NCAA Women's Capsules: Griffin lifts Baylor past South Dakota State 60-58

LUBBOCK - Baylor continues to thrive on adversity.

Kelli Griffin hit a floater from outside the lane on the right side with 0.5 seconds remaining to lift the second-seeded Bears past South Dakota State 60-58 on Tuesday night to advance to the regional semifinals.

Griffin scored 21 points to lead Baylor (29-5), which trailed for most of the game and rallied from 14 points down in the first half. The Bears, making their fourth trip to the round of 16, will face Louisville in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday.

Jennifer Warkenthien scored 18 points to lead the Jackrabbits (32-3), who failed on a desperate three-quarters-court pass to end the game.

"We just keep finding ways to win," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who was hospitalized Sunday and didn't coach the Bears in their first-round game.

After Jessica Morrow gave Baylor its first lead of the game, 55-53, on 3-pointer from the corner with 2:57 remaining, Stacie Oistad pulled the Jackrabbits even at 55 on a layup.

Both teams failed to score on their next two possessions before Griffin hit a running layup with 40 seconds remaining to put Baylor up 57-55.

Warkenthien missed a layup but was fouled and missed the second free throw of a 1-and-1. Rachel Allison, who left the game with an injury to her left knee about 3 minutes earlier but returned, got the rebound and was fouled.

She appeared to hurt the knee again and South Dakota State coach Aaron Johnston elected to have Whitney Zachariason shoot Allison's free throws. Zachariason hit only the front end of a 1-and-1 and Jackrabbits redshirt freshman Jill Young got a layup at the other end to tie it at 58 with 7 seconds left.

That's when Griffin took over. She took the inbounds pass and went the length of the court before cutting toward the lane and letting the ball fly from outside the paint.

South Dakota State worked the ball through Warkenthien almost every possession of the second half. At one point she scored seven straight points for the Jackrabbits.

The Bears tied it at 36, on a layup by Griffin, and Baylor leveled it again at 47 and 49 but couldn't pull ahead.

Allison went down after fouling Warkenthien with 4:20 remaining with what appeared to be an injury to her left knee. That came in the midst of a 3-minute drought the Bears could ill afford to trail 53-49.

Defense keys Texas A&M's 73-42 win over Minnesota

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Texas A&M stole its way into the NCAA regional semifinals.

Sydney Colson had six steals to pace the Aggies to a season-high 20 and Texas A&M forced a season-high 32 turnovers in a 73-42 victory over Minnesota in the second round Tuesday night.

"We win with defense, and we'll continue to keep winning with defense," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said.

The Aggies' previous season high for turnovers forced were 30 in their first-round win over Evansville.

Danielle Gant led Texas A&M (27-7) with 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting, Takia Starks added 17 and Colson had 13. Despite being outsized by Minnesota, the Aggies had a 37-28 rebounding advantage and a 17-5 edge in second-chance points.

"We came out and did everything right," Starks said. "We haven't played this well since, I really don't know, probably non-conference or Oklahoma."

While Blair talked about being concerned about Minnesota's size before the game, Gant said the Aggies weren't worried.

"We knew that we can go inside," she said. "We play with the (Oklahoma's Courtney and Ashley) Parises all the time. Going against them is hard work, so we knew that tonight we could come out and hang with them."

Ashley Ellis-Milan scored 15 points to lead the Gophers (20-12), who shot 35 percent.

Emily Fox, Minnesota's leading scorer this year at 13.2 points a game, was 0-11 from the floor, settling for a pair of free throws during a 16-2 run in the second half by the Aggies that put the game away. Texas A&M forced five turnovers during that scoring spree. Tanisha Smith capped the run with a fastbreak layup after she stole the ball from Katie Ohm to give the Aggies a 57-29 lead.

Brittany McCoy committed 10 turnovers for the Gophers. Fox, who had four turnovers, said the A&M defense was even tougher than she expected.

"Their hands were on a lot of balls," Fox said. "They were just everywhere and we didn't adjust. We didn't control the ball."

