College Top 25 Women's Capsules: Baylor coach describes Griner as remorseful
WACO — Brittney Griner's coach says the standout Baylor freshman simply "snapped" and shouldn't be defined for throwing a punch and breaking another player's nose.
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who added a game to Griner's automatic NCAA one-game suspension for the punch during a game this week, described Griner as remorseful for her actions.
"She snapped, she's not proud of it. She's a kid who is a gentle giant. She's well-spoken, she's soft," Mulkey said before the No. 14 Lady Bears practiced on Friday. "One incident is not going to identify or define Brittney Griner."
The 6-foot-8 Griner, a 19-year-old freshman well known for her ability to dunk, punched Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle after the two tangled during Baylor's victory Wednesday night in Lubbock.
In a written statement from Baylor released late Thursday, Griner apologized to Barncastle and the Texas Tech team, her teammates and coaches and "the fans and the game of women's basketball."
"I let my emotions get the best of me and I am deeply sorry for my actions. I am committed to doing a better job of maintaining my composure in the future," she said. "I will grow from this and I am dedicated to setting an example to others of how to learn from personal mistakes."
Griner wasn't made available to reporters on Friday. Griner, who leads the Lady Bears with 19 points, 8.7 rebounds and six blocks per game, will miss the regular season finale at home Sunday and Baylor's opening game in the Big 12 tournament next week.
Asked if Griner would be practicing with the team in the interim, Mulkey said "there are things that Brittney will be required to do other than the suspension." The coach didn't elaborate and she defended the two-game suspension as enough.
"Until you've sat in (the head coach) seat and seen your players every day, there's only one person that can make the decision. It doesn't matter what other people's opinions are," Mulkey said. "I am a head coach. I am a mother. And all that comes into play when you're dealing with young people."
Griner was an Internet sensation in high school with her incredible dunks and earlier this season the Houston native became only the second player to dunk more than once in a women's college game. Other teams are physical with her around the basket and she had stayed under control until Wednesday night.
"What she did prior to that incident (punching Barncastle) speaks volumes if you've seen her play," Mulkey said. "What she will do after the incident will help define Brittney Griner. ... I tend to think Brittney Griner has proven nothing to me but that she's going to learn life's lessons."
While battling for position near the lane, Barncastle spun around and sent Griner lunging toward the baseline. As a foul was called on Barncastle, Griner straightened up and took two steps toward her before throwing a roundhouse punch with her right hand.
Mulkey said she has not talked to Griner about preparing for what she might encounter from opposing players and fans when she gets back on the court.
"What is she going to see that she hasn't already seen? What are they going to do to her that hasn't already been done?" Mulkey said. "She has seen everything that she can see. There's nothing else that can be presented to her. She's heard all the ugly comments. ... She's been double- and triple-teamed, she's been pushed, she's been shoved. She's seen it all."
No. 3 Huskers still perfect at 28-0; 1 game left
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Connie Yori and her players will say that they're not dwelling on their perfect, 28-0 record and the pressure of keeping it intact.
A couple of players who have been there don't believe them.
"Yes, you do think of it. You try not to, but as you get closer to the end of the season, you realize that it really can happen," Renee Montgomery, who played on Connecticut's 39-0 team a year ago, said in an e-mail.
Tamika Catchings, who played on Tennessee's 1997-98 team that went 39-0, said the pressure is unavoidable.
"I think you try not to think about it, but of course it's there because that's all people talk about," Catchings said in an e-mail. "Each game becomes that much more important because everyone wants to be that team to knock you off the top."
The Cornhuskers can go 29-0 if they win at Kansas State on Saturday, which would make them the first team in the 13-year history of the Big 12 to go unbeaten through a regular season. Oklahoma was 16-0 in league play but lost four nonconference games in 2005-06.
Top-ranked UConn hasn't lost since Montgomery left. The Huskies need one win to tie their own NCAA record of 70 consecutive victories from 2001-03.
If UConn's players feel any pressure, they're not saying. Coach Geno Auriemma doesn't allow them to do interviews on the subject.
This, of course, is all new for Nebraska, which has had a largely undistinguished history in basketball before this season.
At the start of the week, senior guard Yvonne Turner said she didn't know how many games in a row the Huskers had won. She toed the party line, saying she and her teammates go about their business as if their record is 0-0 and the score is always 0-0.
