Purdue Ousts UC Santa Barbara

Camille Cooper scored 23 points and Purdue used a late run to hold off UC Santa Barbara, 75-62, on Friday night in the first round of the Mideast Regional at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (27-6) clamped down on defense as UC Santa Barbara (22-9) could not solve its full-court press and was harassed into 24 turnovers.

“It was kind of exciting for a while,” UC Santa Barbara Coach Mark French said. “We withstood a couple of real runs by Purdue where the crowd really got into it. We came back strong and made it close in the second half.”

The Boilermakers were 24 of 35 from the free-throw line while the Gauchos made nine of 14 attempts.

LSU 83, Arizona St. 66--Ke-Ke Tardy scored 21 points as Louisiana State (20-10) rallied to beat the Sun Devils (20-11) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Tennessee 80, Austin Peay 38--Ashley Robinson scored 17 points as Tennessee (30-2) easily defeated the Lady Governors (17-14) at Knoxville, Tenn.

St. Mary’s, Calif. 68, Texas 64--Triola Alexander scored 21 points as St. Mary’s of California (26-5) beat Texas (20-13) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Texas Tech 100, Penn 57--At Lubbock, Texas, Plenette Pierson scored 19 points as the Lady Raiders (23-6) routed Penn (22-5).

Virginia Tech 77, Denver 57--Virginia Tech (22-8) opened a 15-0 lead in an easy win over Denver (24-7) at Lubbock, Texas.

Xavier 80, Louisville 52--Nicole Levandusky’s three-pointer started a 24-2 run as Xavier (29-2) took control early and dominated Louisville (19-10) at Cincinnati.

Clemson 51, Chattanooga 49--Nuria Forns’ two free throws with less than a second left gave Clemson (21-9) the win over Chattanooga (24-7) at Cincinnati.

EAST REGIONAL

Georgia 77, Liberty 48--Kelly Miller scored 16 points, and the Lady Bulldogs (27-5) cruised to a first-round win over the Flames (18-12) at Athens, Ga.

Missouri 71, Wisconsin 68--Missouri (21-9) won its first NCAA women’s tournament game in 15 years, beating the Badgers (18-10) at Athens, Ga.

North Carolina State 76, Delaware 57--At Raleigh, N.C., Amy Simpson finished with 17 points as North Carolina State (21-10) routed Delaware (26-5).

Villanova 66, Drake 58--Courtney Mix keyed a late 12-2 run as Villanova (22-8) beat Drake (23-7) at Raleigh, N.C.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Iowa St. 100, Howard 61--Angie Welle scored 16 of her 23 points in the first half as Iowa State (26-5) cruised past Howard (21-10) at Ames, Iowa.

Florida St. 72, Tulane 70--April Traylor scored a career-high 30 points and Florida State (19-11) survived a late rush by Tulane (22-10) at Ames, Iowa.

WEST REGIONAL

Washington 67, Old Dominion 65--Loree Payne’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer lifted the Huskies (20-9) past Old Dominion (21-9) at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida 84, Holy Cross 52--Naomi Mobley had 16 points and a career-high 20 rebounds to help Florida (24-5) overpower Holy Cross (21-9) at Gainesville, Fla.