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Duke Outlasts UConn In OT To Reach Final Four

Mar 29, 2006

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Alison Bales and Duke survived the NCAA tournament's toughest stop along the road to the Final Four.

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Bales dominated inside with 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks to lead the top-seeded Blue Devils to their fourth Final Four with a 63-61 overtime win Tuesday night over Connecticut in the Bridgeport Regional final.

The win snapped the Huskies' 29-game NCAA win streak in the state of Connecticut, in the first meeting between the two teams in the NCAA tournament. And Duke did it with it's lowest scoring output of the season.

Duke (30-3) joins North Carolina and Maryland to give the Atlantic Coast Conference three Final Four teams, the first time one league has had three-fourths of the national semifinals.

Barbara Turner led second-seeded UConn (32-5) with 19 points and 12 rebounds but could only watch from the bench in the closing minutes when leg cramps forced her out of the game.

It was Turner that got UConn to the regional final with a fallaway 3-pointer at the buzzer in the semifinal over Georgia on Sunday. She pounded her chair repeatedly as the action unfolded in front of her.

UConn's Mel Thomas sent the game into overtime with a jumper with 20.7 left in regulation to tie it at 55-all.

The teams traded buckets in the first minute of the extra period and then Bales put Duke ahead for good with a pair of free throws. She came right back with a block on a driving Renee Montgomery.

Monique Currie hit all four of her free throws down the stretch to stretch the Blue Devils' lead to 63-58.

Willnett Crockett got the Huskies within a bucket when she converted a three-point play with 45.9 seconds left. The Huskies got the ball back after their defense stymied the Blue Devils into a shot clock violation and had one last chance to at least tie it.

Charde Houston got the ball on the wing for UConn, and with Currie closely defending her drove into the post. Currie slipped and fell and Houston had an open 6-footer that rimmed out. Currie came down with the rebound as time expired.

Crockett and Montgomery finished with 15 points for UConn.

Currie finished with 14 points and nine boards.

Duke missed its first nine shots of the game, while UConn struck quickly. Crockett scored on two straight backdoor cuts, slipping in behind Bales and Williams.

But then the Blue Devils began to flex their inside game. Bales had four blocks over the next six minutes and changed nearly as many shots. While Bales handled the inside, the Blue Devils got back into the game with their outside game.

Currie and Abby Waner hit consecutive 3s to get Duke on a 17-7 run. The Blue Devils led by as many as six down the stretch and had a 31-26 lead at the break.