Blair said the key was how the Aggies defended Minnesota's guards.

"We were able to create a lot of turnovers," he said. "You win with guard, and those two guards are very special. We have so much respect for them. But those are the two we were trying to stop."

The Aggies scored 34 points off the turnovers and had 14 fastbreak points.

The turnovers were the most by the Gophers this season, easily surpassing the 26 they had at Iowa State. The most steals against the Gophers were 14 in that same game.

The Gophers also had a season-low one 3-pointer, with Ohm setting a Minnesota single-season record with her 74th in the game's first minute.

"We were really focused on not letting her just go out there and shoot, or not have open looks at least," Colson said.

Texas A&M advanced to the regional semifinals for second straight year for the first time in school history. The Aggies will play sixth-seeded Arizona State (25-8) in Trenton, N.J., on Sunday.

- Tom Coyne

UConn steamrolls Florida 87-59

STORRS, Conn. - Next stop on the UConn express - Trenton.

Renee Montgomery scored 25 points in her final game at home and undefeated Connecticut beat eighth-seeded Florida 87-59 in the second round of the NCAA tournament Tuesday night.

The Huskies (35-0) advanced to the regional semifinals for the 16th straight season where they will play fourth-seeded California on Sunday.

Even though they get to this point practically every season, the Huskies don't take their success for granted.

"We know we're not entitled to make it to the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight," Montgomery said. "I'm just ready to go to Trenton."

This is the fourth time that UConn has been undefeated while playing in the NCAA tournament. Connecticut went on to win the national championship in 1995 and 2002. In 1996-97, the Huskies lost to Tennessee in the regional final.

Tina Charles followed up her 32-point effort in the first round with 22 against Florida. She also had 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double this season.

Maya Moore added 22 points and 14 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season.

Marshae Dotson scored 22 to lead Florida (24-8).

With her No. 20 hanging in Gampel Pavilion on the wall in the Huskies of Honor, Montgomery started her 136th straight game to break the school record she shared with Jen Rizzotti.

The senior guard is hoping to cap her storied career with UConn's sixth national championship. Besides Kerry Bascom, Montgomery is the only honoree of the 11 who hasn't won an NCAA title.

She left the game to a long standing ovation from the crowd with 6:23 left and UConn up by 36.

"I was trying to take it all in," Montgomery said. "I was trying to take it all in. It was my last game here. It was a blessing to play an extra game here. It's not going to be like this ever again."

The Huskies continue to steamroll opponents. No one's come within single digits of them all season and they've beaten their previous six ranked opponents by an average of 31 points.

"That's what we like to do, just close games," Charles said. "We don't want a team hanging around with us. We're really good at closing games and being efficient on the offensive end."

UConn took a little while to get rolling against Florida. Connecticut built a 25-12 lead before Florida went on an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to six.

Then Montgomery took over.

She scored nine straight points during a 13-0 run to put the game away. Montgomery followed up a four-point play with a 3-pointer and two free throws. Charles ended the burst with a three-point play to make it 39-20.

"One minute we can be up six and Renee can take over," Moore said. "We have to be patient and confident with our style of play."

After Steffi Sorensen hit a 3-pointer to stop Florida's drought, UConn scored the next eight points to go up 47-23 and end any thoughts of a comeback.

"It all started for us when they cut it to 26-20 and that's when our guys came alive," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "That's what I like about this team. They sense when it's time and they do what they are really good at and doing what they've been doing all year long. I'm really proud of them."

Sorensen's 30-footer at the buzzer made it 47-26 at the half marking the 14th time this season that UConn led by at least 20 at the break.

Florida could get no closer than 20 in the second half.

"We didn't come in here to keep it interesting," Florida coach Amanda Butler said. "To not be one of the ranked teams to keep it under 30 or whatever they've been beating ranked opponents by. Connecticut is fantastic."

The Gators' leading scorer Sha Brooks never was able to get going, picking up three fouls in the first seven minutes of the game. The Gators committed 16 team fouls in the first half to UConn's four, leaving Butler shaking her head in disgust.

