GREENVILLE, S.C. — The horn sounded and Miami Coach Katie Meier turned to start jumping and hugging her staff as players and cheerleaders sprinted past for a meet-at-midcourt celebration. She soon made her way into the crowd to embrace players hollering with delight.

Soon she emerged through the other side to trade hugs and high-fives with a front-row section of Hurricanes fans.

An improbable and emotional ride to the program’s first Elite Eight appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament was worth sharing with as many people as she could.

“I can’t believe it,” Meier said afterward. “I’m not going to act cool. This is awesome.”

Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points – including a stick-back for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 seconds left – to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday, pulling the program to within a win of the Final Four.

Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title against third-seeded LSU.

The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) looked dominant in building a huge lead, wobbly in blowing it. But they hung on down the stretch after Villanova made its push back behind the latest big-scoring effort from Associated Press first-team All-American Maddy Siegrist.

“I can’t even explain the feeling really,” guard Haley Cavinder said.

The celebration said plenty. While Meier made her way to the fans, Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace with teammate Ja’Leah Williams. The sophomore guard picked a perfect time to come through with a huge performance by making 10 of 16 shots and all six of her free throws while pulling down nine rebounds.

“Cool Hand Luke is her new nickname. She doesn’t even know that movie,” Meier said, referencing the Paul Newman movie released more than three decades before Roberts’ birth.

Siegrist, the nation’s scoring leader, had 31 points, 13 rebounds and five steals for fourth-seeded Villanova (30-7). It marked her third 30-point outing in as many tournament games, pushing her to the No. 2 single-season scoring total in Division I history.

Yet it wasn’t enough down the stretch, with Siegrist coming up empty in a couple of key moments late. The first came when she posted up Destiny Harden inside, but a quality look on a turnaround hit the backboard before coming off the rim with her team down just 67-65.

Moments later, after a Miami free throw, Siegrist missed from the other side of the lane as Villanova had a chance to extend the game. Instead, Miami secured the rebound, and Roberts hit clinching free throws with 11.1 seconds left for a two-possession lead.

LSU 66, UTAH 63: Alexis Morris hit two foul shots with 10 seconds to play as the Tigers (31-12) reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008, beating second-seeded the Utes (27-5) in Greenville, South Carolina.

Down 64-63, the Utes had a chance to back in front, but Jenna Johnson – a near 75% foul shooter – missed both attempts with 4.7 seconds to go. Utah’s Dasia Young had her hands on the rebound, but LSU’s Sa’Maya Smith took it away.

Morris added two more foul shots for a three-point lead. The Utes had a final chance, but Young’s 3-point try from the left corner hit the side of the backboard as time expired.

LaDazhia Williams scored a season-high 24 points and Angel Reese had her 30th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds for LSU. Morris finished with 15 points.

Coach Kim Mulkey’s team will face ninth-seeded Miami on Sunday night for a spot in the Final Four. The Hurricanes overcame fourth-seeded Villanova and the nation’s leading scorer Maddy Siegrist 70-65 earlier at the Greenville 2 Regional.

LSU hadn’t advance this far since reaching the Final Four 15 years ago. This is Mulkey’s second season coaching the Tigers.

Williams, a fifth-year grad transfer who played at South Carolina and Missouri, was dominant down low as she made 11 of 14 shots and finished a point shy of her career best.

Gianna Kneepkens led Utah with 20 points. Alissa Pili, a second-team AP All-American, had 14 points, but took just eight shots as LSU denied her the ball.

The Tigers came out fast as Reese and Morris helped build a 13-6 lead.

But Utah, the Pac 12 regular-season champions, were on its own mission to win three games in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. The Utes put together a 19-5 run behind the outside shooting of Kennady McQueen and Kneepkens.

Kneepkens’ jumper with five minutes left pushed Utah’s lead to 25-18 with LSU starters Kateri Poole and Reese on the bench with two fouls apiece.

Reese, Poole and fellow LSU starter Flau’jae Johnson fouled out in the final minutes.

IOWA 87, COLORADO 77: Caitlin Clark scored 31 points and the Hawkeyes (29-6) shook disappointments the past two seasons and reached the Elite Eight with a win over the Buffalos (25-9) in the Seattle 4 Regional semifinals in Seattle.

After two straight tournaments where Clark’s season ended in the round of 16 and the round of 32, the Hawkeyes will play for a chance at just the second Final Four berth in school history on Sunday.

Clark was the catalyst for Iowa’s big second half, and the first-team All-American finished 11 of 22 shooting with four 3-pointers and eight assists. It was her 11th game this season scoring at least 30 points.

But she had plenty of help, especially after Clark sat a chunk of the first half after picking up two fouls. She had 13 points at the break.

Monika Czinano added 15 points, including a key basket in the paint with 1:10 remaining. Kate Martin scored 16 and McKenna Warnock scored 10. Iowa shot 54% for the game and 59% in the second half.

Iowa will face either No. 5 seed Louisville or No. 8 seed Mississippi in the regional final on Sunday. It’s the fifth Elite Eight appearance for the Hawkeyes, but their only Final Four appearance came in 1993.

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