UConn Huskies outlast Duke Blue Devils in Sweet 16 - ESPN

PORTLAND, Ore. — Earlier this season, 11-time national champion coach Geno Auriemma didn't think his UConn Huskies stood much of a shot at making a deep March run. The team had lost multiple key players — six by season's end — for the year due to injury. By Dec. 3, they already had dropped three contests in nonconference play.

Saturday's Portland 3 Regional Sweet 16 matchup against 7-seed Duke was far from aesthetically pleasing, but the Huskies did enough to come through with a 53-45 win that punched their ticket to the Elite Eight, surpassing last year's shocking Sweet 16 exit as well as Auriemma's previous expectations.

«Childbirth is a miracle,» Auriemma said after the win. "[I thought earlier this season] us getting to the Sweet 16 would be a miracle. And now here we are, we're in the final eight. Seriously, you can't make this s--- up."

UConn's regional final appearance marks the program's 28th overall, tying the record held by Tennessee.

The No. 3 seed Huskies will face the top-seeded USC Trojans on Monday at 9 p.m. ET for a Final Four spot in Cleveland.

UConn mostly dominated Saturday's defensive slog, leading for nearly 37 minutes, although dominate is a relative term. The Huskies' 53 points and Duke's 45 are tied for second-fewest scored in a NCAA tournament game in their respective programs' histories. At halftime, UConn led 23-13.

«Duke's a terrific defensive team,» Auriemma said. «They do a tremendous job of taking away some of your strengths and making you make plays that are not necessarily scripted. You have to make great reads. And it was really hard in the beginning because you felt like they have 13 points at halftime. And I felt like we should have 30.

»But scoring was not going to be easy tonight at