Seeing Tiffany Hayes ’12 (CLAS) go crashing to the floor after a shot and bouncing up quickly is a familiar sight during a Huskies game. In the Kingston, R.I., regional championship game of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, an 80-65 win over Kentucky in which 42 fouls were called, a lot of players spent time on the floor.

After hitting the floor on one particularly hard foul by Wildcat guard Kastine Evans, Hayes seemed to stay down a bit longer than usual and had to leave the game briefly.

“I try to get up as fast as I can,” said Hayes after leading the Huskies to their fifth consecutive Final Four next week in Denver. “When you fall you’ve got get up. The game is still going. You can’t stay down on the ground.”

Bouncing back appears to be the mantra for this edition of the Huskies, who advance to their fifth consecutive Final Four, where they will find a familiar opponent in their semifinal game – Notre Dame, which advanced to Denver after beating Maryland 80-49. Stanford and Baylor will meet Sunday in the other semifinal.

“You watch the game and you have to admire what these players have done over the course

of the season that led up to tonight,” head coach Geno Auriemma said. “Playing this game is very difficult. It could have just as easily gotten away from us. I think we showed a lot in the second half. I’m happy for Tiffany most of all. When you are a senior, you want to play for the last day. I think she took it upon herself to make sure it happened.”

Hayes was named the Kingston tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, leading the Huskies over Kentucky with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Stefanie Dolson ’14
(CLAS), who had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks, joined Hayes on the All-Tournament team. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis ’15 (CLAS) had 18 points and 7 rebounds.

The Huskies started the game with a 9-0 run against Kentucky, before the Wildcats scrambled back to tie the game late in the first half. The game was tied four times in the last four minutes, finally with two seconds left after two free throws by Kentucky’s A’dia Mathies. But the Huskies went into the locker room with a two-point lead, after Hayes saw the Wildcats playing too close under their own basket for the inbound pass and threw the ball to Kelly Faris ’13 (ED), who was streaking toward the UConn basket and never broke stride until her layup fell through the net as time expired.

“She literally gave me the perfect pass,” Faris said. “That’s not easy to do. I felt like I was a wide receiver. I looked up and it literally fell right into my hands.”

With the Huskies up by three points five minutes into the second half, Faris went to the bench with her fourth personal foul.

“She told us to make sure we got there and we finished strong; don’t get sloppy and play Connecticut basketball,” said Bria Hartley ’15 (CLAS).

The Huskies responded by going on a 21-5 run to break the game open.

“They’re a really tough team, and they stayed strong when we were going on our runs or when they went on theirs,” said Bria Goss, who had 12 points for Kentucky. “They’re just very tough, very physical.”

Wildcats head coach Matthew Mitchell said he tried to wear down the Huskies by rotating his 12 players into the game and not foul the Huskies.

“I though tonight would be a battle of wills and if we could keep them off the free throw line or if we could get to the free throw line we had a chance,” he said. “They are a well-conditioned team. We’ve tried to keep them running and we tried to wear them down and, you know, they were just better tonight and we were unable to do that, so that’s a credit to Connecticut.”

Asked about the advantage the Huskies may have from have so many players with NCAA Tournament experience, Auriemma said: “Experience is always good when you get in games like this, because you have players on the court who have seen it and know what it is like and know what we need on the court. I think it was good for us to have veterans out there who have been in that situation before.”

Hartley said she was able to use what she learned last year as a freshman playing in the NCAAs in the games over the past two weekends.

“Not many freshmen had to play as many minutes as I had to play last year,” said Hartley, who had 13 points against Kentucky and 67 points in this year’s tournament. “I think it helped me gain a lot of experience and learn. This year, I came out a little more knowledgeable and knew what the situation felt like.”

Next weekend, Hayes will be playing in her fourth consecutive Final Four. She deflected the praise being showered upon her by her teammates, preferring to reiterate the entire team’s effort in proving wrong those who doubted that this year’s team could return to the championship round.

“[This one] is even sweeter. This is a team effort. It wasn’t one or two people getting us there,” Hayes said. “We all had our input and everyone had their way of helping us get there. I am just glad that it was a team effort and I am glad to be back [in the Final Four] for a fourth time.”