Tempe, Ariz. ? Somehow, Sophia Young held herself together through an emotional reunion with her mother only hours before Baylor tipped off in the Tempe Regional semifinals.

Young followed that long-awaited meeting with one of the best games yet in her sensational junior season, almost single-handedly leading the Lady Bears to the NCAA Tournament’s round of eight for the first time.

She scored 26 points, six in the final 7:56, and grabbed seven rebounds in Baylor’s 64-57 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night.

“It was just joy, really,” she said of seeing her mom. “My emotions are just running wild. I’m happy my mom could come and see me play. It was such a great atmosphere. And it’s a tremendous opportunity to take my team to the Elite Eight.”

Her mother, Annie, watched her daughter at the college level for the first time after traveling from St. Vincent, West Indies. Young penetrated with ease and dominated a highly touted matchup with Minnesota’s bruising frontcourt of Janel McCarville and Jamie Broback as Baylor won its 17th straight game.

Young, Baylor’s scoring and rebounding leader, went to the mall, then saw her mother for just the second time since leaving home at 15 to be an exchange student in the United States. She raised both arms as the final buzzer sounded.

Her mom was just as elated.

“It was awesome,” Annie Christopher said from her front-row seat. “She’s good, man. She’s good.”

Steffanie Blackmon added 10 points and six rebounds, and second-seeded Baylor withstood a late threat and a testy final minute to keep the No. 3 Golden Gophers from a return trip to the Final Four.

Minnesota's Jamie Broback (33) battles Baylor's Steffanie Blackmon for a loose ball. The Bears won their NCAA regional semifinal, 64-57, Saturday in Tempe, Ariz.

Baylor (30-3), in the round of 16 for the second straight season, will play the winner of Saturday’s late game between top-seeded North Carolina and No. 5 Arizona State on Monday night for a trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

McCarville and Baylor’s Abiola Wabara were whistled for a double-technical foul with 17 seconds to go after McCarville shoved Wabara following a rebound. There was a heated exchange before referees, and teammates separated them.

McCarville finished with 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting, 11 rebounds, four blocks and four assists in the final game of her All-America career for the Gophers (26-8).

Chattanooga Regional

LSU 90, Liberty 48

LSU All-American Seimone Augustus and Scholanda Hoston each scored 22 points to help the Lady Tigers end Liberty’s surprising run through the NCAA Tournament, 90-48, in the regional semifinals. The 42-point margin of victory was the second-largest in regional semifinal history, behind Louisiana Tech’s 44-point win over Purdue in 1990. Point guard Temeka Johnson had 12 points and 15 assists, while Sylvia Fowles had 10 points for top overall seed LSU (32-2), trying to reach the Final Four for the second straight year.

Duke 63, Georgia 57

Duke All-American Monique Currie had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and made four free throws in the final 26 seconds to secure the victory for the second-seeded Blue Devils (31-4). Mistie Williams added 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Wanisha Smith and Alison Bales each had 10. Duke is in the final eight for the sixth time with hopes of getting to the Final Four for the first time since 2003. Tasha Humphrey, the Southeastern Conference freshman of the year, had 16 points and 13 rebounds to pace Georgia (24-10).