At the same time, Turner is taking no chances.
An hour before each game, she eats half a bag of strawberry Twizzlers. She downs the rest at halftime. Turner also wears the same socks every game.
"But I have them washed," she said, laughing.
As long as Nebraska's winning, Turner's sticking with the routine.
Other players are superstitious, too. Star forward Kelsey Griffin must drink a can of Diet Coke before each game. A group of other players stop at a Sonic fast-food restaurant for a specialty drink on their way to home games.
Montgomery, the top pick in the WNBA last year who plays for the Connecticut Sun, said she and her former teammates didn't need to talk about their record because they were reminded of it so often.
"The media and fans talk about going undefeated way more than we did," she said. "I wouldn't call it pressure. I like to call it support. They didn't say we better win. They were encouraging, saying they believe in us."
Asked what, if anything, the Huskers discuss when it comes to their record, Yori answers with a question of her own.
"What are you going to say? It's there," she said before Wednesday's 77-52 win over Kansas. "We don't run around and chant '27-0,' that's for sure. The players might in their apartments or dorms, but it's not happening in the locker room.
"We're not hiding from it. We have a perfect record, but we're far from perfect. If you're spending your time thinking about the what-ifs, you're not taking care of your tasks."
Catchings, an All-Star for the Indiana Fever, said that's the same approach Tennessee coach Pat Summitt took when the Lady Vols were steamrolling the competition.
"You just focus on making your team better and not focus on losing," Catchings wrote. "You focus on playing your best each and every day. In my case, Pat wouldn't let us dwell on it. Of course, it was right there in our faces, but we didn't let it control us."
As for the thought that losing a game before the NCAA tournament could be a good thing to alleviate some of that pressure, forget about it, Yori said.
"There isn't any athlete or coach who wants to lose, so we're competitive and we would like to continue to try to win," Yori said. "We've continued to play to win as opposed to play not to lose. Our players have maintained a great maturity about what we have going on, and none of us get too worried about the streak."
There are, after all, more important things in life than winning basketball games, she said.
"There are a lot of people who have pressure in their jobs and a lot of people who have pressure in their daily lives — and a lot greater pressure than what we're going through," Yori said. "People who are unemployed and are trying to put food on the table for their family — that's more pressure than what we're dealing with right now."
-- Eric Olson
Friday's Games
Brewer, No. 4 Tennessee cruise past Ole Miss 76-51
DULUTH, Ga. — Mississippi coach Renee Ladner has yet to find a good way to defend Tennessee's Alicia Manning.
"Alicia Manning has kicked our butt (three) times we played them," Ladner said. "She's outmanned us, outhustled us and beat us on the boards."
Alyssia Brewer scored 21 points, Manning had 14 points with a career-high 14 rebounds, and No. 4 Tennessee beat Mississippi 76-51 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Friday.
The Lady Volunteers (28-2) have won 12 straight overall and 17 consecutive in the SEC second round.
Bianca Thomas scored 15 points for Ole Miss (17-14), which has dropped two of three and nine of 12 overall. The Rebels have lost 20 straight and 28 of 30 to Tennessee.
The Lady Vols were determined to hold Thomas' production down following her 34-point performance in Tennessee's 12-point home win against Ole Miss last Sunday.
"We were really focusing on limiting her touches, keeping a hand in her face at all times, getting in her shooting rhythm so she couldn't get her shots off," Manning said. "I think we did a pretty good job of that."
Brewer hit nine of 11 shots from the field. Her layup with 6:10 remaining made it 72-40 and gave Tennessee its biggest lead.
After scoring 20 points in victories over Alabama and Florida earlier this season, Brewer had her SEC career high against Ole Miss.
"I think it's been some of the confidence factor, having confidence in my shot," said Brewer, a sophomore forward. "Also as a team, whenever we start moving, it opens different shots for each of us."
The Lady Vols are trying to win the SEC regular-season and league tournament titles in the same year for the seventh time overall and the first time since 2000.
Angie Bjorklund added 16 points and five assists for Tennessee, which stretched its SEC second-round winning streak to 17 games.
"We had some great possessions and we had some ugly possessions," Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt said. "We've got to be more efficient. I think our team understands that, but overall a great win."
Ole Miss' Kayla Melson, the SEC assists leader, was helped off the floor with 12:29 left in the game after injuring her right ankle. She finished with 14 points and three assists. The Rebels dropped to 1-10 when the junior guard has fewer than five assists.
