season in program history and gives the 2016 senior class 99 wins for their career.
Senior guard Brianna Butler hit a milestone of her own, setting the NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers with 128 on the season. She sank four of Syracuse’s Final Four-record 12 long balls on the night, finishing with 12 points in the win. Briana Day set the program record for rebounds in an NCAA tournament game with 15 in the win.
As she has in every NCAA Tournament game thus far, Alexis Peterson led the team with 18 points and six assists, with Brittney Sykes adding 17.
Junior forward Isabella Slim dropped in a triple for the first points of the game, before Sykes got hot and notched seven points in the first eight minutes of play. Senior guard Cornelia Fondren knocked down a jumper as the clock ticked out in the first, sending the Orange into the second quarter with a strong 23-12 lead.
Fondren finished the night in double figures as well with 10 points, adding seven rebounds.
The Huskies closed out the best season in program history, finishing with a 26-11 record.
UW senior Talia Walton had one of the best games of her career, hitting her first eight 3-point attempts — a Final Four record — and finishing with 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting.
It just so happens that that coincided with one of the most frustrating games of Kelsey Plum’s career.
Plum, UW’s junior point guard, was never able to get comfortable against Syracuse’s hounding full-court pressure. She was held to 17 points, nine below her season average, on 5-for-18 shooting with six turnovers and three assists.
The Orange sent two defenders at Plum nearly every time she crossed halfcourt, and sometimes even before she got to halfcourt, and midway through the second quarter, she had more turnovers (four) than points (three).
About that point, the Orange had doubled-up the Huskies, leading 36-18.
Syracuse led by as many as 19 in the first half, and 43-31 at halftime. The Orange hit seven of 18 3-pointers against UW’s 2-3 zone in the first half and outrebounded UW 24-14.
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