"I can't share with you what I was thinking," Butler said. "It wouldn't be appropriate."

Brooks didn't get her first basket until hitting a 3-pointer early in the second half and the Gators down 25 points. She finished with eight - well under her 16.7 average - before fouling out.

UConn will be happy to head down to Trenton later this week. In some sense the first two rounds have been similar to any other home game for the Huskies. The players have slept in their own dorm rooms and attended school. UConn actually had to move its NCAA slotted practice time Monday afternoon so that a few of the players wouldn't miss classes.

Maybe that's why the Huskies were one of 14 NCAA tournament teams with a 100 percent graduation rate.

Florida, which also had a perfect graduation rate, had only played UConn once before. The Huskies won that meeting 71-48 in December 1991 when Butler was a sophomore guard, and UConn was coming off its first Final Four season.

The Gators advanced to the second round with a 70-57 win over Temple. That victory helped Florida match the school record for victories in a season.

"I think the program's going in the right direction," Brooks said. "Our team this year has set the standards high. We're no longer the underdogs. Florida's coming to play. People didn't expect to get us this far."

- Doug Feinberg

Michigan State tops top-seeded Duke, former coach

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Joanne P. McCallie squatted on the sideline, staring in disbelief as her top-seeded Duke Blue Devils fell apart in an arena where she was once adored.

Michigan State fans came to boo their former coach.

They ended up cheering as loud as they have in years, witnessing a rare second-round upset against a woman who bolted for her dream job two years ago.

Mia Johnson scored a season-high 17 points and Lauren Aitch had 15, lifting the ninth-seeded Spartans to a 63-49 win Tuesday night over mighty Duke.

"It was never about playing Coach P. It was all about us," Michigan State forward Aisha Jefferson said. "A lot of people just look at the name ‘Duke' and that's the end of the game right there."

Duke was doomed because it didn't make a shot for the last 7½ minutes as it was outscored 16-2, leading to fans - including men's basketball players - rushing the court to celebrate.

McCallie insisted it wasn't surreal to end a promising season against a program she led to the 2005 championship game as the end of the game unfolded and the only question left was the final score.

"I was just trying to focus on us getting stops and scores," McCallie said. "And, we didn't get either."

In more than a decade, the only top-seeded team to lose in the second round was Ohio State in 2006 setback against eighth-seeded Boston College.

"Coaching kind of takes a back seat sometimes and that's what happened," said Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant, deflecting credit for knocking off her predecessor.

Michigan State (22-10) will face the winner of the Iowa State-Ball State game on Saturday in the semifinals of the Berkeley Regional.

Jasmine Thomas had 14 points and Karima Christmas scored 13 for Duke (27-6) while leading scorer Chante Black was held to just four.

"I just don't know what to think," Christmas said. "I don't want this season to end."

The last time a national power was eliminated this early in the NCAA tournament was 1997.

The Blue Devils, who scored at least 75 points in each of their last six games, were held to a season-low total and made just 27 percent of their shots.

Raucous fans and flying elbows seemed to rattle them.

"We lost our composure," McCallie acknowledged.

The game was so physical there were sequences in the lane that looked like NHL goal-mouth scrambles.

"We're feisty," Johnson said. "We weren't going to back down."

The fans weren't, either.

McCallie was booed - louder than she was Sunday - when she was introduced and she simply smiled as she shook hands with Merchant and shared a laugh with her coaching staff.

Coach P knew how loud it could get in the Breslin Center because she coached there for seven seasons.

"This place is a better place for women's basketball because Joanne P. McCallie was here," Merchant said.

Duke insisted it wasn't unfair, as a top-seeded team, to play on Michigan State's home court. But it certainly gave the Spartans a lift to have most of the lower level in their arena filled.

Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo and several of his players even took time away from preparing for their third-round matchup with Kansas to watch. Football coach Mark Dantonio sat with Izzo and hugged Merchant after the game outside her locker room.

