LSU faces Virginia Tech in first semifinal

March 31, 2023 admin

After which there have been 4.

No. 1 South Carolina, No. 1 Virginia Tech, No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 LSU are the groups nonetheless dancing within the girls’s NCAA Match and the Last 4 area can be reduce in half Friday.

The defending champion Gamecocks wish to stay undefeated in their third-straight journey to the Last 4. South Carolina’s protection has been stout, led by Aliyah Boston, however it will likely be examined by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who recorded the primary 40-point triple-double in NCAA Match historical past throughout the Hawkeyes’ Elite Eight win over Louisville.

All eyes are on the South Carolina-Iowa matchup, however first up, No. 1 Virginia Tech will battle it out with No. 3 LSU on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN).

Comply with alongside for dwell updates all through the day:

Comply with the insanity: Latest Women’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules

Hokies’ Georgia Amoore units NCAA single-tournament report

Regardless of going 0-5 to begin the sport, Amoore rebounded to knock down a trio of threes to set a brand new NCAA Match report. She has hit 23 three-pointers all through March Insanity, probably the most made threes in a single event. Amoore surpassed UConn’s Kia Nurse, who hit 22 threes in 2017, and Arizona’s Aari McDonald, who hit the identical in 2021.

Half: No. 1 Virginia Tech 34, No. 3 LSU 32

Virginia Tech closed the primary half on an 11-0 run to take a two-point lead, their first of the sport. Hokies middle Elizabeth Kitley has stepped up on each ends of the ground after Taylor Soule acquired in foul toruble. Kitley is 2 rebounds away from a double-double (12 factors, eight rebounds). Georgia Amoore has six factors from two made threes, tying the NCAA report for made three-pointers in a single event.

The Tigers had been held scoreless within the final 4:48 of the half. Alexis Morris led the Tigers with 12 factors, and Angel Reese added 10 factors, however LSU was outrebounded 25-14 by the Hokies.

1Q: No. 3 LSU 16, No. 1 Virginia Tech 13

Virginia Tech acquired off to a sluggish begin, taking pictures 25% from the sphere and 1-for-9 from three. Georgia Amoore missed her first 5 shot makes an attempt earlier than pulling down the Hokies’ sole three pointer of the quarter. Regardless of lacking photographs and 7 turnovers, Virginia Tech was capable of keep near LSU because of 9 offensive rebounds within the quarter. Taylor Soule headed to the bench early with two first-quarter fouls.

Alexis Morris led the Tigers with eight factors. LSU shot 43.8% from the sphere and didn’t try any three pointers.

LSU cheerleaders rescue ball caught behind backboard

Cheerleaders to the rescue!

The sport ball acquired caught behind the backboard within the opening seconds of the Last 4 matchup between No. 1 seed Virginia Tech and No. 3 seed LSU following a turnover from the HokiesCayla King. Two LSU cheerleaders carried out a stunt to free the ball for play to renew at American Airways Middle.

“What had been the chances of that occuring within the first 33 seconds within the nationwide semifinal,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo stated over the printed.

Virginia Tech and LSU face off in first nationwide semifinal

The No. 1 seeded Virginia Tech Hokies have tipped off towards the No. 3 seeded LSU Tigers as every search their first nationwide championship.

Each groups characteristic a potent guard-post combo. LSU sophomore ahead Angel Reese (23.2 ppg, 15.7 rpg) has been a double-double machine, main the nation with 32 this season, however Virginia Tech senior middle Elizabeth Kitley averages a double-double as effectively with 18.2 factors per recreation and 10.7 rebounds.

Out on the perimeter, Virginia Tech guard Georgia Amoore has had a breakout season; the junior is averaging 16.3 ppg, 5.0 apg and three.0 rpg for the Hokies. LSU has its personal star guard in Alexis Morris. The senior is averaging 14.9 ppg, 4.1 apg and 1.9 spg for the Tigers.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey goes ‘Fairly in Pink’ for Last 4

DALLAS – On the Last 4 stage, you realize Kim Mulkey’s outfit was going to pop.

And it definitely pops.

For LSU girls’s basketball’s Last 4 showdown towards Virginia Tech inside American Airways Middle on Friday night time (6 p.m., ESPN), Mulkey determined to go together with a vibrant pink jacket accented by giant, pink material flowers working from the shoulders right down to the wrists on each arms.

She’s carrying a white shirt and pants beneath her jacket, together with white heels. Mulkey is matching along with her granddaughter, who walked into the world hand-in-hand with Mulkey carrying a white costume with pink frills on the shoulders.

— Cory Diaz, Lafayette Every day Advertiser

Kenny Brooks, in his seventh yr at Virginia Tech, is a part of elite firm. His No. 1 seeded Hokies beat Ohio State 84-74 on Monday to clinch their ticket to the Last 4, a primary for this system based mostly in Blacksburg, Virginia. They play third-seeded LSU within the first nationwide semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

The significance of the moment is not lost on Brooks, the one Black male head coach within the Energy 5. (When Houston strikes to the Massive 12 in July, Ronald Hughey will develop into the second.)

“Clearly it’s a subject I don’t draw back from,” Brooks stated. “I do know that after I was making an attempt (to) make a reputation for myself, there wasn’t very many individuals that had been doing it or advocated for those who appeared like me.”

— Lindsay Schnell

Did Clark actually simply hit that shot, thread that move or end that layup in transition?

Sure, she did and he or she does — often. And it’s simply as spectacular as you possibly can think about. Possibly extra so.

Clark has become one of the sport’s biggest stars and strolling spotlight reel due to her how-did-she-see-that?! passes and limitless taking pictures vary. However for as proficient and awe-inspiring as Clark herself is, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder deserves some credit score too. As a result of she lets Clark be precisely who she is.

— Lindsay Schnell

The nationwide semifinal between Iowa and South Carolina is being billed as “Aliyah vs. Caitlin,” and with good reason. Aliyah Boston, the South Carolina ahead, and Caitlin Clark, the Iowa guard, have been the most effective gamers in school basketball the final two seasons, spawning superlatives and earning national accolades.

Seeing them play one another is on each fan’s want listing, making Friday night time’s recreation arguably probably the most anticipated of the Last 4 – males’s or girls’s.

— Nancy Armour

Followers of ladies’s basketball have been clamoring the final two years for the Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark showdown, and people who simply tuned in throughout March Insanity have now joined the refrain. Properly, the plenty are lastly getting what they need.

“Everyone has been speaking about this matchup for a very very long time. It is thrilling that it is occurring within the Last 4,” Boston stated Thursday.

— Nancy Armour

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wins Wade Trophy, AP girls’s basketball POY awards

The Iowa girls’s basketball star won the Wade Trophy, the best honor in girls’s school basketball, on Thursday, the identical award Aliyah Boston gained final season.

Clark is the primary Hawkeyes participant to ever win the award, which is offered by the Ladies’s Basketball Coaches Affiliation. Earlier within the day, she was tapped as The Related Press girls’s basketball Participant of the Yr. She acquired 20 of a doable 28 votes within the tally that was taken previous to the beginning of the NCAA Match.

She’s raking within the awards. On Wednesday, Clark was named the Naismith Participant of the Yr. Will a nationwide championship be subsequent?

– Victoria Hernandez

When does Ladies’s NCAA Match Last 4 begin?

The primary of two Last 4 video games will tip off Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET when No. 3 LSU takes on No. 1 Virginia Tech on the American Airways Middle in Dallas, which is additionally the location of the championship recreation.

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