Melson described the injury as a mild sprain.
"My ankles have been tweaked since I've been (at Ole Miss)," she said. "I've sprained both ankles numerous times. This time was kind of different because I felt something I usually don't feel."
The Rebels, who last made the SEC semifinals in 1993, lost their seventh straight second-round game.
Ladner gave Manning much of the credit.
"Once again she came in and got a double-double," Ladner said. "She is getting better every time I see her play, particularly against us."
Tennessee won the rebounding battle 48-22.
"Ole Miss is a really aggressive team," Manning said. "We just had to match that, try to be more aggressive than them."
-- George Henry
Coach wants new attitude from No. 6 Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 6 Notre Dame is heading into the Big East tournament looking to regain its aggressive attitude.
Fighting Irish coach Muffet McGraw believes her team got away from its attacking style of play toward the end of the regular season, when Notre Dame (25-4) lost three of its last five games.
"I feel like we have not been the aggressor as much as I would have liked. In some of the games we've had it in spurts, but we certainly haven't had it in our losses," she said. "That's what's been missing."
McGraw said after the 76-51 loss to top-ranked Connecticut in the regular-season finale on Monday that she was most disappointed in her team not putting up enough of a fight.
"We're not going down swinging," she said. "I think that's something you want to at least feel good about, the way you executed and that you played your game."
McGraw saw the attitude she was looking for during a physical practice Thursday.
"We had a very aggressive attitude," she said. "We didn't call a lot of fouls and they just had to fight it out. I thought they really competed."
McGraw also wants to see her team play at a higher tempo. In losses to No. 12 Georgetown and No. 16 St. John's and in the first halves of wins over Marquette and Seton Hall, the Irish didn't play at the pace they need. She wants them to push and attack.
The Irish averaged 58.4 shots and 68.5 points in their final five games. In the previous 24 games, Notre Dame averaged 64.3 shots and 79.5 points a game.
"I think we're much better when we're running," McGraw said.
The Irish are the fifth seed in the conference tournament after tying St. John's (24-5, 12-4) for fourth place. They will play 13-seed Louisville (14-16) at noon Saturday. If they win, they will face St. John's in their hometown. If they beat the Red Storm, they likely will face the Huskies for the third time this season and the second time in eight days.
"It's where we put ourselves, so we can't really complain. We only have ourselves to blame for the spot we're in," McGraw said.
Although the Irish are a No. 5 seed for the Big East tournament, they're expecting to earn a No. 2 seed for the NCAA tournament. McGraw said she's not concerned that the Irish could hurt their chances during the conference tournament in Hartford, Conn.
"I think we're in great shape right now because we have no bad losses. The two losses to Connecticut, I'm not sure people even consider them," she said. "I think in our body of work we've shown we're one of the top eight teams. But I think we can improve our seed from where we are now."
McGraw is hoping if the Irish do play Connecticut again, they can find their offense. In the two losses to the Huskies, the Irish made only 28 percent of their shots.
"I don't think we can do any worse," McGraw said.
-- Tom Coyne
BC knocks off No. 8 Florida State, 67-60
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jasmine Gill came home and played like she plans on sticking around for a while.
The Greensboro native led Boston College to its most significant upset in a late-season string of them, scoring six of her 13 points during the run that lifted the Eagles past No. 8 Florida State 67-60 on Friday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal.
"Nothing like a home atmosphere," Gill said. "I feel like everybody in the stands was on our side."
Stefanie Murphy had 14 points for seventh-seeded BC (17-14), which shot nearly 49 percent and overcame a huge rebounding deficit by forcing the second-seeded Seminoles to a season-worst 27.6 percent shooting.
Cierra Bravard had 13 points for Florida State (26-5), and her three-point play tied it at 46 with 6:04 to play before Gill took over. She knocked down a jumper with the shot clock winding down, then went coast-to-coast for a layup after a steal to start the 13-3 run that put the Eagles in control.
"I think we faced every situation during the regular season," BC coach Sylvia Crawley said. "We had some games where a team would make a strong run at us, and we would not fight back at that moment. ... We would string together back-to-back negatives. I think our team has learned from that situation. ... They were very, very determined to fight back and stop their momentum."
