The Elite Eight of the 2017 women's NCAA tournament will draw to a close Monday night.The four-time defending champion Connecticut Huskies take on the Oregon Ducks, who will look to join the men's team in the Final Four. The Huskies will be the heavy favorites after reeling off 110 straight wins.The South Carolina Gamecocks will attempt to do the same when they face off with the Florida State Seminoles. Whereas almost nobody expected the men's team to reach the national semifinals, the women's team entered the Big Dance ranked third in the country.Below is a recap of Monday's regional final action.Elite Eight ResultsFinal Four ScheduleFull bracket available at NCAA.com.Monday RecapConnecticut 90, Oregon 52Connecticut quickly dashed any hopes of an upset, jumping out to a 28-13 first-quarter lead over Oregon. The Huskies continued cruising, advancing to the Final Four with a 90-52victory.The New York Daily News' Frank Isola was surprised to see the Huskies keep pouring it on late in the second half:ESPN's Jay Bilas, on the other hand, enjoyed watching Connecticut set the standard for women's college basketball:In addition to shooting 54.5 percent as a team, the Huskies forced 22 turnovers and out-rebounded the Ducks 36-26.Connecticut won by 38 points despite an uncharacteristically poor night from Katie Lou Samuelson. The sophomore guard was 4-of-13 from the field for eight points. A 41.9-percent shooter from three-point range, she also missed all four of her attempts from the perimeter.Napheesa Collier, on the other hand, was excellent. The sophomore forward led all scorers with 28 points and collected 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double.Gabby Williams also chipped in with 25 points and six rebounds, and Kia Nurse scored 11 points to go along with her seven assists.South Carolina 71, Florida State 64After the South Carolina men's basketball team advanced to the Final Four, the women's basketball team joined them with a hard-fought victory over Florida State.SportsCenter noted the history of this feat:Connecticut was responsible for some of these, but it is a big deal for the Gamecocks program.Jeffrey Collins of the Associated Press summed it up:Kaela Davis was the star of the game Monday night, scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She also added five rebounds and two assists in the win.South Carolina didn't move the ball around too well, totaling only eight assists with 18 turnovers. However, the shots were falling throughout the game. The team made 57.8 percent of its shots, including 65.7 percent from inside the arc.Leticia Romero had 16 points, six assists and six rebounds for Florida State but struggled with her shot while finishing just 6-of-23 from the field.Despite the Seminoles' shooting issues, they remained competitive throughout the game and trailed by just three points with three minutes remaining. Unfortunately, they only scored two more points the rest of the game as their run ended in the Elite Eight.South Carolina will take on Stanford in the national semifinals after the Cardinal upset Notre Dame in the Lexington Region.
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