SAN ANTONIO — Ali Patberg scored 17 points and Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham added 16 to help fourth-seeded Indiana beat No. 1 seed North Carolina State 73-70 on Saturday night, sending the Hoosiers to the regional final of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

Indiana (21-5) had been to the Sweet 16 just once before, back in 1983 before it became a 64-team field.

“It means so much for us to be able to do what we did tonight and we are continuing to build our own tradition,” said Indiana Coach Teri Moren said. “The tradition was always on the men’s side and we wanted to build our own. People talk about Indiana basketball and we didn’t want it to be exclusive just to the men’s side.”

Patberg, who is from Columbus, Indiana, was emotional after the game.

“This is a dream to play for Indiana. I grew up right down the road, I’m a Hoosier and this means the world to me,” said Patberg, who transferred to the school from Notre Dame in 2017. “My team, our program, it’s a blessing and dream come true to be here on this stage with my teammates and coaches.”

Indiana led 70-60 with 2:51 left before N.C. State scored eight straight points shortly after Holmes fouled out. The Wolfpack (22-3) had a chance to tie it, but star Elissa Cunane missed a contested layup with 30 seconds left.

Nicole Cardano-Hillary then made two free throws with 21.1 seconds left. Before that, Indiana was 6 for 13 on free throws.

Raina Perez made a jumper in the lane to get N.C. State back within two with 13.5 seconds left. Patberg then hit one of two free throws, and Cunane missed badly on a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer, setting off a wild celebration by the Hoosiers at midcourt.

Indiana, which will face Arizona on Monday night in the Mercado Region final, trailed 33-28 late in the first half before scoring the final six points of the second quarter. The Hoosiers carried the momentum into the third quarter, opening a 45-35 lead. Indiana hit seven of its first eight shots in the quarter.

Jada Boyd scored 18 points for N.C. State, and Raina Perez had 17.

(3) ARIZONA 74, (2) TEXAS A&M 59: Aari McDonald scored 31 points to send Arizona (19-5) to the regional final for the first time in program history.

McDonald did it on both ends of the court. The Pac-12’s defensive player of the year shut down Aggies guard Jordan Nixon, whose late-game heroics had pulled Texas A&M through the first two rounds. Nixon finished with three points after scoring 35 in the second round.

McDonald, who went into the game averaging 19.6 points, scored 19 by halftime in carrying Arizona to a 35-32 lead. The Wildcats stretched the lead to 13 by the end of the third quarter.

Aaliyah Wilson scored 17 points to lead Texas A&M (25-3).

RIVER WALK REGION

(1) UCONN 92, (5) IOWA 72: Christyn Williams scored 27 points and Paige Bueckers added 18 as No. 1 UConn (27-1) advanced to the final in the River Walk region.

The game featured a matchup of two extremely talented freshmen in Bueckers and Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark. The friends had taken the women’s basketball world by storm this season.

Bueckers became the third freshman to earn All-America honors. Clark led the nation in scoring and came into the regional semifinals averaging 29 points in the tournament.

They didn’t disappoint.

Bueckers also had nine rebounds and eight assists for UConn. She had a lot more help from her teammates as Evina Westbrook just missed the 18th triple-double in NCAA women’s tournament history, with 17 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. Aliyyah Edwards added 18 points.

Clark, shadowed on defense Williams on almost every possession, finished with 21 points – below her nearly 27-point a game average. She was just 7 for 21 from the field.

The game marked the return of UConn Coach Geno Auriemma, who missed the opening two rounds because he was recovering from the coronavirus. Auriemma arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday.

Chris Dailey, the associated head coach who guided the team through the opening two wins, moved back to her customary seat at Auriemma’s side, where she’s been for their entire time at UConn.

Williams missed five of her first seven shots before getting going on offense. She made six straight, including six in a row in the second quarter, to give UConn a 49-35 halftime lead. The junior wing had 14 points in the period.

“I started off a little rough, but I just kept shooting and they started falling,” Williams said.

Iowa (20-10), behind Clark, was able to get within nine twice in the fourth quarter but Bueckers answered with a 3-pointer each time and Iowa could get no closer.

UConn, which reached its 27th straight Sweet 16, faces Baylor on Monday night in the River Walk regional final.

For the first time in the tournament, the general public was allowed to attend. Each game was allowed to have 17% of capacity which was around 4,800 fans. In the previous two rounds, teams were given six tickets per person in the travel party.

(2) BAYLOR 78, (6) MICHIGAN 75: NaLyssa Smith scored 24 points on a perfect shooting game and Queen Egbo made two big plays in the final seconds of overtime, helping the Bears (28-2) beat the Wolverines (16-6) in San Antonio.

Egbo gave Baylor a 78-75 lead with a foul shot with 19 seconds left. After Leigha Brown scored for Michigan, Egbo picked up an assist on Moon Ursin’s wide-open layup.

Smith was 11 for 11 from the floor. Ursin finished with 20 points, and Dijonai Carrington scored six of her 19 in overtime.

Brown scored 23 points for Michigan, which had never before advanced this far in the tournament.

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