Ayla Brown and Carolyn Swords had 11 points apiece while Jaclyn Thoman capped the decisive run with a free throw that made it 59-49 with 1:41 left. Murphy, who fouled out with 6:04 left, had an otherwise perfect night for Boston College: She hit all five of her shots, both of her 3s and both of her free throws.
The Eagles, who reached the ACC semifinals for the first time, have won three straight against nationally ranked teams, last month knocking off both Duke and then-ranked North Carolina in consecutive games. Next up on Saturday: North Carolina State, which upset No. 24 Virginia 66-59 in another quarterfinal.
Alysha Harvin had 13 points and Chastity Clayton added 10 for the Seminoles, who had trouble making up for the loss of all-ACC forward Jacinta Monroe, who averages a team-best 13.4 points.
She suffered what team officials said was a sprained right ankle roughly 4 minutes into the game, and she limped off the court with help from trainers, was taken to a hospital for X-rays that coach Sue Semrau said showed no broken bones.
But in Monroe's absence, Florida State turned to its perimeter game with poor results — the Seminoles hoisted a season-high 28 3-pointers and made just four — and lured Swords, Murphy and Brittanny Johnson into foul trouble, but couldn't take full advantage.
"It was very hard to play without one of your leaders on the floor, especially (Monroe)," Clayton said. "She has a big impact for us. Getting them in foul trouble, the coaches kept telling us to attack, attack, attack. Really, that's what we needed to do, especially since Cint was out, to be effective on the floor."
For a while, though, it appeared that they figured out how to play without Monroe, using a 21-5 run that spanned halftime to seemingly take control. The Seminoles, who trailed by nine early, pushed their lead to 36-27 on Clayton's jumper with 16:40 left, before managing just one field goal during the 8½ minutes that followed.
"We just couldn't buy one," Semrau said. "It's not like our team, but it is what it is."
Cold shooting was a frequent problem in this one for the Seminoles, who missed 20 of their first 24 shots. Courtney Ward, whose 11-point scoring average was second only to Monroe on her team, missed her first seven attempts and finished 3 for 20 — 2 for 17 from 3-point range — while Harvin was 4 for 17.
Florida State attempted 33 more shots than Boston College, but the Eagles made them significantly more often. No team this season shot a higher percentage against the Seminoles than BC, and that more than offset a 44-34 rebounding advantage and the Eagles' 18 turnovers.
"I just don't think we shot the ball well," Semrau said. "I thought Boston College did a great job of giving us tough looks. But we got second-chance shots, so there's really no excuse for that."
-- Joedy McCreary
No. 9 Duke edges Maryland 66-64 in ACC quarters
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Once again, Duke found itself in a late-game tussle with Maryland. And for the third time this season, the ninth-ranked Blue Devils figured out a way to fight off the determined young Terrapins.
Jasmine Thomas scored 21 points and hit five 3-pointers to help Duke beat Maryland 66-64 Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals, sending the top seed to the semifinals for the 16th straight year.
Joy Cheek added 14 points for the Blue Devils (25-5), including a leaning bank shot for a 66-63 lead with 1:36 left. Bridgette Mitchell had a pair of go-ahead free throws on the previous possession for Duke, which narrowly avenged an overtime loss to the Terrapins in last year's final.
"It feels good to come in here and grind this win out and move on," Thomas said. "I think just like we have been doing all season, we have to take what we didn't do well in this game and transfer it over into the next game. In the ACC tournament, the teams are familiar, so it's not really about executing and doing the X's and O's.
"It's about who wants it more. That's what we have to prove this year, is that we want it more."
Duke advanced to face fourth-seeded Georgia Tech, which beat Wake Forest in Friday's first game at the Greensboro Coliseum.
While the Blue Devils have been atop the ACC all season and the ninth-seeded Terrapins' NCAA tournament hopes are in question, the game ended up fitting right in with the other matchups between a pair of programs that can't get out of one another's way. It was the sixth time in seven seasons that Duke and Maryland met in the ACC tournament, and the rivalry includes the Terrapins' overtime win against the Blue Devils in the 2006 NCAA championship game.
Maryland (19-12) had played Duke tough in the regular season, losing by one at home in January and hanging within a point of the Blue Devils with about 4 minutes left before falling 71-59 two weeks ago in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This time, both teams rallied from significant deficits — Duke by 11 in the first half and Maryland by nine in the second — before Jackie Nared's running desperation heave from well beyond the arc hit all backboard and the Terrapins couldn't corral the rebound as the horn sounded.
