The Tigers performed a Louisiana stomp on the Bulldogs logo at center court and the last act left at the Fresno Regional was the celebratory cutting down of the nets.

That was no problem for Louisiana State, which crushed No. 1 seed Connecticut 73-50 at the Save Mart Center on Monday before a crowd of 3,046 to advance to its fourth straight NCAA Final Four.

Tigers acting coach Bob Starkey, in a team gathering Sunday, gave them a loaner net to practice on. Center Sylvia Fowles wore one of the actual ones like Mardi Gras beads around her neck after she was named the regional's outstanding player.

Fowles, a 6-foot-6 junior inside force, was unstoppable against a UConn team that tried to double- and triple-team her. She made 10 of 18 shots, scored 23 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked six shots and had three steals.

Third-seeded LSU (30-7) moves on to Cleveland to try to win its first NCAA championship. The Tigers will face Rutgers in one national semifinal Sunday.

Starkey took over the Tigers on March 7 when Pokey Chatman resigned in the wake of allegations she had a relationship with a former player. The team is 4-0 since with Starkey in command.

"I don't think a lot of people thought we were going to be where we were going to be," Starkey said. "Then you add how they handled adversity. These kids have grown closer and circled the wagons."

The Tigers circled around Fowles on Monday, lobbing the ball to her at every chance. She scored on power moves. She made short flip hooks and turned rebounds into easy baskets. On defense, she swatted away shots and altered a handful of others.

"We made some outside shots, and that made it easy for me to score inside," she said.

When the Huskies sagged on Fowles, Allison Hightower, Ashley Thomas and Quianna Chaney stepped up and knocked down 3-pointers. The trio was 7 for 10. Hightower was 3 for 3 in a first half that the Tigers led 34-22.

"We said we'd guard Chaney really hard ... and left everyone else open," Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said.

LSU shot 48% and outrebounded UConn 41-31. The Tigers built a 59-41 lead with 61/2 minutes remaining and prevented the Huskies (32-4) from putting together any kind of a scoring run.

The Tigers worked Starkey's game plan to perfection. The match-up zone and occasional man defenses confused the Huskies. They took away the paint and protected Fowles from foul trouble.

"Early, they seemed frustrated not knowing what defense we were in," Starkey said. "So we stuck with it quite awhile."

For UConn, seeking its ninth trip to the Final Four, nothing worked against the nation's top defense.

"One of our strengths coming into the tournament was spreading things around and getting everyone involved," Auriemma said. "Tonight, we were limited and became a jump-shooting team. When we become that, we're not very good. ... I don't think as coaches we prepared them for what we'd have to deal with. It was just bad."

About the only thing Fowles didn't show was the dunk, something she's done repeatedly in practice.

Connecticut had no answer, especially with two freshmen -- Tina Charles and Kaili McLaren -- trying to body up Fowles most of the night. The Huskies' three centers -- along with junior Brittany Hunter -- combined for five points and five rebounds

When Fowles left the game with 1:11 left to a standing ovation from the Tigers faithful, she and Chaney jumped toward each other to belly bump. Considering Fowles' size, it was more like a belly to chin bump that drew laughs from both of them.

Auriemma has seen some of the greatest college centers in his 22 seasons at UConn. He said Fowles could become one of the best the game has seen.

"The only thing left for her to accomplish in her career is to win a couple championships," he said, "and get the hell out of college so we can move on."