Izzo stayed for the whole game, cheering from a suite, and his players were on their feet on a baseline as were 5,000-plus fans in the stands.

"I'm sure it helped, of course. But is it the reason why they won? No," McCallie said. "We played very poorly and if you play poorly, you have to give the other team credit."

As good as they were late, the Spartans looked like they were going to be in trouble early in the game.

They turned the ball over on their first possession and then gave up a 3-pointer to Abby Waner, who returned to the lineup after resting her sprained knee during the first-round rout of Austin Peay.

But the Blue Devils went scoreless for 4 minutes after Waner's shot and were plagued by turnovers.

Duke had more turnovers (seven) than field goals (five) when Michigan State led by six after surging ahead with a 14-4 run.

Michigan State led 25-20 at halftime.

Duke was determined to turn things around early in the second half led by Black, who scored on an aggressive move in the lane on the opening possession to match the two points she had in the first half.

Then, Black caused a turnover and assisted on Waner's 3-pointer that tied the game 34 seconds after halftime and helped the Blue Devils go back ahead for the first time since the 12:00 mark of the first half.

Michigan State, though, proved it could take Duke's best shot by competing the rest of the way in the closely contested game.

"When we come to play, anything can happen," Johnson said.

- Larry Lage

Maryland eliminates Utah from NCAA tourney, 71-56

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - With a victory in hand and their workload completed, Maryland seniors Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver walked off their home court for the last time.

They received a standing ovation from the spirited crowd, and each absorbed a hug from Terrapins coach Brenda Frese.

Toliver and Coleman wore smiles on the bench as the top-seeded Terrapins closed out a 71-56 win over Utah on Tuesday night to advance to the round of the 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Later, however, Toliver recalled the moment as being bittersweet.

"I won't lie: I got a little emotional. I didn't want it to end," she said. "I knew that was the last time we would be playing in front of the best fans in the country. So I'm sad. It's too bad that it's over, but it's a good feeling knowing that we still have games left to be played."

The Terrapins (30-4) face Vanderbilt (26-8) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Raleigh Regional. Maryland beat the Commodores 80-66 last year in the third round.

In their final home game, Coleman and Toliver put on the type of performance that defined their spectacular careers at Maryland. Coleman had 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and Toliver deftly directed the offense and scored 17.

"Those two are phenomenal 1-on-1 players," Utah coach Elaine Elliott said. "Those two kids are just simply extremely talented."

Utah (23-10) probably would have had trouble defeating the Terrapins under any circumstances. But the Utes had to play in an arena where Maryland had won 35 straight and before 10,065 fans intent upon seeing Toliver and Coleman go out in style.

The seniors did their part, and finished with a 65-3 record at home.

"We know there's not a lot of time left, but obviously these are two special kids that have done so many special things for this program," Frese said.

This game, however, was more than a two-woman show. Forward Demauria Liles had 12 points and 17 rebounds, and Lynette Kizer and Marah Strickland each scored eight.

Kalee Whipple scored 24 and Morgan Warburton had 17 for No. 9 seed Utah (23-10). The Utes, who advanced with a 60-30 rout of Villanova, couldn't come up with a similar defensive performance against the more talented Terrapins.

Maryland won the rebounding battle 54-24; the Utes had been outrebounded in only five games all season and ranked 12th in the country in rebound margin.

Coleman had more rebounds at halftime (12) than Utah (9). The Terrapins finished with more offensive rebounds (25) than Utah grabbed at both ends of the court.

"It's just pure and simple - their strength over us was just their physicality. We couldn't change that. We couldn't grow bigger. We couldn't grow heavier," Elliott said. "That was the difference in the two teams. We would have preferred that it wasn't a home game. ... (But) the differences in that game were apparent and that was something we wouldn't have overcome no matter where we played."

Although Maryland trailed by seven with just over 5 minutes elapsed, the Terrapins bounced back to go up 44-28 at the break.

The Utes never threatened to make a game of it in the second half.

