WOMEN’S BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENT : Purdue Gives Away Ball, but Not Enough Points

Purdue kept turning the ball over Sunday and it didn’t hurt, but that can’t last.

“In order for us to get to the Final Four, we have to eliminate our turnovers and our bench has got to continue to help us,” said Boilermaker Coach Lin Dunn after Purdue was an 86-59 winner over Washington in the NCAA West regional at West Lafayette, Ind.

Top-seeded Purdue got 20 points from freshman Leslie Johnson and 16 from Stacey Lovelace in advancing the region semifinals at Palo Alto.

The Boilermakers will play Texas A&M; on Thursday.

“I am thrilled to death to win a second-round game,” Dunn said. “I thought key to the game was that they weren’t able to produce points off our turnovers, even though we had 31 turnovers.”

Jannon Rolland scored 13 points and Cindy Lamping and Tonya Kirk each added 11 for Purdue (27-4). Washington (21-8) was led by Katia Foucade with 13 points.

Texas A&M; 75, San Diego St. 72--Lisa Branch sank the go-ahead layup in the final seconds of overtime to give the Aggies (23-7) a 73-72 lead over the Aztecs (26-5) at San Diego and Marianne Miller added two free throws with two seconds to play for the final points.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Alabama 84, Iowa 78--Betsy Harris scored 24 points, including six three-pointers, to lead the Crimson Tide at Iowa City.

Alabama (24-6) advanced to next Thursday’s regional semifinal against defending national champion Texas Tech. Iowa ended its season at 21-7.

EAST REGIONAL

Connecticut 81, Auburn 59--Rebecca Lobo scored 21 points and Kara Wolters added a career-high 20 as the Huskies beat the Tigers at Storrs, Conn.

Wolters, whose previous best was 19 points, finished 10 for 11 from the field, including seven for seven in the first half. Jennifer Rizzotti added 18 points for the Huskies (29-2).

The victory was the 20th in a row for Connecticut, seeded No. 1 in the East and with a game Thursday against Southern Mississippi at Piscataway, N.J., ahead. It gave the Huskies a 19-0 record at home.

Danielette Coleman scored 16 points to lead ninth-seeded Auburn (20-10).

North Carolina 63, Old Dominion 52--Charlotte Smith scored 15 points and had a season-high 16 rebounds before being ejected as the Tar Heels defeated the Monarchs at Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina center Sylvia Crawley had 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Tar Heels (29-2) snapped Old Dominion’s 18-game winning streak. The Monarchs (25-6) suffering their first loss since a Jan. 13 defeat at No. 1 Tennessee.

North Carolina advanced to a region semifinal game against Vanderbilt on Thursday at Piscataway, and the Tar Heels will have to play without Smith, who was averaging 15.1 points a game. Her ejection came for fighting Old Dominion’s Beth McGowan and Deanna Vander Plas.