ROUNDUP : Pehlke Gets Another Shot at Vols

Defending national champion Tennessee, ranked No. 2, will play No. 15 Western Kentucky (24-7) in the NCAA Mideast Regional semifinals tonight at West Lafayette, Ind.

It will be a rematch of last year’s regional semifinal, which Tennessee won, 68-61, on its home court. In that game, Western Kentucky guard Kim Pehlke attempted a three-point shot that rolled off the rim in the final minute. Had Pehlke converted the shot, Western Kentucky would have been in the lead.

“That was pretty much the whole game,” said Pehlke, who made only three of 13 shots in the game. “It wasn’t meant to be. This year will be different.”

The Vols, led by senior guard Dena Head and forward Peggy Evans, are 28-2, having lost only to Stanford and Mississippi, both in overtime.

In the other Mideast semifinal, No. 8 Maryland, which was ranked No. 1 for four weeks earlier in the season, will play Purdue. Maryland (24-5) is led by center Jessie Hicks and guard Malissa Boles.

Purdue guard MaChelle Joseph is one of four finalists for the Naismith player-of-the-year award. She is the Big Ten career scoring leader with 2,396 points and has scored at least 20 points in 20 games this season.

The No. 11-ranked boilermakers (23-6) are 15-0 at home this season.

Top-ranked Virginia (30-1) holds the same advantage as Purdue, as it plays host to the East Regional at Charlottesville.

The opening semifinal there pits No. 13 Vanderbilt (21-8) against No. 6 Miami (Fla.) (30-1). Miami has won 30 consecutive games since a season-opening loss to Florida State in overtime.

Virginia, which will play No. 14 West Virginia (26-3), has gone undefeated since losing to Maryland at home at midseason.