CLEVELAND REGIONAL
Latta lifts North Carolina
North Carolina’s Ivory Latta made the winning shot and then was carried from the floor – by the team’s trainers.
The tough and tiny point guard hit a driving layup with 2.8 seconds left before her leg cramped up as the top-seeded Tar Heels advanced in the NCAA tournament with a 70-68 win Sunday over Purdue in the semifinals of the Cleveland Regional.
After banking in the go-ahead basket to snap a 68-68 tie, Latta fell to the floor in pain and watched as Purdue’s Katie Gearlds missed a half-court heave as time expired. The Tar Heels (32-1) rushed to Latta, who by then was grabbing her left knee and screaming in agony.
As her teammates flocked around her, the arena went from wild cheers to stunned silence.
Latta laid on the floor for several minutes before she was picked up by Carolina’s medical staff and taken to the locker room while the other Tar Heels remained on the floor to hear their alma mater.
North Carolina will play Tennessee in the regional final on Tuesday night with the winner getting a spot in the Final Four in Boston.
Erlana Larkins scored 23 points and Latta added 19 points, eight assists and four steals for the Tar Heels.
Also at Cleveland
(2) Tennessee (31-4)76
(3) Rutgers (27-5)69
Candace Parker scored 29 points with six blocks, and Shanna Zolman hit five 3-pointers and added 29 points to lead Tennessee over Rutgers in the semifinals of the Cleveland Regional.
Parker scored 12 straight points during a critical run by the Lady Vols. The freshman hit jumpers, blocked shots and at times brought the ball up the floor, looking a little bit like NBA star LeBron James in his own building.
Tennessee improved to 21-4 in the regional semifinals in its 25th straight appearance. The Lady Vols have not missed the regional finals since 2001.
Matee Ajavon led Rutgers with 24 points and Cappie Pondexter, a Naismith player of the year finalist, scored 22 in her final game.
Zolman, who has made three Final Four appearances and is Tennessee’s career leader in 3-pointers, shot 10 for 14 and played all 40 minutes.
BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL
At Bridgeport, Conn.
(1) Duke (29-3)86
(4) Michigan State (24-10)61
The smiles broke out on the Duke bench midway through the second half. And why not? This one was over by then.
Monique Currie scored 17 points to lead top-seeded Duke over Michigan State.
The Blue Devils had an answer for every Michigan State run early on – then ran away with the game in the second half and led by as many as 27 in the closing minutes.
Victory Lucas-Perry had 17 points to lead the Spartans, last year’s NCAA runner-up.
(2) Connecticut (32-4)77
(3) Georgia (23-9)75
Barbara Turner wasn’t about to go home.
The Connecticut senior hit a fadeaway 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left and two defenders on her to give the Huskies a win over Georgia in the Bridgeport Regional semifinal. They will play Duke in the regional final Tuesday night.
Turner had a career-high 33 points and nine rebounds to help the Huskies rally from 15 points down. With the victory, UConn pushed its NCAA winning streak in the state of Connecticut to 29 games.
Tasha Humphrey led Georgia with 27 points.