Tennnesee's Summitt earns landmark win

Pat Summitt's 100th NCAA Tournament win followed the same old formula Tuesday night. Start fast, play suffocating defense, and roll into the regional semifinals with another blowout.

Two days after Summitt publicly challenged her team to play harder, the Lady Vols responded with a dominant defensive effort, a crisper offense and a 78-52 rout of host Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.

The victory gave Summitt the distinction of being the first coach in Division I basketball -- men's or women's -- to join the tourney's 100-win club.

"I don't think about numbers personally, but for the team, we've never not been to the Sweet 16 and I didn't want this team to be the first that didn't advance," Summitt said.

Tennessee (32-2) now makes its 27th consecutive regional semifinal appearance Sunday in Oklahoma City against fifth-seeded Notre Dame.

However, it was the Vols' defensive performance, not the milestone, that drew Summitt's greatest praise.

"I just got done telling the team, that was about 30 minutes of the best defense we have played all season," she said.

Of course, Summitt probably would have preferred it continued for 40 minutes. Then again, that's why she also holds the Division I victories record with 979.

The atmosphere inside Purdue's home venue was just what Summitt wanted. She applauded the loud crowd that filled the lower bowl of Mackey Arena with a mix mostly of Tennessee orange and Purdue's old gold and black, dueling bands and an energetic crowd.

It was far better than the show the fans endured.

For a while, it looked as if the Lady Vols (32-2) might even have a special commendation for Summitt: most lopsided second-round victory. But ninth-seeded Purdue (19-15) began closing the 33-point gap in the final 10 minutes and avoided the indignity of breaking Summitt's personal second-round record -- a 41-point victory over Rutgers in 1992.

The lackluster finish sure didn't delay the celebration.

When Tennessee's players stepped off the team bus, they were surrounded by the pep band playing "Rocky Top." The party continued even after Summitt finally yanked her starters for good in the final four minutes.

By then, Candace Parker had 24 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, and Alexis Hornbuckle had 14 points,5 assists and 8 of the Vols' 15 steals -- and Summitt had her achievement.

It was never even close.

Purdue, the Big Ten tournament champs and a regional finalist last year, was led by Keshia Mosley with 14 points and Kalika France with 10. But the Boilermakers shot only 37.3 percent from the field and committed 24 turnovers against full-court pressure.

"We didn't come out prepared in the beginning," Mosley said. "We were shaky on plays. But we got stronger near the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second half."

Connecticut 89, Texas 55: Inside and out, Maya Moore was too much for Texas.

Connecticut's fabulous freshman scored 24 points and the Huskies shot a blistering 60 percent from the field to beat Texas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Bridgeport, Conn.

The top-seeded Huskies advanced to the Greensboro regional semifinals Sunday against Old Dominion.

It's the 15th straight season top-seeded UConn (34-1) has advanced to the regional semifinals. Renee Montgomery added 17 points and Tina Charles had 15 for the Huskies, who routed Cornell 89-47 in the opening round.

Carla Cortijo scored 18 points and Earnesia Williams added 12 to lead the eighth-seeded Longhorns (22-13), who had won six of seven -- including a 72-55 win over Minnesota in the first round.

Moore was everywhere on the floor, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking three shots. She hit 6 of her first 7 shots, including four 3-pointers en route to her first 20-point game since scoring 29 against LSU on Feb. 25. Texas had no answer for her.

Longhorns coach Gail Goestenkors is one of the rare coaches to have success against Connecticut. She led Duke to a 68-67 win in Hartford on Jan. 3, 2004, ending UConn's 69-game home winning streak. Then she coached the Blue Devils past the Huskies 63-61 in overtime in the regional finals at Bridgeport in the 2006 NCAA tournament.

Despite Goestenkors' recent success against Connecticut, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma wasn't worried.

"If we play our 'A' game, we're going to win," said Auriemma on Monday. "I like to be in the situation where, if we lose, it's because we didn't play well enough."

ODU 88, Virginia 85 (OT): The littlest player made the biggest shot for Old Dominion. Then one of the tallest made sure it would be enough to win a thrilling game at Norfolk, Va.

Jazzmin Walters made a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in overtime Tuesday night, and Tiffany Green blocked an attempt at a tying 3-pointer just before the buzzer, giving the Lady Monarchs a victory over Virginia and a trip to the Greensboro Regional.

Fifth-seeded Old Dominion (31-4) fell behind 85-81 in overtime, but closed the game on a 7-0 run.

The 6-foot-2 Green met Lyndra Littles at the top of the key and blocked her shot. Littles, who scored 29 points, collected the rejection and tried again, but her second effort came up well short and the wild contest was finished.

Fourth-seeded Virginia (24-10), which trailed almost all night, forced overtime when Aisha Mohammed was fouled with 1.8 seconds to go.

Walters led Old Dominion with 17 points and 10 assists and committed just 1 turnover. Green had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks.

Duke 67, Arizona St. 59: Chante Black scored a career-high 26 points and had 13 rebounds, and the third-seeded Blue Devils beat Arizona State at College Park, Md., never trailing on their way to advancing to the round of 16 for the 11th consecutive season.

Black, a 6-foot-5 junior, was 9-for-20 from the field and 8-for-10 at the line. She also had 3 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals. Jasmine Thomas, with 11 points, was the only other Duke player to reach double figures.

The Blue Devils (25-9) will next face No. 2 seed Texas A&M on Sunday in the regional semifinal round.

Briann January scored 17 points and Lauren Lacey 13 for Arizona State (22-11)/

Louisville 80, Kansas St. 63: Angel McCoughtry scored 24 and the Cardinals beat Kansas State at Bridgeport, Conn. to advance to the regional semifinals for the first time in 12 tries.

Candyce Bingham added 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Cardinals (26-9), who have won 13 of their last 15 games.

Ashley Sweat had 16 points and reserve Kelsey Nelson added 12 to lead Kansas State (22-10).