Stanford Escapes Upset

NCAA women’s tournament

Naomi Mulitauaopele’s short turnaround jump shot with 2.7 seconds left in overtime gave No. 1 seeded Stanford a 78-76 win over Alabama in the West Regional Saturday night at Seattle.

The Cardinal (28-2) fought off an 11-point second half defecit and was forced to play without Kate Starbird down the stretch. Starbird, from Lakes High School near Tacoma, fouled out with 2 minutes left in regulation.

By beating Alabama (24-8), Stanford joins the other top seeds, all of whom advanced into the quarterfinals. The Cardinal plays Auburn on Monday night for a spot in the Final Four.

East Region

Tennessee 92, Kansas 71: The top-seeded Vols were relaxed and ready for Kansas. That’s all it took.

“Coming off the games we’ve played, from the (Southeast Conference) tournament all the way to this game, we’ve got a lot of confidence,” Tennessee point guard Michelle Marciniak said.

It will be the 12th regional final in 15 years of NCAA play for Tennessee (29-4), which will play Virginia (26-6) at Charlottesville on Monday for a berth in the Final Four.

“We don’t care who we’re playing.”

The Vols got 18 points from Latina Davis, 16 from Chamique Holdsclaw and 12 from Marciniak and two others. They shot 53 percent to Kansas’ 44.1 and outrebounded the Jayhawks 43-30, including 16-8 on the offensive ends.

Kansas (22-10), making its first appearance beyond the second round, trailed 49-30 by halftime. Virginia 72, Old Dominion 60: Also at Charlottesville, Tora Suber scored 26 and DeMya Walker and Monick Foote made strong contributions as the Cavaliers beat the Monarachs (29-3).

Walker, a freshman, scored 14 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had four blocks, including two in the opening minute.

The game had been billed as a battle for supremacy in Virginia.

Foote added 13 points for the Cavaliers, helping them overcome a 2-for-13 shooting performance by Wendy Palmer. A senior, Palmer missed several easy shots and finished with eight points. She did grab 12 rebounds.

Old Dominion had won 19 straight games.

Midwest Region

Louisiana Tech 66, Texas Tech 55: At Nacogdoches, Texas, Racquel Spurlock had 20 points and 17 rebounds, helping the top-seeded Techsters overcome a slow start and hold off the Red Raiders’ late comeback.

Both teams started poorly, but the Techsters (31-1) warmed up first, rolling to a 31-14 halftime lead.

Vickie Johnson had 16 points and 15 rebounds as Louisiana Tech stretched its win streak to 15 games. Michi Atkins had 15 of her 21 points in the second half to lead the Red Raiders (27-5).

Georgia 78, Stephen F. Austin, 64: Also at Nacogdoches, Tracy Henderson had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 2 Bulldogs ended Stephen F. Austin’s string of upsets.

The Bulldogs (24-4) will play Louisiana Tech Monday for a berth in the Final Four. Saudia Roundtree scored 19 points and Kendra Holland 17 for Georgia.

Katrina Price led the Jacks (27-4) with 22 points and 17 rebounds, and Latonia Bobnnett had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Mideast Region

Vanderbilt 74, No. 7 Iowa 63: At Rosemont, Ill., Sheri Sam continued her torrid postseason shooting with 30 points as the third-seeded Commodores beat the Hawkeyes (27-4).

Sam had 20 points in the first half and did all the scoring in a 12-0 run that gave Vanderbilt (22-8) control. The Commodores will play Connecticut on Monday night for a berth in the Final Four.

Second-seeded Iowa (27-4) was frustrated most of the night by Vanderbilt’s 2-3 zone.

Connecticut 72, San Francisco 44: Also at Rosemont, Ill., defending national champion Connecticut clamped down on the Dons with tough second-half defense and moved to within one game of a return trip to the women’s Final Four.

Kara Wolters and Nykesha Sales each scored 21 points as the No. 1 seed Huskies (33-3) ended the 12th-seeded Dons’ surprising ride through the tournament.

The defending national champions got 18 points from Carla Berube. San Francisco finished at 24-8.

West Region

Auburn 75, Penn State 69 At Seattle, Laticia Morris scored 27, including seven in the final 1:08, as the Tigers (23-8) beat Penn State (27-7).