Oklahoma Rallies to Beat Purdue

Purdue’s run at a second consecutive women’s basketball national championship ended when Oklahoma charged back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Boilermakers, 76-74, Monday night in the second round of the NCAA East Regional at West Lafayette, Ind.

The fifth-seeded Sooners (25-7) ended Purdue’s seven-game winning streak in NCAA tournament play at Mackey Arena and made the regional semifinals for the first time since 1986.

LaNeishea Caufield scored 16 of her 26 points in the second half to help rally Oklahoma.

The Sooners trailed the entire game until Caufield made two free throws with 1:03 left to give her team a 73-72 lead. Fourth-seeded Purdue (23-8) then failed on two chances to regain the lead and on another to tie as Oklahoma wrapped up its victory with free throws.

Purdue’s Katie Douglas, the Big Ten player of the year who had only four points, missed on a drive and was called for a foul with 41 seconds remaining. Oklahoma’s Stacey Dales made two free throws on the next trip down the court and, at the end, a three-point attempt by Douglas bounced off the front of the rim.

“They never lost faith,” Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale of the team she turned into winners after going 5-22 in 1997. “They never doubted they would win.”

Camille Cooper led Purdue with a career-high 34 points.

Duke 90, Western Kentucky 70--Georgia Schweitzer and freshman Sheana Mosch each scored 25 points as the second-seeded Blue Devils (28-5) beat the 10th-seeded Lady Toppers (22-10) at Durham, N.C.

Schweitzer, a senior selected the ACC player of the year, said, “I want to be like Sheana. She has just come so far, attacking the basket. She has gotten much better with staying focused the whole game.”

Duke, last year’s national runner-up, advanced to the round of 16 for the third consecutive season.

WEST REGIONAL

Georgia 83, Stanford 64--Deana Nolan scored 20 points on 10-for-16 shooting and Shala Crawford provided strong play off the bench with 14 points, leading the top-seeded hosts over the ninth-seeded Cardinal at Athens, Ga.

Georgia (31-3), which set a school record for victories in a season, shot 56% in the second half. Stanford (21-9) didn’t have enough quickness to keep up with Georgia and couldn’t overcome their seven-for-27 shooting in the first half.

North Carolina 83, Rice 50--LaQuanda Barksdale scored seven of her 27 points during a decisive 15-0 first-half run as the Tar Heels (20-12) overpowered the Owls (22-10) at Santa Barabara.

North Carolina, seeded fifth, reached the third round for the seventh time in eight years. The Tar Heels won the national championship in 1994.

MIDEAST REGIONAL

Tennessee 75, Arizona 60--All-American Tamika Catchings scored 21 points, including 16 in the first half, to lead the six-time national champion Lady Volunteers (30-3) over the eighth-seeded Wildcats (27-7) at Knoxville, Tenn. Arizona exited in the second round for the second year in a row, but with the best record in school history.

The Wildcats didn’t score a single fast-break point and were outscored, 18-12, by the top-seeded Lady Volunteers on second-chance points. Arizona, averaging 72% from the free-throw line, was 12 for 21 (57%) for the game. Tennessee was 17 for 24 (71%).

Texas Tech 76, Tulane 59--Keitha Dickerson’s running three-point shot at the halftime buzzer gave the third-seeded Lady Raiders (27-4) a 36-24 lead and they pulled away from the sixth-seeded Green Wave (27-5) in the second half at Lubbock, Texas. Plenette Pierson had 19 points for Texas Tech, and Grace Daley scored 24 for Tulane.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Louisiana Tech 66, Vanderbilt 65--Freshman Catrina Frierson made two free throws with 2.5 seconds left to lift the top-seeded Lady Techsters (30-2) over the ninth-seeded Commodores (21-13) at Ruston, La., in Coach Leon Barmore’s final home game.

Frierson finished with 18 points for Louisiana Tech, winners of 20 in a row and 32-0 in NCAA tournament games on its home court.

Vanderbilt, trailing, 51-40, with 13:01 left in the game, went on an 11-3 run to cut the margin to 54-51 with 7:58 remaining and made it 54-53 with 5:12 left. Ashley McElhiney’s two free throws with 14 seconds left gave Vanderbilt a 65-64 lead. But Chantelle Anderson picked up her fifth foul with 2.5 seconds left, sending Frierson, a 73% free-throw shooter, to the line.

After the game, fans chanted Barmore’s name until he returned to the court to acknowledge them. “It was a great crowd,” said Barmore, who last week announced he would retire at the end of the season. “They helped us with a really tough win. We’ve played teams in the Final Four that weren’t as good as Vanderbilt. That’s how much this game has improved.”

Old Dominion 96, Southern Methodist 76--Lucienne Berthieu came off the bench and scored 22 points and Hamchetou Maiga pulled down 20 rebounds as the fourth-seeded Lady Monarchs (29-4) beat the 12th-seeded Mustangs (22-9) at Norfolk, Va. D-dra Rucker led the Mustangs with 27 points.

* Box scores on page 8.