In Maryland's opening 82-53 win over Dartmouth, the Terrapins scored the game's first eight points and never trailed. Utah got the early jump in this one, getting points from four different players and using 6-for-9 shooting to take a 15-8 lead.

"I knew we just needed to kind of get a rhythm, a feel, to be able to see and understand what we needed to do on the defensive end," Frese said. "I just knew that we needed to keep our poise and that we would be able to eventually get back to getting stops and rebounds."

Liles made two straight layups and Strickland sank a reverse layup off a no-look pass from Toliver to spark a 14-3 run that put the Terrapins up 22-18. Coleman hit three straight jumpers during the surge, and on the other end Utah missed eight of nine shots.

The lead swelled to 28-20, and after the Utes cut the margin in half, Toliver hit a jumper before layups by Strickland, Liles and Coleman started Maryland on a 12-0 run to end the half.

- David Ginsburg

Louisville eliminates LSU with 62-52 win

BATON ROUGE, La. - Angel McCoughtry didn't let her sometimes-erratic shooting stop her from taking over the game when Louisville needed it.

McCoughtry scored 28 points and Louisville advance to its second straight regional semifinal with a 62-52 victory over LSU on Tuesday night.

Candyce Bingham added 17 points for the third-seeded Cardinals (31-4), who ended sixth-seeded LSU's bid to reach an unprecedented sixth-straight Final Four.

Allison Hightower scored 21 for the Lady Tigers (19-11), who saw their streak of NCAA tournament victories on their home floor snapped at 12.

With five new starters and one senior on the roster, LSU was not expected to contend for another Final Four. There was even doubt in midseason whether the Lady Tigers would make the tournament before their a late-season six-game winning streak.

When they qualified, they were automatically slated to open at home because Baton Rouge had been selected as a host site for the first two rounds long in advance.

LSU defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round and kept Louisville within single digits for most of the game with the help of the Lady Tigers' lone senior, Kristen Morris, who scored 13 points.

The competition was ferocious, with bodies crashing to the floor on numerous possessions. Becky Burke ended up with a bleeding gash on her lip after colliding with Latear Eason while the two hustled for a loose ball in the second half. Burke was dazed by the collision, lying on the court for several minutes while trainers attended to her.

Burke returned to drain a 3-pointer, which gave Louisville a 54-47 lead with 5:13 to go and stirred the Cardinals' bench into a frenzy.

Louisville finally went up by double digits when McCoughtry's steal and fast-break layup with just over a minute to go made it 62-51. McCoughtry then tilted her head back and let out a yell as she high-stepped back on defense.

McCoughtry struggled with her shot at times going 9-of-22 and 0-of-5 from 3-point range, but hit 10-of-11 free throws.

With every victory, Louisville sets a new school record for wins in a season. The Cardinals still need one more to give their program a new first: a berth in the regional finals. Louisville lost to North Carolina in the regional semifinals in New Orleans last season.

In the first round, Louisville had used its trapping defense to force Liberty into 27 turnovers, but LSU was much more prepared for the Cardinals' defensive pressure.

With two guards moving in tandem as LSU brought the ball up the floor, the Lady Tigers effectively broke Louisville's trap. The Lady Tigers' only real trouble was hitting shots. LSU made only four of their first 13, but trailed only 12-10 thanks to strong defensive play.

Turning the ball over only once through the first 19 minutes, LSU pulled ahead 17-16 on Katherine Graham's baseline jumper. Morris followed with another baseline jumper, then Hightower added free throws and a jumper near the top of the key during a 9-2 run that put the Lady Tigers up 23-18.

The crowd, overwhelmingly in LSU's favor, was energized. Louisville showed no panic, instead turning to the two players who'd led the Cardinals all season. McCoughtry and Bingham combined for all points in a 9-0 run late in the half, highlighted by Bingham's layup as she was fouled, and the Cardinals surged into the lead, 29-25.

Bingham scored 11 in the first half and McCoughtry 16, including a pair of free throws to put Louisville up 33-29 at halftime.

