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Stanford tops Arizona 54-53 to win women s NCAA Tournament
Eric Gay/AP
Stanford guard Lexie Hull (12) grabs a rebound over Arizona guard Aari McDonald (2) during the second half of the championship game in the women s Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 4, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
and last updated 2021-04-04 20:45:47-04
SAN ANTONIO (AP) â Stanford topped Arizona 54-53 to win the women s NCAA Tournament, giving coach Tara VanDerveer her first title since 1992.
Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford beat Arizona, giving the Cardinal their first national championship in 29 years.
It wasnât a masterpiece by any stretch with both teams struggling to score and missing easy layups and shots, but Stanford did just enough to pull off the win surviving a miss by Aari McDonald that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
Stanford (31-2) built a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter before Arizona (21-6) cut it to 51-50 on star guard Aari McDonald s 3-pointer.
After a timeout, Jones answered with a three-point play with 2:24 left. That would be Stanford s last basket of the game. McDonald got the Wildcats with 54-53 with 36.6 seconds left converting three of four free throws.
Stanford Cardinal players celebrate with the trophy after their win over the Arizona Wildcats in the championship game of the NCAA Women s Basketball Tournament at Alamodome on April 4, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images I just owe it all to my teammates, they have confidence in me when I don t have confidence in myself, said Jones, who was honored as the tournament s Most Outstanding Player. I saw they needed me to come up big and I did.
Gonzaga Plays For The National Championship Tonight
Gonzaga University Basketball is knocking on the door of history tonight. Tonight the Bulldogs hope to accomplish what has only been done 7 times before and the last one was 45 years ago and that s to win the Men s NCAA National Basketball Championship with an undefeated record.
NCAA.Com has a great article about those team which have accomplished the feat since 1939. It s worth the read to be reminded of ultimate winner Bill Russel at San Francisco, of how North Carolina had a triple overtime game in the semi-finals and then a second triple overtime time to defeat Wilt Chamberlin s Kansas in the finals, the great Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton teams at UCLA and the Indian Hoosiers in 1976.