Iowa advances to championship

Pierre Pierce scored 19 points and the No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes (5-1) continued to dominate their tournament, rolling to an 88-53 victory over the winless Centenary Gentlemen (0-4) on Friday night in the first round of the Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa.

Centenary was never a threat after the first 11 minutes and Iowa blew open the game with a 30-8 burst in the second half.

Iowa, 44-1 in this tournament, will try for its 22nd championship in 23 years tonight against UNC-Greensboro, which beat Southern Miss 79-78.

(24) Virginia 89, Auburn 87: At Richmond, Va., freshman Sean Singletary scored 25 points and Devin Smith added 23, and the Cavaliers (6-0) overcame a 33-point game by Tigers freshman Toney Douglas to beat Auburn (5-1) and hand Jeff Lebo his first loss as the coach of the Tigers.

Women

Georgia Tech 55, (6) Georgia 49: At Atlanta, Stephanie Higgs scored 16 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (4-0) to an upset of the Bulldogs. … (14) Purdue 66, UC Santa Barbara 65 (OT): At Santa Barbara, Calif., Erin Lawless scored off a rebound with four seconds to play in overtime to help the Boilermakers (4-1) beat the Gauchos (1-2). Lawless finished with 20 points.… (19) Kansas St. 84, New Hampshire 50: At Manhattan, Kan., Laurie Koehn made five 3s and scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats (4-1) past New Hampshire (1-3) in the first round of the Wildcat Classic.