Huskies magical run to Final Four ends in national semifinals


Alexis Peterson scored 18 points and Brittney Sykes added 17 to help Syracuse roll past Washington 80-59 and into the program's first women's national championship game.

The Orange (30-7) will face UConn, the three-time defending champions, on Tuesday night in Indianapolis. The Huskies set a semifinal round record with a 29-point victory over Pac-12 champion Oregon State in the early game.

Syracuse made it look almost as easy.

Washington (26-11) was led by Talia Walton, who had 29 points and made a Final Four record eight 3-pointers. The previous record of six was set by Katie Steding in the 1990 title game and matched in 2013 by Antonita Slaughter. Kelsey Plum, the nation's No. 3 scorer, had 17 points.

But Syracuse rode its defense and took a 23-12 lead after one quarter, extended the lead to 39-20 midway through the second quarter and never let the Huskies get within single digits again.

The story line looked awfully familiar.

In their first meeting this season, Syracuse built a 21-point lead before Washington rallied to within one. The Orange held on for a 66-62 victory.

This time, Syracuse never let it get that close.

When Washington cut the halftime deficit to 43-31, Peterson hit a 3 to start a 9-4 spurt that made it 52-35. When the Huskies got within 11, Syracuse used a 15-2 run to make it 67-43. And when Washington closed to 72-59 midway through the fourth quarter, Sykes and Brianna Butler made back-to-back 3s to seal it.

Now the Orange will try to prevent their former Big East foe, UConn, from winning a fourth straight national title and finishing another perfect season.

RECORD NIGHT

The two teams came into the night averaging 16.2 3-pointers. They nearly matched that total in the first half and wound up combining for 23. Syracuse made 12 and broke UConn's 15-year-old record most 3-point attempts in a Final Four game. UConn had 31 in a semifinal game against Notre Dame. Washington finished 11 of 25. Until Sunday, only two teams had ever made 11 in a Final Four game.

TIP-INS

Syracuse: Butler scored 12 points and Cornelia Fondren had 10. ... Butler broke Kelsey Mitchell's NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers made. Mitchell, of Ohio State, had 127 last season. Butler has 128 this season. ... The Orange outrebounded Washington 46-28 and had a 20-9 scoring advantage off of turnovers.

Washington: Plum fell eight points short of breaking Chiney Ogwumike's Pac-12 single-season record (967). ... Chantel Osahor scored only 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting but grabbed 14 rebounds. ... The Huskies had 18 turnovers after being forced into 19 in the first meeting. ... Coach Mike Neighbors spent the final 15 seconds of the game shaking hands with Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman, who are friends.