The Huskies head to the Final Four for the fourth straight year with a 73-64 win over Purdue.

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – What looked to be a relentless march to Atlanta suddenly turned into a fight for Connecticut.

Diana Taurasi scored 21 points, and the defending national champion Huskies held on after letting much of a 24-point slip away to beat Purdue 73-64 Tuesday night and win the East Regional.

The top-seeded Huskies (35-1) are going to the Final Four for the fourth straight year, after what would have been a rebuilding year for any other school. They’ll play the West champion, Texas, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday.

After losing four starters from last season’s unbeaten team, UConn now has a chance to win its third title in four years.

Second-seeded Purdue (29-6) did not go quietly, however, and Connecticut had to make nine straight free throws – five by Taurasi and four by Maria Conlon – in the final 2:53 to keep the Boilermakers at bay.

Purdue, the 1999 national champion, bounced back from a wretched 19 percent first-half shooting effort to make the Huskies sweat after trailing 62-38 with less than nine minutes to play.

Shereka Wright, who led Purdue with 25 points, sparked a 19-2 run that drew the Boilermakers to 64-57 with 2:57 left. Wright capped the burst with a three-point play.

Taurasi temporarily halted the momentum by making two free throws, but Purdue kept coming and twice got within six, the last time at 68-62 with just over a minute to play. Texas 78, LSU 60

STANFORD, Calif. – After a 16-year absence, Texas is headed back to the Final Four with a low-post duo that just might be good enough to win it all.

Heather Schreiber had a career-high 32 points and eight rebounds, and Stacy Stephens had 14 points and 12 rebounds as the second-seeded Longhorns beat top-seeded LSU 78-60 in the West Regional final.

Tai Dillard added 12 points for Texas (29-5), which won its 17th straight game and earned a meeting with Connecticut (35-1) at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday.

Football-crazy Austin will have basketball fever this week, with the men’s team heading to New Orleans for that other Final Four.

Led by Schreiber’s remarkable offensive versatility and Stephens’ inside power, the Longhorns got a blowout victory in what many expected to be the NCAA tournament’s most competitive regional final.

Texas led by 28 midway through the second half and coasted to the victory in front of a small but ecstatic cheering section that chanted “Final Four!” as the clock wound down.

Schreiber, Texas’ all-Big 12 sophomore forward, went 13-for-21 from the field and embarrassed every defender put in front of her at Maples Pavilion. She was relentless, scoring on post-up moves and 18-foot jumpers with equal ease.

Coach Jody Conradt, who has won more games than any women’s coach except Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, reached her third Final Four at Texas – but her first since 1987, when the Longhorns made back-to-back trips following an undefeated season and a national championship in 1986.

DeTrina White scored 14 points for LSU (30-4), the only No. 1 seed that won’t be in Atlanta.

After a slow start, Schreiber and Stephens overpowered the Tigers – with plenty of help from their teammates, of course. Trailing 11-4 after the first five minutes, the Longhorns scored 18 straight points and held LSU scoreless for nearly six minutes,

while building a comfortable lead they never lost.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Tigers coach Sue Gunter, who’s never made the Final Four. She has 681 career victories but has lost all three regional finals she’s reached at LSU.

Texas won the Big 12 championship on the strength of its dynamic inside combo, which teamed up to average 28.2 points and 17.3 rebounds a game this season. Conlon and Jessica Moore each finished with 12 points for UConn, and Ann Strother scored 10. Mary Jo Noon had 10 for Purdue, but the Boilermakers’ top player in the NCAA tournament, Erika Valek, had a forgettable night.

Valek scored only eight points on 2-for-10 shooting. She had been averaging 22 points and shooting 55 percent in the tournament.

Though sloppy at times on offense, UConn still shot 52 percent in building a 41-22 halftime lead. And oh, did the Huskies play defense, holding Purdue to three field goals in the first 14 minutes with harassing, in-your-face defense.

They deflected passes, intercepted passes and swarmed to the ball, giving Purdue few chances to get a decent look at the basket. Purdue’s players had said they would not be intimidated by Connecticut’s tradition, but the Boilermakers looked like it. They put up airballs, hurried shots and missed from point-blank range.

From the outset, Purdue missed the first shot of a possession 17 straight times. The Boilermakers’ first three baskets came on putbacks, and they finished the first half with more turnovers (seven) than field goals (six).

Purdue grabbed the early lead when Wright converted a three-point play 61 seconds into the game. It evaporated quickly.

The Boilermakers went the next 6:55 without a point, missing 11 shots and turning it over three times.

Connecticut, meanwhile, ran off 17 straight points – eight by Taurasi – and the Huskies seemed on their way to a rout.

Battle’s jumper finished a 7-0 run that made it 30-11, and she fed Willnett Crockett for a layup that gave UConn its 19-point halftime lead. Purdue continued to struggle after halftime, and when Moore made a jumper with 8:23 left, UConn led 62-38.

That was the Huskies’ final field goal.

, and they had to rely on their free throws to stay ahead.

AP-ES-04-01-03 2131EST