Sports

Baylor women fall in shocker

Baylor’s Brittney Griner, top, and guard Odyssey Sims, bottom, react after losing to Louisville in a regional semifinal game in the women’s NCAA college basketball tournament in Oklahoma City last night. (AP)

Louisville shot its way to one of the biggest upsets in the history of the women’s NCAA Tournament, stunning Brittney Griner and Baylor last night.

Shoni Schimmel scored 22 points and Monique Reid hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to lift the fifth-seeded Cardinals over the defending national champions 82-81, ending Griner’s incredible career.

The Cardinals hit 16 3-pointers, matching the NCAA record, to pull off the shocking victory.

Odyssey Sims scored 29 points and hit a pair of free throws with 9.1 seconds left to give the Lady Bears (34-2) their only lead of the game.

Reid caught an inbounds pass near the baseline after that and went coast to coast before getting fouled by Griner on her way to the basket.

Sims had one last chance to save Baylor’s season after Reid’s free throws but was off-target and late on a desperation heave.

The Lady Bears had been practically invincible for the past four months, winning 32 straight games mostly by double digits.

Louisville (27-8) tied an NCAA record with 16 3-pointers to pull off the upset.

“I told our kids we’re going to come out and fire it up. We got nothing to lose,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “Our goal was to make this a street ball game.”

Sims dropped to the floor after her miss, pulling her jersey over her face and kicking her legs as she lay flat on her back.

Griner squatted near her and slapped the floor with both hands before pulling Sims up to her feet.

It was the end of a remarkable college career for Griner, a record-setting 6-foot-8 post player who ended up as the second-highest scoring player in NCAA history.

Griner, who had averaged 33 points in Baylor’s first two games in the tournament, didn’t make a basket until she converted a putback with 15:20 left in the second half. She wound up with 14 points and 10 rebounds, making only four of her 10 shots and being a relative non-factor for her considerable stature.

Tennessee 74, Oklahoma 59

In Oklahoma City, Kamiko Williams scored 15 points, Cierre Burdick had 13 and second-seeded Tennessee (27-7) routed Oklahoma in the regional semifinals.

The Lady Vols opened a 20-point lead in the first half and never let Oklahoma make a comeback, improving to 26-5 in regional semifinals.

Notre Dame 93, Kansas 63

Skylar Diggins scored 22 of her 27 points by halftime and became Notre Dame’s career scoring leader, leading the top-seeded Fighting Irish past Kansas in the semifinals of the Norfolk (Va.) Regional.

Notre Dame (34-1) will play No. 2 seed Duke tomorrow for a berth in the Final Four.

Duke 53, Nebraska 45

Tricia Liston scored 17 points and Duke (33-2) shook off a slow start to beat Nebraska (25-9) in the semifinals of the Norfolk Regional.

Alexis Jones added 14 points for the Blue Devils, who also struggled last weekend at home.