- Brett Martel

Iowa State holds off upstart Ball State 71-57

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Nicky Wieben had been waiting her entire career to celebrate a trip to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

Forgive the Iowa State senior if she got started a little early.

Wieben knocked down the game-clinching 3-pointer with 2:01 remaining, then proceeded to nearly tackle teammate Kelsey Bolte while they ran back down the court as the steady Cyclones held off Ball State 71-57 to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in eight years.

Fourth-seeded Iowa State (26-8) will play Michigan State in the Berkeley regional semifinals on Saturday.

"It's so awesome," said Amanda Nisleit, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. "We always dreamed about this, even when I was a little girl. There's no way to describe it. I'm just so proud of our team and so proud that we've gotten here."

Even if it came at the expense of one of the tournament's feel-good stories.

The 12th-seeded Cardinals (26-9) became the darlings of the NCAAs opening weekend after stunning two-time defending champion Tennessee on Sunday.

They proved the biggest win in the program's history was no fluke, battling with the bigger, deeper more experienced Cyclones for 30-plus minutes before fading late in the second half.

Porchia Green led Ball State with 18 points, Jade Barber added 13 and Emily Maggert chipped in 12, but the Cardinals saw their 12-game winning streak snapped against a team that refused to get rattled by Ball State's relentless pressure.

Iowa State turned it over just 10 times, including just twice in the second half.

Not that the Cardinals were hanging their heads at the end of their memorable run.

"It's been a historic season and I don't think (the players) even understand how historic this will end up being," Ball State coach Kelly Packard said. "The stat sheet is probably not going to get critiqued. ... I was proud the other night against Tennessee and I'm just as proud now."

Packard is hoping her team's journey is the first of many.

Getting to the NCAAs has become an old habit for the Cyclones, though one that came with a familiar ending the last two seasons. Iowa state fell in the second round in each of the last two tournaments.

Wieben and fellow senior starters Kelsey Bolte and Heather Ezell were determined not to let it happen again.

Wieben led four Iowa State players in double-figures with 18 points, Bolte added 16 points behind 5-of-7 3-point shooting and Ezell had eight points, nine assists and zero turnovers as the Cyclones finally broke through.

They didn't waste a chance to drink in the moment, rushing onto the floor at E.A. Diddle Arena as the buzzer sounded, even if their route to Berkeley wasn't the one they thought they'd take.

The Cyclones came to the tournament thinking they'd have to get by mighty Tennessee to advance, but the Cardinals altered those plans when the Mid-American Conference champions handed the Lady Volunteers their first opening round loss in 28 NCAA appearances.

Packard worried her team would have trouble coming down to earth following a dizzying 48 hours since the upset that shook up the brackets.

The Cardinals certainly looked ready to play, rallying from an early seven-point deficit and tying the game at 32 early in the second half.

Iowa State, however, withstood the surge and responded behind the steady play and sharp shooting of its seniors.

The Cyclones tied an NCAA tournament record with 16 3-pointers in an opening round win over East Tennessee State. They only managed 10 against the Cardinals, but it was enough to stave off a handful of late Ball State surges.

Ball State climbed with 43-39 with 9:43 left when Ezell knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead back to seven. Bolte followed a few minutes later with a bomb that extended the lead to 51-43 with 6:43 left.

Nisleit dropped in a 3 from the top of the key to give the Cyclones their first double-digit lead at 56-45 before Wieben provided the dagger that set off a party eight years in the making.

- Will Graves

Oklahoma beats Georgia Tech 69-50

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Oklahoma didn't need a double-double from Courtney Paris to get to the round of 16. The Sooners are moving on to Oklahoma City thanks to stellar defense, spectacular outings from their young guards and, of course, the post presence of the Paris twins.

Sophomore point guard Danielle Robinson scored 17 points and had seven assists, freshman guard Whitney Hand added 15 and the top-seeded Sooners beat Georgia Tech 69-50 Tuesday night to advance to regional semifinals.

