DAYTON, OHIO ? Connecticut was inconsistent all season.

The Huskies were inconsistent against Purdue.

For UConn, that was still good enough to get back to the women’s Final Four.

Diana Taurasi scored 21 points and the defending national champions held on after letting much of a 22-point lead slip away to beat Purdue 73-64 Tuesday night to win the East Regional.

The frantic finish was no surprise for the Huskies (35-1), who are relying on players with little experience, including three freshmen.

“I think that’s the way we’ve been playing all year, going up to a big lead and letting it go,” UConn’s Jessica Moore said. “I think it just shows how tough we are that we were able to hold out for that long and keep it.”

The top-seeded Huskies are going to the Final Four for the fourth straight year, after what would have been a rebuilding season for any other school. They’ll play Texas Sunday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Texas beat LSU 78-60 in the West Regional final.

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

“This year, there were just a lot of questions, a lot of uncertainties,” Taurasi said. “To make it this far and for us to really come together, it was unbelievable, it really was.”

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 behind.

“We just didn’t want to go out. We wanted to put up a fight,” said Shereka Wright, who led Purdue with 25 points. “We wanted to be remembered as a team that didn’t back down from UConn. We challenged them. We had them rattled and that’s something I’m very proud of.”

Connecticut's Diana Taurasi holds up the next after cutting the final strands. The Huskies earned a trip to the Final Four Tuesday by defeating Purdue in the East Regional final at Dayton, Ohio.

Purdue, the 1999 national champion, bounced back from a wretched 19 percent first-half shooting effort to make the Huskies sweat after trailing 62-40 with less than nine minutes to play.

Wright made two three-pointers and converted a three-point play in a 17-2 run that drew the Boilermakers to 64-57 with 2:57 left.

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 on Wright’s basket with 1:08 to play. But Conlon made four straight free throws, Taurasi sank a final one and the Huskies were on their way to Atlanta.

“That last two minutes, only D and Maria were going to touch that ball,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “I don’t care if they hadn’t hit any shots the whole night, I knew they’d make the free throws.”

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

“The bottom line was we couldn’t make shots,” Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. “It came down to shooting the basketball and we just did a poor job.”

Though sloppy at times, 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.

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 in the West Regional final.

Tai Dillard added 12 points for Texas (29-5), which won its 17th straight game. 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.

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.

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