Surprise, surprise! BC wins

Shaky Eagles oust top-seeded Ohio State, 79-69

? Boston College seemed an unlikely candidate to pull the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament.

Snapping out of a late-season slump, the eighth-seeded Eagles made Ohio State the first No. 1 seed to exit the NCAAs with a 79-69 victory in the second round of the Albuquerque Regional on Tuesday night.

Kindyll Dorsey scored 24 points and hit six three-pointers, a school record for a tournament game, to lead the Eagles.

The Buckeyes became the first top seed eliminated in the second round since Texas Tech in 1998.

“We did not defend the three-point shot well at all,” Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. “We did a great job on Dorsey in December. Tonight we did not do a good job at all.”

While it was a surprise to see the Buckeyes (29-3) struggle, it was every bit as stunning that the Eagles managed to right themselves and reach the regional semifinals.

Boston College (21-11) had lost five straight entering the tournament, but won two games in three days at a site – Mackey Arena – where Ohio State has won only twice since 1994. The Eagles now face fifth-seeded Utah on Saturday as they continue their quest to go home for the Final Four in Boston.

“That’s all we heard is we lost five in a row,” Boston College coach Cathy Inglese said. “All we worked on was our execution on defense.”

Ohio State's Debbie Merrill, top, and Boston College's Lisa Macchia battle for a rebound. Boston College won the second-round NCAA Tournament game, 79-69, on Tuesday in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Buckeyes, in contrast, had been cruising. They came into the tournament crowned Big Ten regular-season and tourney champs and had just taken over the nation’s longest winning streak when they won No. 20 Sunday against 16th-seeded Oakland.

But the most debated of this year’s top seeds also proved the most vulnerable.

Ohio State fell one game short of tying the school’s single-season record for victories and lost in the second round for the third time in four years. They also lost guard Brandie Hoskins, who appeared to injure her left ankle with 1:17 left. There was no immediate update on the injury.

Big Ten player of the year Jessica Davenport led the Buckeyes with 21 points and seven rebounds – not enough to avoid their first loss since Jan. 1, which was also at Purdue.

“We didn’t come out on the level we needed to, especially in the first four minutes,” said Marscilla Packer, who had 16 points for the Buckeyes. “We were scoring, but we weren’t stopping them.”

For Boston College, it was a stark contrast from their overpowering victory against Notre Dame two days earlier.

This time, Dorsey loosened up the defense from outside and Brooke Queenan, who had 19 points and five rebounds, connected on a variety of midrange jumpers and drives.

The combination allowed the Eagles to take control quickly with a 12-2 run as they built a 20-9 lead.

The Buckeyes looked out of sync much of the night.

Davenport was not much of a factor in the first half, and they shot a dismal 37.8 percent from the field in the second half. But they still managed to rally twice.

Cleveland Regional

Tennessee 66, George Washington 53

Norfolk, Va. – Shanna Zolman scored 19 points, and Candace Parker had 15, and Tennessee started fast and led throughout.

The Lady Vols advanced to the semifinals of the Cleveland Regional against Rutgers.

Tennessee (30-4) also reached 30 victories for the 16th time in Pat Summitt’s 32 years as coach and will play in the regional semis for the 25th straight year.

Parker never attempted a dunk like the two she pulled off in her history-making first-round game against Army, but still showed enough razzle-dazzle to get the crowd roaring.

Rutgers 82, TCU 48

Trenton, N.J. – Cappie Pondexter scored 24 points to lead Rutgers to past TCU.

Matee Ajavon led four other players in double figures with 18 points and also had 13 assists for No. 3 seed Rutgers (27-4), which will face Tennessee on Sunday. The second-seeded Vols beat Rutgers by 10 points in last year’s regional final in Philadelphia.

Rutgers’ victory was the 750th for coach C. Vivian Stringer in her 1,000th game spanning 34 years at Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers. Only Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Texas coach Jody Conradt have more wins.

Adrianne Ross, Vanessa Clementino and Ashley Davis scored 10 points apiece to lead TCU (19-12). The 11th-seeded Horned Frogs were playing their second tournament game without leading scorer and rebounder Natasha Lacy, who left the team last week to attend to an unspecified personal matter.

Purdue 61, UCLA 54

West Lafayette, Ind. – Katie Gearlds scored 15 points, and Erin Lawless and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton added 14 apiece as Purdue advanced to the regional semifinals for the third time in four years.

Nikki Blue had 18 points and five assists, and Lisa Willis added 15 points for the Bruins.

UCLA took a 53-49 lead on a Lisa Pluimer basket with 7:21 to go, but the Bruins didn’t make another basket the rest of the way. UCLA, ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, tied a season low by shooting 32.3 percent from the field.

Purdue will face top-seeded and top-ranked North Carolina on Sunday.

Albuquerque Regional

Maryland 81, St. John’s 74

State College, Pa. – Crystal Langhorne capped a 30-point effort with two late inside baskets, and St. John’s went cold from the field as the second-seeded Terps advanced to the regional semifinals.

Maryland (30-4), which lost in the second round the previous two seasons, will play defending champion Baylor in the Albuquerque Regional.

After Barlow hit a free throw to tie the game at 72 with just over three minutes left, Maryland took over from there. Toliver connected with Langhorne for a layup inside. Then Langhorne converted an offensive rebound to give the Terps a 76-72 lead.

Bridgeport Regional

Georgia 73, Hartford 54

Trenton, N.J. – Sherill Baker scored 26 points, and Tasha Humphrey had 24, helping Georgia blow the game open in the second half and defeat Hartford.

No. 4 Duke 85,

Southern Cal 51

Norfolk, Va. – Alison Bales scored a career-high 22 points and blocked six shots, and the top-seeded Blue Devils took command early against Southern California.

Monique Currie added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Duke, and fellow senior Mistie Williams had nine points and eight rebounds. Both rested plenty.

Eshaya Murphy led Southern Cal with 16 points, and Chloe Kerr had 13. The Women of Troy shot just 30 percent and missed 17 of their 20 three-point attempts.

The Blue Devils, who held Southern to a record-low for points in a 96-27 opening-round blowout that coach Gail Goestenkors said was needed to repair her team’s fleeting confidence, will take on Michigan State in the Bridgeport Regional semifinals Sunday.

Connecticut 79, Virginia Tech 56

State College, Pa. – Connecticut’s star seniors came up big to get the Huskies back to the NCAA regional semifinals in a familiar place: back in their home state.

Ann Strother had 22 points and six three-pointers, and Barbara Turner dominated inside with 18 points and 16 rebounds as the second-seeded Huskies routed Virginia Tech.

The victory sends the Huskies (31-4) into the regional semifinals for a 14th straight season. UConn stands a good shot at getting to a ninth Final Four because the Huskies will play their next game, against Georgia, in Bridgeport, Conn., about a 90-minute drive from the UConn campus in Storrs.

UConn led by double digits for most of the game thanks to a pivotal 20-2 run in the first half.