"Everybody in our locker room believed we were going to win," Maryland's Lori Bjork said. "That makes it tough to take. When you invest that much emotionally and think you've got it and believe you can do it and then not be able to win, it's frustrating."
Lynetta Kizer scored 16 points for the Terrapins, who tied the game with about 5 minutes left before taking a 63-62 lead on two free throws from Bjork (14 points, four 3s) with 2:29 left.
But Mitchell was fouled on a rebound attempt on the next possession and hit both free throws to put Duke back in front. Then, after Diandra Tchatchouang threw the ball away looking for Kizer in the lane, Cheek drove past Kizer and banked in a tough leaner to put Duke ahead by three.
"The most important thing is our team and how we're growing," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "To get the composure piece and some of the critical plays that were made down the stretch, that makes March a lot of fun."
The biggest problem was how Duke didn't put the game away. Maryland coach Brenda Frese was called for a technical foul while arguing for a foul after Kizer missed three shots in traffic with about a minute left, but Thomas missed both free throws. Then, after Maryland's Dara Taylor hit a free throw to pull the Terrapins within two, Cheek missed a clinching jumper, and Nared grabbed the rebound and sprinted upcourt for the final shot.
Maryland had reached the quarterfinals by beating North Carolina 83-77 in Thursday's first round despite letting a 16-point lead slip all the way to two in the final seconds. The Terrapins had lost eight of 12 to close the regular season, and now must wait to find out their NCAA fate.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team," Frese said. "Like I told them, we battled and competed for 40 minutes, and we were right there. You talk about a play, a call, a possession, but we left everything out there."
-- Aaron Beard
No. 10 Ohio State gets past Illinois, 66-55
INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State's Jantel Lavender was strong and dominant in the post. Samantha Prahalis relied on her all-conference quickness to control the perimeter.
Just like the Buckeyes have come to expect from their strong tag-team tandem.
One problem against Illinois: Ohio State's other players weren't themselves Friday night.
The 10th-ranked Buckeyes had to continually fend off Illinois' comebacks before finally pulling away in the final minute for a 66-55 win in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
"In the first half, I think we were rushing a little bit," Lavender said. "As far as me in the post, I don't think I was getting as deep as I should have. It was physical. Once I made that adjustment with getting deeper in the lane, I think it turned around a little bit."
With Lavender, even on an off-night, the Buckeyes (28-4) can overcome almost anything.
No, the conference's three-time player of the year didn't get her usual double-double. She finished with 19 points and six rebounds. She also forced Illinois' top scorer, Jenna Smith, to catch the ball farther away from the basket than Smith would have liked.
Prahalis added 13 points and eight assists and constantly menaced Illinois in the passing lanes, while Brittany Johnson hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.
But the Buckeyes had an off-night shooting. They made just 40 percent from the field, including 6 for 22 from 3-point range, got outrebounded 45-34 and struggled to wrap up the victory.
It was the third straight year a ninth-seeded Illinois team met the top-seeded Buckeyes in the quarterfinals, with the Illini winning two years ago and the Buckeyes returning the favor last season. Now the defending tourney champions will face fourth-seeded Wisconsin in Saturday's semifinal. The Badgers defeated Purdue 73-51.
"Some days, you're going to make a lot of shots, some days you're not," said Ohio State coach Jim Foster, who has won a record six straight Big Ten regular-season titles. "They're a very, very good defensive team. They're a very good basketball team."
Starting with Smith.
The senior forward had 13 points and 11 rebounds in her final conference game, enough rebounds to break Lynnette Robinson's nearly three-decade-old single-season record at Illinois. But Smith also fell three frustrating points short of becoming the school's career scoring leader.
Ashley Berggren scored 2,089 points with the Illini. Smith has 2,087, a mark she could still get if the Illini (16-14) earn a postseason bid.
"Yeah, we were aware," coach Jolette Law said. "She started getting some shots. We were trying to win the ballgame, but I also wanted her to get some shots. She needed a couple points. She had a couple looks, they just didn't go in."
Lacey Simpson had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Illini but she also fell two steals short of moving into second place on the Big Ten's career list.
The numbers didn't bother the Illini. Losing to the Buckeyes for the third time this season did.
