INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Latest on the women's Final Four semifinals with UConn beating Oregon State and Syracuse posting a win over Washington in the second (all times ET)
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Game 2:
10:20 p.m.
Syracuse's 80-59 win over Washington sets up a matchup between two former Big East rivals in the national championship game.
Alexis Petterson had 18 points for the Orange and Brittany Sykes added 17. Brianna Butler added 12 points and broke the NCAA record for 3-pointers in a season with 128.
UConn, which beat Oregon State 80-51 in the first national semifinal, is 37-12 all-time against Syracuse and has won the last 23 meetings between the two teams dating to a 62-59 Orange win at home 20 years ago - on Jan. 2, 1996. The teams last played in March 2013, a 64-51 win for the Huskies in Connecticut.
UConn star Breanna Stewart, the three-time national player of the year, is from North Syracuse and considered going to Syracuse before choosing UConn. The Huskies tried to get a game with the Orange this season as a homecoming for her, but Syracuse said it did not fit into its schedule. UConn played at Colgate instead.
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9:55 p.m.
Syracuse has built a 67-48 lead over Washington going into the fourth quarter of their national semifinal. The margin would be larger if not for a record-breaking performance by the Huskies' Talia Walton. She is 8 for 8 from behind the arc, setting a new Final Four record for 3-pointers. Stanford's Katy Steding (1990 title game) and Louisville's Antonita Slaughter (2013 semifinals) each had 6. Walton has 27 points, six off her career high.
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9:45 p.m.
Washington's Talia Walton has set a Final Four record for 3-pointers. She has hit her first seven shots from behind the arc and has 24 points for the Huskies. The previous record for a national semifinal or final was six. Her teammates have contributed just 17 points and Washington trails 59-41 to Syracuse midway through the third quarter.
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9:25 p.m.
It was an interesting halftime show during the second women's national semifinal. A group called "Break Skates," performed a break-dancing routine on roller skates. The skates appeared to leave a few scratch or scuff marks on the floor near the center of the court.
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9:15 p.m.
Syracuse leads Washington 43-31 at halftime, and Quentin Hillsman was pretty excited with his team's performance over the first 20 minutes. The demonstrative coach, known as "Q," held up three fingers in celebration each of the seven times his team hit a shot from behind the arc. He often ran down the sideline with them as they got back on defense, or sprinted up it as they started a fast break. The Orange led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, before the Huskies made a run. Washington's Talia Walton scored her team's first nine points and had 19 of its 31 at the break.
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8:35 p.m.
Syracuse leads Washington 23-12 after a quarter, thanks to a jumper at the 10-minute buzzer from Cornelia Fondren. Syracuse dominated in the post, outrebounding Washington 14-6 and outscoring them in the paint 10-0. Washington All-American Kelsey Plum was held scoreless until she hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the quarter.
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8:17 p.m.
The officials for the second semifinal are Lee Mattingly, Cynthia Brooks and Kyle Bacon. Bob Scofield is on standby.
How much fun is Syracuse having in Indy? Two starters, Brianna Butler and Brittney Sykes, paused for a moment during pregame warmups so someone could take a picture of them from press row.
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8:05 p.m.
Syracuse takes the floor first after UConn wraps up an 80-51 victory over Oregon State. Now, the Pac-12 hopes rest solely in the hands of the Washington Huskies, the first No. 7 seed to reach the Final Four since Minnesota in 2004.
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Game 1 :
7:45 p.m.
UConn's Morgan Tuck has gone to the bench with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Breanna Stewart also sat down after scoring 14 of her 16 points in the second half to help the Huskies build their lead to over 30 points. Sydney Weise leads Oregon State with 13 points.
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7:40 p.m.
The NCAA honored the silver-medal winning 1976 women's Olympic basketball team between the third and fourth quarters of the national semifinal between Oregon State and UConn.
The United States, which has won five straight Olympic gold medals in women's basketball, wasn't expected to do much 40 years ago in the program's Olympic debut.
With a budget of $500 and a credit card, the team qualified for the Olympics' round-robin tournament in Montreal. To the surprise of many, they managed to win a medal by beating Czechoslovakia in the final game, after trailing at halftime.
But those underdogs included players who would become some of the biggest names in the history of the sport, such as Pat Summitt, Nancy Lieberman and Ann Meyers.
Several members of the team, including Lieberman and Meyers, were at center court and received a rousing ovation.
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7:30 p.m.
UConn announced that freshman Katie Lou Samuelson has a broken bone in her left foot. Oregon State also picked up some bad news in the third quarter when star Jamie Weisner picked up her fourth foul just seven minutes into the second half. UConn leads 64-41 after three quarters.
7:10 p.m.
UConn freshman Katie Lou Samuelson did not start the second half and came out to the bench several minutes into the third quarter with a boot on her left foot. She had seven points and three rebounds in the first half.
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6:55 p.m.
UConn leads Oregon State 47-26 at halftime. The Beavers have nine field goals and 13 turnovers after 20 minutes. UConn has eight steals, including two each Gabby Williams, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Stewart has just two points, but the rest of the Huskies have been picking up the slack. Morgan Tuck has 16 points to lead UConn and is 3 of 7 from behind the arc. Sydney Wiese has eight points and Jamie Weisner has seven to lead Oregon State.
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6:45 p.m.
The good news for Oregon State is that midway through the second quarter UConn star Breanna Stewart has no points and two fouls. The bad news is the Beavers are trailing by double digits. Stewart, who averages 19.3 points, has only taken one shot. She does have three rebounds. Oregon State's Sydney Wiese has eight points for the Ducks.
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6:30 p.m.
Breanna Stewart's early foul trouble didn't seem to hurt the Huskies. Morgan Tuck had 13 early points and UConn leads 26-17 after a quarter. The Huskies hit 10 of their 14 shots in the first 10 minutes. Tuck made five of her eight shots, including two 3-pointers.
Moriah Jefferson had two assists, passing Diana Taurasi to become UConn's all-time assist leader with 649.
The UConn lead could have been larger, but Katie Lou Samuelson picked up a foul at the first-quarter buzzer and Sydney Wiese, who was behind the 3-point line, sank all three foul shots.
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6:20 p.m.
UConn star Breanna Stewart picked up two quick fouls. She won the tip, but Morgan Tuck missed the first shot from the top of the key. Freshman Katie Lou Samuelson got the Huskies on the board first with a drive down the baseline for a layup. Kia Nurse then hit a 3-pointer, before Ruth Hamblin drew a foul on Stewart and got the Beavers on the board from the foul line.
Stewart picked up her second foul fighting through a screen on defense less than a minute later. Geno Auriemma left her in the game.
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6 p.m.
The officials for the first game are referee Brenda Pantoja, Joe Vasizly and Felicia Grinter. The standby official is Bob Scofield.
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5:45 p.m.
UConn freshman Katie Lou Samuelson was on the court warming up for the Huskies a day after she missed practice because she was under the weather.
She was listed in the starting lineup.
The Huskies have won 73 straight games and coach Geno Auriemma is two victories from winning a fourth consecutive national championship and a record 11th in his career, which would move him past UCLA men's coach John Wooden for the most all-time in college basketball.
Oregon State is making its first appearance in the Final Four. Not bad for a program that was in disarray six years ago.