UConn will face Notre Dame in Final Four

is the first Delaware player to be named a first-team all-American. SAQUAN STIMPSON / Associated Press
is the first Delaware player to be named a first-team all-American. SAQUAN STIMPSON / Associated Press (Junior Elena Delle Donne)
Associated Press
Posted: March 28, 2012

Tiffany Hayes scored 22 points and top-seeded Connecticut beat Kentucky, 80-65, on Tuesday night in Kingston, R.I., to advance to the Final Four for the fifth consecutive season.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 18 for UConn (33-4), which will play Notre Dame (34-3) on Sunday in Denver. Coach Muffet McGraw, a St. Joseph's alum, guided the top-seeded Irish to a rout of No. 2 seed Maryland (31-5) on Tuesday night in the Raleigh Regional in North Carolina.

The Huskies matched their own school mark of five straight trips to the national semifinals. Louisiana State and Stanford also have accomplished the feat.

UConn led, 48-47, early in the second half before turning up its defense. The Huskies used a 21-4 spurt to take command. Hayes, the lone senior on the team, was the catalyst, scoring seven points during the run. She was selected most outstanding player of the Kingston Regional.

During UConn's burst, Kentucky (28-7) got two field goals over a span of nine minutes.

Stanford advances. In California, Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike hoisted the regional championship trophy high into the air. Not quite a Mile High. She hopes that's next.

Ogwumike, named the most outstanding player of the Fresno Regional, will end her sensational senior season right where she has the rest: in the Final Four. In Denver this time.

Ogwumike made it happen on both ends of the floor with 29 points and nine rebounds Monday night despite constant double-teams, sending top-seeded Stanford (35-1) past No. 2 seed Duke, 81-69, for the Cardinal's fifth consecutive Final Four berth. Duke finished 27-6.

Next for the Cardinal: Brittney Griner and unbeaten Baylor (38-0).

All-American Delle Donne. Delaware's Elena Delle Donne was named Tuesday to the Associated Press all-American first team.

Delle Donne joined another junior sensation, Baylor's Brittney Griner, who was a unanimous selection.

Other first-team choices were Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, and Maryland's Alyssa Thomas.

Penn State's Maggie Lucas, a Germantown Academy graduate, earned honorable mention.

The 6-foot-5 Delle Donne led the nation in scoring averaging 28.1 points. She helped the Blue Hens go undefeated in the Colonial Athletic Association, win the conference tournament for the first time, and earn their first top-25 ranking. The Blue Hens also got their first NCAA tournament victory.

Now she is the school's initial first-team all-American.

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