Oklahoma will now face fourth-seeded Pittsburgh in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Courtney Paris finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and six blocks - missing out on a double-double for just the eighth time in 134 career games - but she had three quick blocks early in the second half to key a 27-11 run by Oklahoma (30-4) that put the game out of reach.

Ashley Paris added eight points and 16 rebounds. The Paris twins had 19 defensive rebounds, one more than Georgia Tech had as a team, and Oklahoma thwarted Georgia Tech's hopes for an upset by forcing them to miss 13 of their 15 shots to start the second half.

"We've had spans of defending very well this year, and adherence to the game plan is the thing. It's five guys being on the same page and doing what we discussed and deploying the strategy," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said.

Georgia Tech (22-10) finished the first half on a 21-11 run to tie the game at 29 by halftime, and it looked like the Yellow Jackets might make a serious run at the Sooners despite playing without injured star Alex Montgomery, their leading scorer and rebounder.

But Robinson, who shot 5-of-5 from the field and 7-of-7 from the line, opened the second half with an impressive steal and layup. She followed it with perhaps her only mistake of the night, picking up a technical foul after celebrating the play, but it didn't hurt the Sooners one bit.

Hand buried a 3, Ashley Paris hit an inside bucket - her first after seven misses - and Robinson went baseline for a backhanded layup to help put Oklahoma ahead 42-32.

Robinson pushed that lead to 50-36 on a pair of free throws, and Carlee Roethlisberger hit a pair of layups to make it 56-40 with 8:10 left.

Robinson's quickness was on display all night, as she keyed Oklahoma's transition offense and broke free for a few layups through traffic.

"Danielle jump-started us. There's no doubt about that," Coale said. "She runs through passing lanes and gets a wide-open layup and everybody goes a little bit harder the next time."

The Yellow Jackets hopes truly went out the window with just over 4 minutes left. Courtney Paris missed an inside basket after the Sooners had run down the shot clock, but Ashley Paris was right there for a putback to give Oklahoma a 60-45 lead.

Deja Foster had 15 to lead Georgia Tech (22-10), which shot just 5-of-29 in the second half. That paled in comparison to Oklahoma, which was 17-of-31 from the field after the break.

"Their perimeter shooting was just phenomenal," Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said.

The Yellow Jackets looked more like a rambling wreck early on. Georgia Tech missed 13 of its first 16 shots, and Robinson broke the press with a full-court dash and assist, followed by a 15-footer and a quick layup, to put the Sooners up 16-6 midway through the first half.

But Courtney Paris sat for nearly 6 minutes late in the opening half with a pair of fouls, giving Georgia Tech more open space to work with. The Yellow Jackets slowly chipped away at the lead until the game was tied at 29-all.

The first 20 minutes weren't kind to the Paris twins. Ashley was 0-of-6 from the field, though she did grab seven rebounds.

Georgia Tech was none too pleased about getting a No. 9 seed and being shipped off to play Iowa in the first round. The Yellow Jackets were impressive against the Hawkeyes, pounding them 76-62 on their home floor while outscoring Iowa 46-12 in the paint, but they couldn't establish that inside dominance against the Sooners.

Oklahoma could not have asked for a better road to the Final Four. The Sooners will face the Panthers just a short drive away from their campus, with either sixth-seeded Purdue or seventh-seeded Rutgers looming in the regional finals.

While Courtney and Ashley Paris give the Sooners a decided edge against almost anyone inside, Robinson and Hand showed Tuesday night that they can make opponents pay if they focus too much on the Paris twins.

"They certainly don't act like a freshman and a sophomore," Courtney Paris said. "We're really going to need them if we're going to continue to win in this tournament."

- Luke Meredith

A look at the second round of NCAA tournament

Geno Auriemma puts the burden of Connecticut's success on center Tina Charles.

"I said if Tina Charles plays like the best player in the country, no one is going to beat us," the Hall of Fame coach said. "So far we're 2-0 with her doing that."

