• Muffet McGraw checked through the list of all the things Notre Dame did poorly early on. Bad shot selection. Lack of rebounding. Not enough stops on defense.
“We got down big. We’ve been down in other games. We feel like we are poised and can come back,” McGraw said.
The top-seeded Fighting Irish did have a comeback waiting and it landed Notre Dame back on the cusp of another trip to the Final Four.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half and Marina Mabrey added 25, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers, to help Notre Dame beat No. 4 seed Texas A&M, 90-84, on Saturday in the Spokane Regional semifinals.
The Irish (32-3) rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit. It took a fantastic shooting performance from Mabrey and some key contributions late from Ogunbowale and Jackie Young for Notre Dame to hold off Chennedy Carter and the Aggies. Young had three key baskets in the final five minutes and finished with 15 points. Mabrey was 7 of 11 on 3-pointers and the Irish made 10 of 18 shots from behind the arc.
• Napheesa Collier had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help top-seed UConn beat Duke, 72-59, in Albany, N.Y., and advance to the regional finals for the 13th consecutive season.
The Huskies’ senior duo of Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse was key on the defensive end to help UConn to the win.
“We’re fortunate that our two seniors are two of the better defensive players in the country,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “We can count on those two every game. Gabby’s going to play great every game. She plays at a certain level every game. Kia’s one of the toughest competitors we’ve had at Connecticut.”
UConn (35-0) will face defending national champion South Carolina on Monday night to try and advance to a record 11th straight Final Four.
• A’ja Wilson, the consensus first pick in the next WNBA draft, had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Alexis Jennings added 20 points, and South Carolina held off upstart Buffalo, 79-63.
“I just feel like my energy really helps my teammates,” the 6-foot-5 Wilson said. “That’s the biggest thing. That’s my goal, whether it’s screaming at one or just screaming at everyone. That’s just how I operate. I really try to use that on every possession.
“We have to let each other know that everything’s going to be OK.”
Wilson’s three-point play gave the Gamecocks a 60-52 lead before Cierra Dillard’s driving layup off the glass with 6:38 left cut the deficit again. But Buffalo missed three straight shots and a fast-break layup by Doniyah Cliney gave South Carolina a 10-point lead with just over five minutes to go.
• Ruthy Hebard had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Sabrina Ionescu just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and second-seeded Oregon beat No. 11 seed Central Michigan, 83-69, in Spokane, Wash.
Lexi Bando added 14 points for Oregon (33-4), which earned a second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight with its 12th win in a row.
The Ducks will play top-seeded Notre Dame in the regional final on Monday.
Tinara Moore had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Central Michigan (30-5), which won its first two NCAA Tournament games in program history this year. Presley Hudson added 15 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
Oregon led, 24-12, after a first quarter in which the Ducks shot 55 percent while holding Central Michigan to 29 percent.