OKLAHOMA CITY — From the opening tip of the season, there was only one question in women’s college basketball: How do you stop Brittney Griner?
Louisville found the answer Sunday night, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
Considered a lock for the Final Four — and prohibitive favorites to win a second straight championship — Griner and her Lady Bears got bounced 82-81 by fifth-seeded Louisville in an NCAA regional semifinal.
“I’m just sad,” Griner said. “I didn’t do what I needed to do to get my team to the Elite Eight and just disappointment in myself.”
Baylor (34-2) had won 32 straight games and 74 of 75 behind Griner, among the greatest players ever in her sport. But the 6-foot-8 star didn’t make a basket until the second half, then committed a foul with 2.6 seconds left that gave Louisville a chance to win.
Monique Reid made those two foul shots, rescuing the Cardinals (27-8) after they squandered a 17-point lead in the last 7 1/2 minutes.
The win made it quite a day for the school — hours earlier, the men’s team from Louisville beat Duke 85-63 to reach the Final Four. Reid and the Cardinals will play Tennessee in the regional final on Tuesday for a berth in the Final Four.
TENNESSEE 74,
OKLAHOMA 59
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kamiko Williams scored 15 points, Cierre Burdick had 13, and second-seeded Tennessee routed Oklahoma in the regional semifinals of the NCAA women’s tournament.
The Lady Vols (27-7) opened a 20-point lead in the first half and never let Oklahoma make a comeback, improving to 26-5 in regional semifinals.
Tennessee will face No. 5 seed Louisville on Tuesday night in the round of eight.
The Lady Vols have lost in the regional finals the past two seasons and haven’t made it to the Final Four since winning the national title in 2008.
Tennessee also went through an Oklahoma City regional on its way to the championship that season, with Candace Parker leading the way.
Sharane Campbell scored 22 points, and Joanna McFarland had 14 for No. 6 seed Oklahoma (24-11).
NORFOLK REGIONAL
NOTRE DAME 93,
KANSAS 63
NORFOLK, Va. — Skylar Diggins scored 22 of her 27 points by halftime and became the school’s career scoring leader, helping the top-seeded Fighting Irish to a victory against Kansas in the semifinals of the Norfolk Regional.
And Diggins made it look easy, adding nine assists and three steals, and scoring nine straight during a 16-2 first-half run that put the Irish (34-1) ahead to stay.
The victory was the 29th in a row for Notre Dame and left the Irish one victory shy of a third consecutive trip to the Final Four. They have lost in the title game each of the past two years.
Carolyn Davis led Kansas (20-14) with 25 points.
DUKE 53,
NEBRASKA 45
NORFOLK, Va. — Tricia Liston scored 17 points and Duke shook off a slow start to beat Nebraska in the semifinals of the Norfolk Regional of the women’s NCAA tournament.
Alexis Jones added 14 points for the Blue Devils (33-2), who also struggled last weekend at home. They advanced to Tuesday night’s game against top-seeded Notre Dame with a berth in the Final Four on the line.
The Cornhuskers (25-9), in the round of 16 for just the second time in school history, struggled from the field.