"I can't describe how it feels," Smith said when asked about the likelihood of finishing her career without an NCAA tourney appearance. "It just hurts to know we haven't been there. We did what we could all four years."
But Smith, Simpson & Co. couldn't outdo the Buckeyes in Indy.
Ohio State opened the game by building a 17-7 lead and twice in the first half had chances to put Illinois in even bigger holes. Instead, Illinois rallied, cutting a 22-12 deficit to 24-19 and then staying within 33-24 at the half even after the Buckeyes went on a 7-0 run.
Illinois opened the second half with five straight points, to make it 34-29. The Buckeyes answered that with an 11-4 run and extended the lead to 55-39 with 8:46 to go.
Game over, right? Wrong. The Illini charged back with a 14-2 run over 3½ minutes to close within 57-51.
Ohio State closed it out with free throws in the final minute.
"I think when they made that last run and they were coming at us, we switched out of our zone and went man and I think we did it very aggressively and very soundly. It disrupted their continuity."
-- Michael Marot
Dunlap, Mathies lead No. 19 Kentucky past Auburn
DULUTH, Ga. — Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell realized he hardly helped Victoria Dunlap last week.
"I just told her today she didn't need to get down on herself," Mitchell said. "I told her I was not going to get down on her and that I was going to encourage her as much as I could."
Dunlap scored 24 points and A'dia Mathies added 15 to help No. 19 Kentucky beat Auburn 65-54 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Friday.
Kentucky snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 2-5 against Auburn in the tournament. The Wildcats (24-6) also have the school's most wins since 1982-83.
Morgan Toles scored 13 points for Auburn (15-16), which had won two straight and took a 12-point home victory over Kentucky last Sunday.
Dunlap, Kentucky's first SEC player of the year, indicated that she and Mitchell agreed that the Wildcats couldn't afford to let Auburn gain much confidence early in the game.
"He just talked about how last game we didn't come out with the right energy," Dunlap said. "It was nothing different with him. Just stayed intense (and was) getting on us for just about everything."
Mathies, the SEC freshman of the year, hit a jumper with 6:54 remaining to push the lead back to 55-44. Dunlap followed with a fast-break basket 11 seconds later to make it 57-44.
Tigers guard Alli Smalley finished with 11 points, going 1 for 6 on 3-point attempts. She was alone, however, in trying to solve Kentucky's press, which gave Auburn fits throughout.
"As soon as they get the ball out of the basket, they're pushing it to the other end," Smalley said. "It's definitely hard to keep up with them."
Kentucky, which began the game ranked third in the nation with a 7.6-plus turnover margin, forced Auburn to commit 20 miscues that led to 22 points.
Mitchell, however, wasn't pleased that the Wildcats occasionally seemed to lose focus in their half-court defense.
"You cannot give Auburn a lot of easy looks or they'll make you pay," he said. "So I thought they adjusted well. I thought A'dia and Victoria in the last 7 minutes of the first half made some tremendous plays."
-- George Henry
Vanderbilt edges No. 21 LSU 63-61
DULUTH, Ga. — Vanderbilt found a way to make up for the lowest scoring game in the program's history.
Merideth Marsh and Hannah Tuomi each scored 17 points and Vanderbilt atoned for an embarrassing regular-season loss by beating No. 21 LSU 63-61 in the Southeastern Conference tournament on Friday night.
Marsh, who made 87 percent of her free-throw attempts in the regular season, made only 1 of 5 in the final 2:12, including two misses with 3.3 seconds remaining.
Allison Hightower's last-second attempt from near midcourt wasn't close, ending LSU's hopes of playing in its ninth straight semifinal.
Vanderbilt (22-9) will face No. 4 Tennessee, the top seed, in Saturday's first semifinal.
Hightower led LSU (20-9) with 24 points. Katherine Graham added 10.
The Tigers became the first Top 25 team to be eliminated from the SEC tournament.
LSU held Vanderbilt to its lowest points total in school history on Feb. 18 when it beat the Commodores 55-39 in Baton Rouge, La.
Vanderbilt made up for the loss with its fourth straight SEC tournament win over LSU. The streak includes a win in the 2007 SEC championship game at the Gwinnett Arena and a win in last year's semifinals in North Little Rock, Ark.
Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said "any kind of mental edge at this time of the year" is important.
