Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Tennessee and Stanford are going back to the women's Final Four. Connecticut and Georgia aren't. Old Dominion is going for the first time since winning the 1985 national title. Notre Dame is going for the first time ever.
Cincinnati, here they come.
In rematches of the 1996 national semifinals, defending champion Tennessee handed top-ranked Connecticut its first loss in 34 games, 91-81 in the Midwest Regional in Iowa City, and Stanford rolled past Georgia 82-47 to win the West Regional in Missoula, Mont.
That puts Tennessee (27-10) and Stanford (33-1) in the Final Four for the third straight year, but they wouldn't meet until Sunday's championship game at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum.
Tennessee will play Notre Dame (31-6) in Friday night's semifinals and Stanford (33-1) will face Old Dominion (33-1).
"I guess people can say we've moved from pretenders to contenders," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, whose team was 10-6 in early January. "A couple of weeks ago, we were called pretenders. For us, that was great motivation."
Notre Dame, just a sixth seed, won the East Regional in Columbia, S.C., with a 62-52 victory over George Washington, which earlier upset top-seeded North Carolina. Old Dominion went scoreless the final 6:35, but still managed to edge Florida 53-51 in the Mideast Regional final in West Lafayette, Ind.
* TENNESSEE 91, CONNECTICUT 81: In a meeting of the last two national champions, Chamique Holdsclaw had 21 points and 11 rebounds to help the Lady Vols reverse a 72-57 loss to Connecticut on Jan. 5. Tennessee built a 15-point lead in the first half, then held off a second-half comeback by Connecticut, which was denied a third straight Final Four trip and was the No. 1 seed in the region. "Obviously, the pressure was on Connecticut," said Summitt, who'll be seeking her fifth national title. "I've been in that situation and gone home because of being in that situation. I know how teams get motivated to play against you." Nykesha Sales led Connecticut with 26 points and 14 rebounds. She had six points in a 15-3 run that drew the Huskies to 50-48, and they trailed 53-52 after Rita Williams' layup with 12:19 left. Connecticut then had a chance to take the lead, but Holdsclaw stole the ball and sailed in for a layup to start a 9-0 run that made it 62-52. The Huskies were never closer than six points again. "If we could have gotten the lead or gotten it tied, that might have changed things," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "We just couldn't get over the hump."
* STANFORD 82, GEORGIA 47: Stanford reversed its Final Four loss to Georgia last season and now has a chance to pay back Old Dominion for its 83-66 victory over Stanford back on Dec. 17. Olympia Scott scored 21 points and Kate Starbird 15 as Stanford dominated the Southeastern Conference champion Lady Bulldogs (25-6), knocking them out with a 27-4 first-half run after they took an 18-11 lead. "Going into the game, I think definitely revenge was on our minds in some ways," said Stanford's Jamila Wideman, the regional's MVP. "We wanted to go to Cincinnati so bad and basically they were the team that was standing between us and that goal." Georgia, also seeking a third consecutive Final Four trip, was led by Kedra Holland-Corn's 13 points. "It's sad that it went the way it did," Holland-Corn said, "but we've just got to move on, I guess."
* NOTRE DAME 62, GEORGE WASHINGTON 52: The Fighting Irish become the first No. 6 seed to reach the Final Four since Alabama in 1994. Katryna Gaither had 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead Notre Dame, which blew a 10-point lead, then responded with a 16-3 run to put the game away. "This is the most unbelievable feeling," said Notre Dame's Beth Morgan, who scored 15 points. "I want this to last all year long." George Washington (28-6) took a 39-38 lead with 11 1/2 minutes left, only to see Notre Dame answer with its decisive run. The Colonials shot only 31.4 percent and their two stars, Tajama Abraham and Noelia Gomez, were a combined 14-for-32. Each scored 15 points. "Shots we had made all season just didn't fall," George Washington guard Colleen McCrae said.
* OLD DOMINION 53, FLORIDA 51: Old Dominion knows what it's like when the shots don't fall because the Lady Monarchs didn't make any after taking a 53-39 lead with 6:35 left. "There were times when we stopped attacking the basket," ODU coach Wendy Larry said. "We have to get over that. We became hesitant toward the end and it nearly cost us." Florida (24-9) got the lead down to two with 1:34 left, then missed three shots down the stretch as Old Dominion held on for its 32nd straight victory. With Connecticut's loss, that's now the longest winning streak in the country. "Everything we ran, Old Dominion had an answer," Florida coach Carol Ross said. "Defensively, Old Dominion set a tone at the beginning of the game. We had to work very hard to get every one of our baskets." Reserve Aubry Eblin led Old Dominion with 15 points. Florida's DeLisha Milton had 18 points and 19 rebounds.
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