One thing she did know: Nnemkadi Ogwumike would do all in her power to get Stanford to Denver.
Ogwumike and Co. would like nothing more than to haul a championship trophy home from the Mile High City.
She made it happen on both ends of the floor with 29 points and nine rebounds Monday night despite constant double-teams, sending top-seeded Stanford past No. 2 seed Duke 81-69 in the Fresno Regional final for the Cardinal’s fifth straight Final Four berth.
“I’m really proud of our team. If you asked me in the beginning of the season is this a Final Four team, I don’t know if I could answer yes,” VanDerveer said. “Nneka, she has put our team on her back almost all year. If it hasn’t been Nneka it’s been Chiney.”
Little sister, Chiney, did plenty to seal this one, too — along with everybody else. Chiney Ogwumike grabbed 17 rebounds to go with 12 points and freshman Amber Orrange came through with 13 points and four assists as the Cardinal extended their school-record winning streak to 32 games.
Bring on Brittney Griner and unbeaten Baylor (38-0). Stanford is likely to pull in 6-foot-5 male practice player Andrew Klein to play the part of the 6-8 Griner in practice as the Cardinal did last year while preparing for a possible matchup with Baylor.
Stanford (35-1), looking for the program’s first national title since 1992, will play Sunday night against the Lady Bears at the Pepsi Center.
Chelsea Gray had 23 points, four rebounds and four assists and Shay Selby scored 11 in her final college game for Duke ( 27-6), which fell short of reaching the program’s first Final Four since 2006. The Blue Devils never got clicking on offense the way they had in their three NCAA wins.
The projected No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, Nneka Ogwumike scored in the paint, on the perimeter, on leaping putbacks and even by knocking down a pretty 10- foot turnaround jumper late in the first half as the Cardinal built a comfortable 40-25 lead at the break.
“It was unfortunate for us. We tried to defend the inside and the outside. They hit some nice shots,” Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
Joslyn Tinkle knocked down two 3-pointers in the opening five minutes and also made an early steal, then hit another 3 with 4:26 left that put Stanford ahead by 13. She finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
On Saturday, Nneka Ogwumike almost single-handedly carried the load, scoring 39 points in a 76- 60 regional semifinal win over South Carolina. Her total Monday gave Ogwumike 787 points, tying Candice Wiggins’ single-season scoring record set in 2007- 08 — so Ogwumike will surely top that mark with at least one more game.
Gray, with another 50 or so family and friends cheering the guard who grew up about 75 miles north in Stockton, converted a three-point play with 10:46 remaining to pull Duke within 52- 44, but the Cardinal answered yet again. ToniKokenisrolledina3on the other end.
Elizabeth Williams, Duke’s star 6- 3 freshman playing with a stress fracture in her lower right leg, quickly scored to make it 48-39. She scored 12 points while playing much of the game in foul trouble.
Des Moines Regional
Baylor 77, Tennessee 58
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Top- seeded Baylor rolled through the Des Moines regional with such ease that the only stress the Bears had to endure was a late-game scuffle with Tennessee that saw Brittney Griner ejected.
Baylor can breathe easy knowing Griner won’t be suspended for the Final Four.
The Lady Vols have much more to worry about in the weeks ahead.
Brittney Griner had 23 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks before being bounced with less than a minute left for leaving the bench and Baylor pounded Tennessee 77-58 Monday night to advance to the Final Four.
Should Baylor win it all, it’ll become the first men’s or women’s team in NCAA history to finish a year with 40 wins. The powerhouse Bears are the heavy favorites to do just that, having dispatched of Georgia Tech and Tennessee by an average of 17 points.
Jubilation was the last thing on the minds of Tennessee (27-9), whose seniors became its first four-year Lady Vols class not to reach a Final Four.
But that was just a side note considering that their legendary coach Pat Summitt has yet to say if she’ll return for a 39th season. She announced in August she’d been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.
Baylor held Tennessee to just 30.3 percent shooting from the floor. Much of that was because of the inside presence of the 6-foot-8 Griner, who was just one block shy of her fifth career triple-double.
A rather ugly game for a purist’s perspective got even uglier in the final 46.8 seconds.
Baylor’s Odyssey Sims, who led the Bears with 27 points, tumbled to the floor, and she and Tennessee’s Shekinna Stricklen had to be separated and were each assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.
No punches were thrown, but Griner and teammates Terran Condrey and Jordan Madden were ejected for leaving the bench. The NCAA says none of the players will be suspended for the Final Four.
Baylor led 35-20 at halftime despite a poor start shooting from Griner.
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