"I do I think it's mental going into the game," Balcomb said. "They know that they've been beaten last year when we beat 'em in the final, and recently we've beaten 'em, so I think they know we've won a lot of games in these tournaments.
"We're confident. Maybe they're a little more hesitant. It can never hurt you, put it that way."
Vanderbilt's players were motivated by their poor showing in last month's loss at LSU.
"Definitely. We talked about that before the game on the bus ride here," said Jence Rhoads, who had 8 points. "We didn't want to come out like we did in Baton Rouge. We weren't proud of that game at all. It was one of our worst games all year. We wanted to get a little bit of revenge and show them what we were really made of."
LSU coach Van Chancellor said the Commodores showed "all the heart and character in the world.
"They come out and get in this conference tournament, and they just play their heart out," Chancellor said.
In a game of big swings, a baseline jumper by Elan Brown gave Vanderbilt a 60-59 lead with 3:13 remaining. Marsh's free throw a minute later pushed the lead to two points, and the senior guard added a short jumper with 43 seconds remaining for a 63-59 lead.
Taylor Turnbow's follow shot for LSU cut the lead to two points with 20 seconds remaining.
The Commodores, the defending champions but only the fifth seed in the tournament, overcame a sluggish start. Marsh hit a 3-pointer to open the game and LSU scored the next 15 points.
Vanderbilt recovered with an 11-2 run to cut LSU's lead to 17-14. Tuomi scored eight points in a 12-0 run later in the half that gave the Commodores the lead.
The momentum shifts continued in the second half. Vanderbilt led 40-32 before LSU used a 15-2 run to lead 47-42.
LSU's struggles to defend Tuomi inside became more difficult when starting forward LaSondra Barrett fouled out with 5:05 remaining. Barrett, who averages 12.7 points and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds, left with nine points and three rebounds.
-- Charles Odum
Rack leads Mississippi State past Georgia 67-52
DULUTH, Ga. — Mississippi State could have faltered when its leading scorer went to the bench with four fouls and still almost 14 minutes left to play.
Instead, that was when Mississippi State took advantage of its balanced scoring.
Mississippi State pulled ahead with a 14-4 second-half run and beat No. 22 Georgia 67-52 on Friday night to move closer to its first Southeastern Conference tournament title.
Alexis Rack had 14 points to lead five players in double figures for Mississippi State (19-11), which will play No. 19 Kentucky in Saturday night's second semifinal game. No. 4 Tennessee will face Vanderbilt in the first semifinal.
Tysheka Grimes, who finished with 12 points, had 11 when she picked up her fourth foul with 13:55 remaining.
"A lot of folks stepped up when we had the foul situation," Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said.
Grimes was called for her fourth foul less than a minute after her 3-pointer gave her team its first lead of the second half at 33-32.
With Grimes on the bench, Mississippi State briefly lost the lead on a basket by Georgia freshman Jasmine Hassell. Mississippi State then took control by making three 3-pointers in a 17-4 run for a 50-38 lead.
"There was a lot of opportunity for this team to fold, the foul situation and other things," Fanning-Otis said. "We just found a way to stay together."
Mary Kathryn Govero, who had 13 points, said defense set up the decisive run.
"There was definitely a turning point in the game when we were getting defensive stops," Govero said. "We were knocking down some shots, which gave us a lot of momentum and confidence to keep hitting shots."
Mississippi State has advanced to only one SEC tournament championship game, falling to Tennessee in the 2000 final.
"We don't necessarily talk about what Mississippi State hasn't done before, we just talk about what our goals as a team have been all season and how we can't look in the past," Govero said.
Georgia (23-8) was the second straight ranked team to fall in the tournament, following Vanderbilt's win over No. 21 LSU earlier on Friday.
Armelie Lumanu had 12 and Chanel Mokango added 11 for Mississippi State.
Meredith Mitchell led Georgia with 15 points. Jasmine James had 10 points while making only 4 of 17 shots from the field. Ashley Houts made only 3 of 12 shots for nine points.
Mississippi State's No. 3 seed is its highest in the tournament's history. It is in the semifinals for the first time since 2003, when it lost to Tennessee.
Georgia has won four SEC tournaments but none since 2001. It suffered its second straight second-round loss.
Both teams struggled with poor shooting in the first half. Georgia led 26-23 at the break despite making only 31 percent of its shots (9 of 29) from the field. Mississippi State was even worse at 25 percent (9 of 36).
