Seattle ? Seimone Augustus played so hard, she worked up a cramp in her neck and missed LSU’s postgame interviews.

She left it all on the court, scoring 29 points on 14-of-19 shooting to lead fourth-seeded LSU to a 71-55 victory over top-seeded Texas on Saturday night in the West regional semifinals.

“Seimone can score at will,” said Tameka Johnson, who added 12 points and 13 assists. “She is versatile because of her height and she can post up, beat people off the dribble. It’s hard for people to guard her.”

The Tigers (26-7) advanced to meet the winner of the late contest between Purdue and Georgia.

Augustus wasn’t available after the game. Team officials said she complained of a stiff neck and required treatment with intravenous fluids in the training room.

“My teammates did a good job of getting me open,” Augustus said in a statement. “Once I got the ball, I just read the defense, made the correct cut and went to the basket aggressively when I had a good shot.”

LSU looked great in the hands of acting coach Dana “Pokey” Chatman, who has filled in over the past two months while Basketball Hall of Fame member Sue Gunter battled acute bronchitis.

Texas (30-5) won last year’s meeting 78-60 to reach the Final Four, and it was sweet for the Tigers to take the rematch in such lopsided fashion.

“We all wanted to have a big game tonight,” LSU’s Doneeka Hodges said. “We all came out and played hard to win. That is what we focused on.”

This wasn’t the kind of Texas two-step that Longhorns fans wanted to see. The loss came one night after Texas lost 79-71 to Xavier at the same point in the men’s tournament.

Augustus was fabulous in the first 20 minutes, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor to help LSU to a 37-24 halftime lead. She made shots from everywhere — underneath the basket, jumpers from the top of the key and a few fast-break layups.

“I expected she’d have 20, and I thought we could survive that,” Texas coach Jody Conradt said.

Jamie Carey scored 17 points to lead the Longhorns, while Heather Schreiber and Jackson each had 14. Stacy Stephens collected 12 rebounds, but Texas’ superior inside play was wiped out by LSU’s strong defense.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” Stephens said. “They were everywhere with their hands out there. They were like a swarm of flies.”

East Regional

Penn State 55,

Notre Dame 49

Hartford, Conn. — Kelly Mazzante hit a floating jumper with 46 seconds left and made a key steal down the stretch to lift top-seeded Penn State in the regional semifinals. Jessica Brungo led Penn State (28-5) with 20 points and Mazzante finished with 17 in a game in which neither team led by more than six points. Penn State plays No. 2 seed Connecticut for a trip to the Final Four. Jacqueline Batteast led the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish (21-11) with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Connecticut 63,

UC Santa Barbara 55

Hartford, Conn. — Diana Taurasi scored 21 points, and Connecticut survived a sloppy game offensively to beat feisty UC Santa Barbara in the regional semifinals. The second-seeded Huskies (28-4) advanced to the regional final against top-seeded Penn State on Monday night by holding UCSB to 32 percent shooting and frustrating the Gauchos’ 6-foot-8 center, Lindsay Taylor. UConn, winner of the last two national championships and three of the last four, is now just one victory from a record fifth straight trip to the Final Four.