Oklahoma State guard Andrea Riley, left, hugs teammate Maria Cordero after losing to LSU. The Lady Tigers ended the Cowgirls' season, 67-52, Saturday in New Orleans. Riley scored 26 points.

New Orleans ? Once she had simmered down, LSU point guard Erica White sat in front of her locker and said she was embarrassed by the in-game shouting match she had with Oklahoma State star Andrea Riley.

LSU center Sylvia Fowles then half-jokingly accused the 5-foot-3 White of having something akin to a Napoleon complex.

“It’s a little person’s syndrome,” the 6-6 Fowles said, chuckling. “Nobody can show her up without her wanting to do it better. … That’s what we love about her. She brings the fire. She brings the energy. That’s what makes us a great team.”

White scored 18 points and helped orchestrate a stifling defensive effort Saturday as the second-seeded Lady Tigers took a 67-52 victory over the third-seeded Cowgirls in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

LSU will face North Carolina in the regional finals Monday night with a chance to go to a fifth straight Final Four.

LSU’s smallest player arguably had its toughest assignment in trying to defend Riley, who came in averaging 23 points. The two banged constantly and neither gave in, with Riley appearing to take a swipe at White’s head at one point in the second half, though no foul was called.

“I definitely thought I got hit out there, I’m not going to lie,” White said. “But at this level, people just want to win. I don’t necessarily think it’s personal. I think everyone just wants to win that bad.”

Riley wound up draining six three-pointers and finished with 26 points for Oklahoma State (27-8), but missed 19 of her 28 shots in the process.

“It was just two guards being physical and trying to lead their teams to victory,” Riley said. “Things go like that sometimes. Everything was cool after the game because we left everything on the floor.”

Riley was the only OSU player to hit a field goal in the first half, when the Cowgirls shot 5-of-33, and by the time she began to get some help, it was too late.