Sylvia Fowles climbed up the ladder and made the final cut before waving the net in celebration.
Her team in turmoil coming into the NCAA tournament, Fowles has LSU right back where the Lady Tigers expected to be before their coach’s sudden resignation: a fourth straight Final Four appearance.
Fowles overpowered Connecticut with 23 points, 15 rebounds and an intimidating defensive performance that led third-seeded LSU to a 73-50 victory over the top-seeded Huskies on Monday night in the Fresno Regional final.
The Lady Tigers (30-7) did much more than that, handing Connecticut its most lopsided tournament loss in 15 years and making the Huskies (32-4) look nothing like the program that dominated college basketball just a few years ago.
It’s been an emotional month for the LSU players, who had to deal with the aftermath of coach Pokey Chatman’s resignation March 7 amid allegations of improper conduct with a former player.
Bob Starkey, a longtime assistant for both the men’s and women’s programs at LSU, stepped in admirably. He has an undefeated record as a head coach and looks to end his career that way with two more wins next week in Cleveland. Starkey said he has no aspirations to become the full-time coach.
LSU will play Rutgers on Sunday, looking to advance to the championship after falling short in the semifinals the previous three years.
Connecticut will be left watching the Final Four for the third straight year after making it that far the previous five seasons. This matches UConn’s longest Final Four drought since making its first in 1991.
The Huskies, who won 72-71 at LSU last month, had no answers for Fowles, who dominated the game right from the start.