SEATTLE -- Caitlin Clark felt it was all happening a little too quick and on the stage of playing in a regional semifinal, Iowa’s star needed to slow down for a change.
“I felt like I was playing a little frantic. I felt like I was rushed on offense,” Clark said.
In this case, slowing down led to a big second half from Clark and the Hawkeyes.
Clark scored 31 points, 18 coming in the second half, and No. 2 seed Iowa shook disappointments the past two seasons and reached the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament with an 87-77 win against Colorado in the Seattle 4 Regional semifinals Friday night.
After two straight tournaments where Clark’s season ended in the round of 16 and the round of 32, the Hawkeyes will play for a chance at just the second Final Four berth in school history on Sunday.
“Anytime you get to play basketball for this long, it’s really special. None of us want this to end,” Iowa’s Monika Czinano said.
Clark was the catalyst for Iowa’s big second half, and the first-team All-American finished 11-of-22 shooting with four 3-pointers and eight assists. It was her 11th game this season scoring at least 30 points.
Iowa (29-6) will face No. 5 seed Louisville in the regional final on Sunday. It’s the fifth Elite Eight appearance for the Hawkeyes, but their only Final Four appearance came in 1993.
Frida Formann led Colorado (25-9) with 21 points, but 19 of those came in the first half when her shooting carried the Buffaloes. But Formann was shut down in the second half and fouled out with 6:37 remaining.
Louisville 72, Mississippi 62
SEATTLE -- Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points to help fifth-seeded Louisville beat No. 8 seed Mississippi 72-62 on Friday night and advance to the final of the Seattle 4 Region.
The Cardinals (26-11) will face second-seed Iowa on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.
It’s the fifth consecutive year Louisville reached at least the Elite Eight. Expectations were high for the Cardinals under coach Jeff Walz to start the season as the team was ranked seventh in the Associated Press’ preseason Top 25 poll. With many new players, the Cardinals lost four out of six games in late November and early December.
Walz wasn’t concerned. The team started to get more comfortable on the court and made a run to the finals of the ACC Tournament, where they lost to Virginia Tech.
On Friday, the Cardinals were met with a stiff challenge from upstart Mississippi.
The Rebels (25-9) hadn’t advanced this far since 2007, when the team made its fifth Elite Eight in program history. They were looking to become only the second No. 8 seed to reach a regional final, joining Southwest Missouri State, which did it in 1992.
GREENVILLE 2 REGION
LSU 66, Utah 63
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Alexis Morris hit two foul shots with 10 seconds to play Friday night as No. 3 seed LSU reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008, beating second-seeded Utah 66-63.
Down 64-63, the Utes had a chance to back in front, but Jenna Johnson -- a near 75 percent foul shooter -- missed both attempts with 4.7 seconds to go. Utah’s Dasia Young had her hands on the rebound, but LSU’s Sa’Maya Smith took it away.
Morris added two more foul shots for a three-point lead. The Utes had a final chance, but Young’s 3-point try from the left corner hit the side of the backboard as time expired.
LaDazDazhia Williams scored a season-high 24 points and Angel Reese had her 30th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds for LSU (31-2). Morris finished with 15 points.
Coach Kim Mulkey’s team will face ninth-seeded Miami on Sunday night for a spot in the Final Four. LSU hadn’t advance this far since reaching the Final Four 15 years ago. This is Mulkey’s second season coaching the Tigers.
Williams, a fifth-year grad transfer who played at South Carolina and Missouri, was dominant down low as she made 11-of-14 shots and finished a point shy of her career best.
Gianna Kneepkens led Utah (27-5) with 20 points. Alissa Pili, a second-team AP All-American, had 14 points, but took just eight shots as LSU denied her the ball.
Miami (Fla.) 70, Villanova 65
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points -- including a stickback for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 seconds left -- to help Miami (Fla.) overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday for the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) hung on down the stretch after Villanova made its push back in the game behind the latest big-scoring effort from All-American Maddy Siegrist.
When it was over, longtime coach Katie Meier turned and started jumping to hug her staff, while players and cheerleaders sprinted to midcourt to celebrate. Meier soon made her way to the sideline near a vocal set of Hurricanes fans and gave two thumbs-up amid the cheering, while Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace with teammate Ja’Leah Williams.
Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992.
Siegrist, the nation’s scoring leader, had 31 points and 13 rebounds for fourth-seeded Villanova (30-7).