Charles put up her second straight strong game with 22 points and 10 rebounds in UConn's 87-59 win over Florida on Tuesday night. She had 32 points, going 13-for-14 from the field, in the opening-round win over Vermont.

"When she's playing well it makes us hard to guard," senior guard Renee Montgomery said. "All the teams were face-guarding us early on in the year. The way she's playing right now, it's hard to take away the 3 and not let her score 30 a game. If she keeps playing like that, it's hard to guard us both."

This is the fourth time that UConn (35-0) has been undefeated while playing in the NCAA tournament. Connecticut went on to win the national championship in 1995 and 2002. In 1996-97, the Huskies lost to Tennessee in the regional final.

UN-ACC-EPTABLE

This NCAA tournament has not been the ACC's finest moment.

Four of the conference's six NCAA tournament entrants were gone before the end of the second round - and Georgia Tech was facing top-seeded Oklahoma late Tuesday night.

"With the dominance that we've had in the league, it was definitely a surprise. I thought we would have more teams that would advance to the Sweet 16," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said after her top-seeded Terrapins beat Utah 71-56 in a second-round game at College Park, Md.

"We are going to do our best and finest job that we can to represent the league," said Frese, whose team won the 2006 national championship.

Maryland beat Duke in that NCAA title game - and again this month in the ACC tournament final.

Both schools were awarded No. 1 seeds for this year's NCAA tournament, but Duke was upset at No. 9-seeded Michigan State on Tuesday, among the biggest surprises of March Madness so far.

That was hardly the only early NCAA exit for an ACC team.

No. 3-seeded North Carolina, No. 3 Florida State - which tied Maryland for first place in the conference during the regular season - and No. 5 Virginia also are out.

"At tournament time," Frese said, "you just never know what's going to happen."

SEC STRUGGLES

Florida coach Amanda Butler had a theory why the SEC was having a tough time winning this season. The conference put seven teams in the tournament, but so far Vanderbilt was the only one to make it out of the second round.

"The only team that got to play on its home floor was LSU. We lost on UConn's floor. Auburn lost on Rutgers' floor," Butler said. "Home-court advantage is very strong. Those are the factors that we're dealing with that are out of our control. That's what's best for the game right now. Attendance is where it needs to be."

The SEC has had a team in the Final Four every year except for two.

Auburn coach Nell Fortner has other ideas as to her team's failure not wanting to blame playing on an opponents' home court.

"I can't speak for every other team, but it was our second year in it. You need to be battle tested in the tournament," Fortner said. "We will be next year. It's a special tournament, an exciting tournament. We tried to do our best and fell a little short."

EXTRA CHEERING SECTION

Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo and some of his players took time away from preparing for their third-round matchup with Kansas to watch the women's team upset top seed Duke.

Izzo stayed for the whole game, cheering from a suite, and his players were on their feet on a baseline as were 5,000-plus fans in the stands.

The Spartans had a little extra motivation with former coach Joanne P. McCallie on the Duke sidelines.

McCallie was booed when she was introduced and she simply smiled as she shook the hand of her successor, Suzy Merchant, and shared a laugh with her coaching staff.

Coach P knew how loud it could get in the Breslin Center because she coached there for seven seasons before bolting two years ago and her team found out Tuesday night.

LONG JOURNEY

Florida's Steffi Sorensen was back in an NCAA tournament after playing for a national championship her freshman season.

The junior guard from Jacksonville has bounced around the state of Florida in her college career. She began at Division II Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, helping that team to a 34-1 record in 2006-07. Her Eagles lost in the championship game to Southern Connecticut.

The Gators lost to Florida Gulf Coast to open the season this year.

Sorensen transferred as a sophomore to Santa Fe College in Gainsville, playing for former Gators player Chanda Stebbins, before coming to Florida this season, where she averaged nine points and five rebounds.

She had 13 points and 13 rebounds in the Gators' opening-round win over Temple for her first career double-double.

On Tuesday against Connecticut she scored nine points, including a 30-footer at the end of the first half.

-- Doug Feinberg