Only Mississippi State enjoyed a second-half recovery, shooting 53.3 percent in the final 20 minutes while Georgia made 33.3 percent of its shots.
Rack was 0 for 7 from the field in the first half before making 5 of 8 in the second half.
"I think her pride probably kicked in at halftime," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "She had a little bit more kick to her, a little bit more attack mode."
Lumanu left the game with an apparent injury to her left leg with 1:14 remaining.
-- Charles Odum
Balanced No. 25 Michigan State tops Michigan 61-50
INDIANAPOLIS — No. 25 Michigan State beat rival Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals, but the Spartans may be without their intimidator as they move forward.
The Spartans won 61-50 on Friday, but 6-foot-9 center Allyssa DeHaan left the game with back spasms in the first half and did not return. Coach Suzy Merchant said the senior is questionable for Saturday's game against Iowa, which beat Penn State 82-75 to advance.
"We don't know," Merchant said when asked if DeHaan would play. "She got hit in the back, and it flared up on her so she couldn't come back and play. The thing is, we have 24 hours to kind of manage it and see where she's at."
DeHaan played just eight minutes, and finished with two points, two rebounds and two blocks. Despite the injury, Michigan State won its seventh straight game and seventh straight in the series.
Kalisha Keane scored 11 points and Lykendra Johnson, Aisha Jefferson and Jasmine Thomas added 10 points apiece for the Spartans (22-8), who won all three meetings with the Wolverines this season.
"We always find a way," Jefferson said. "Not the most ideal way to win the game, but a W is a W. And we're not satisfied, but we're definitely happy we won."
Krista Phillips led Michigan (17-13) with 12 points, and Carmen Reynolds added 10 for the Wolverines, who had won two straight. The Spartans outrebounded Michigan 41-29 and scored 14 second-chance points on 17 offensive boards.
"I just think they're just a good rebounding team in general," Phillips said. "I think that was one of the things we kind of wanted to do well. I think in the second half, we didn't do as good a job of taking care of the rebounds. I think that's part of the reason why we kind of lost ahold of it in the second half."
The Wolverines were proud to finish tied for sixth place in the conference after being picked to finish last.
"I think we're realistic to look at a WNIT bid," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. "Postseason play is pretty critical as we build our program."
Michigan State shot 50 percent in the second half while holding Michigan to 25 percent shooting.
"That's been our thing," Merchant said. "That's what's helped us get to a point where we're playing really good basketball, and why we've won 11 of our last 12."
Michigan State took a seven-point lead in the early minutes of the second half, but the 6-foot-6 Phillips took advantage of DeHaan's absence by scoring four straight points to pull Michigan to within 36-33.
Michigan State responded with a 10-4 run, and a jumper by Jefferson gave the Spartans a 46-37 edge with 10:24 to play. Michigan State led by at least five points the rest of the way.
Michigan ran out to a 10-3 lead to start the game before the Spartans rallied. Jefferson got a friendly bounce on a 3-pointer to tie the score at 16 with 8:10 left in the first half. The Spartans finally took a 25-23 lead on a layup by Brittney Thomas.
"Halfway through that first half, we decided to play some defense," Merchant said. "We were giving them way too many open looks."
Jasmine Thomas drained a jumper with 7 seconds left in the first half to give Michigan State a 32-29 lead at the break.
The Spartans hadn't played since Feb. 28, and Merchant said it showed. She hopes her team plays better on Saturday.
"We hadn't played in a while, and we were kind of sluggish," she said. "I thought we played 30 good minutes of basketball.
-- Cliff Brunt
Delva helps No. 23 Hartford rout New Hampshire
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — America East Player of the Year Diana Delva had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead top-seeded and No. 23 Hartford to its school-record 19th straight victory, 68-35 over New Hampshire in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament Friday night.
Erica Beverly, who joined Delva on the All-Conference team and was the defensive Player of the Year, added 16 points to help the Hawks reach Sunday's semifinals against Stony Brook or Binghamton.
After the first two rounds, the championship game is to be played on the home floor of the higher seed, which would leave the Hawks at home — where they are 15-0 — if they reach the title game.
Hartford (26-3) led by 15 at the half and beat New Hampshire for the third time this season.
Candace Williams had 13 points for the Wildcats (9-22), who shot just 27.3 percent from the field, including 1 for 14 from 3-point range.
