North Carolina rallies, survives

An early onslaught by Louisville star Angel McCoughtry was not enough to derail North Carolina's bid for a third straight trip to the Final Four.

LaToya Pringle had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and the top-seeded Tar Heels climbed out of an 18-point hole in a 78-74 victory over the fourth-seeded Cardinals on Saturday at the regional semifinals in New Orleans.

The victory extended the Tar Heels' (33-2) winning streak to 16 and placed them in the regional final on Monday night, when they'll play LSU (30-5).

McCoughtry finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds but was unable to dominate in the second half as she had in the first, when she scored 21 of her points.

Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 13 for North Carolina. Rashanda McCants added 12 points and Jessica Breland 11.

Candyce Bingham had 17 points and 20 rebounds for Louisville (26-10). Chauntise Wright scored 13 for the Cardinals.

LSU 67, Oklahoma St. 52: Erica White scored 18 points to lead four LSU players in double figures, and the second-seeded Lady Tigers (30-5) cruised to a victory over third-seeded Oklahoma State (27-8) in the regional semifinals at New Orleans.

Rashonta LeBlanc had 11 of her 13 points in the second half for LSU, while Sylvia Fowles had 12 points and Quianna Chaney 10 for the Lady Tigers, seeking to advance to a fifth straight Final Four.

Andrea Riley scored 26 points for Oklahoma State, but when she finally began to get some help from her teammates, it was too late.

Maryland 80, Vanderbilt 66: Crystal Langhorne scored 28 points, and Maryland's defense swarmed Vanderbilt in a convincing win at the regional semifinals at Spokane, Wash.

Two years removed from their national title, the Terrapins (33-3) are one win away from a return to the Final Four. Maryland will face either Stanford or Pittsburgh in Monday night's regional final. It will be the sixth regional championship game for the Terrapins.

The Terrapins were inspired in the first half, holding Vanderbilt to just 34.5 percent shooting and forcing 9 turnovers that Maryland converted into 10 easy points, quickly getting the pace to its liking. Vanderbilt leading scorer Christina Wirth was held scoreless for the first 15½ minutes, and only the aggressive play off the bench of Jessica Mooney kept the Commodores within 15 at halftime.

Wirth finished with 13 points and Mooney added 11 for fourth-seeded Vandy (24-9).