Rutgers Stunned, Goes Out in Stiles

Leading Southwest Missouri State past Rutgers in the NCAA tournament is just what one would expect from Jackie Stiles, the NCAA women’s career scoring leader.

But doing it two days after sustaining a mild concussion? Now that’s impressive.

Stiles scored 17 of her 32 points in the final 6:57 Monday night and fifth-seeded Southwest Missouri State ended fourth-seeded Rutgers’ bid for a second consecutive Final Four berth by defeating the Scarlet Knights, 60-53, in the second round of the West Regional at Piscataway, N.J.

“This is your senior year and you go for it with everything you got,” said Stiles, who missed the final 10 minutes of Saturday night’s first-round win over Toledo after being knocked woozy running into a pick.

“I’m in shock,” Rutgers senior Linda Miles said. “We had the opportunities. I just can’t believe we didn’t execute.”

The victory was the eighth consecutive for the Bears (27-5), who will play top-seeded Duke in the West Regional semifinal at Spokane, Wash., on Saturday.

Rutgers (23-8), which had made at least the round of 16 the last three years, lost at home for the first time in 14 games this season.

Stiles was the main reason Rutgers fell short this season, scoring the final eight points for the Bears. The senior guard hit eight of 16 from the field and 16 of 19 from the free-throw line.

Duke 75, Arkansas 54--Alana Beard scored 14 points and had seven rebounds as the top-seeded Blue Devils (30-3) dominated inside against the sixth-seeded Razorbacks (20-13) at Durham, N.C., to make the regional semifinals for the fourth consecutive year.

Duke, which was denied a trip to the Final Four by Arkansas in 1998, outscored the Razorbacks, 44-14, in the paint.

Oklahoma 67, Stanford 50--LaNeishea Caufield scored 18 points and the second-seeded Sooners (28-5) were able to pull away from the 10th-seeded Cardinal (19-11) at Norman, Okla., after missing their first 14 shots of the second half.

Caton Hill added 14 points and 14 rebounds for Oklahoma, which will play sixth-seeded Washington in the regional semifinals.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Notre Dame 88, Michigan 54--All-American Ruth Riley scored 21 points and the top-seeded Irish (30-2) held the eighth-seeded Wolverines (19-12) to 32.9% shooting at South Bend, Ind.

Kelley Siemon added 16 points for Notre Dame, which is one short of tying the school record for victories and will play Utah in the regional semifinals at Denver on Saturday.

Utah 78, Iowa 69--Lindsay Herbert scored 15 points as the fifth-seeded Utes (28-3) let an 11-point halftime lead slip to five late before pulling away at Salt Lake City to advance to the regional semifinals against Notre Dame. Lindsey Meder, Leah Magner and Mary Berdo each scored 10 points for the fourth-seeded Hawkeyes (21-10).

Vanderbilt 65, Colorado 59--Zuzi Klimesova scored 20 points, including 12 while leading scorer Chantelle Anderson was out with four fouls, to lead the third-seeded Commodores (23-9) past the sixth-seeded Buffaloes (22-9) at Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt will play Iowa State in the regional semifinals in Denver.

EAST REGIONAL

Connecticut 89, Colorado State 44--The defending national champion Huskies (30-2) smothered the Rams (25-7) with oppressive defense at Storrs, Conn., in reaching 30 victories for the eighth consecutive year.

Swin Cash had 18 points and 11 rebounds as top-seeded Connecticut advanced to the regional semifinals at Pittsburgh on Saturday against fourth-seeded North Carolina State.

Louisiana Tech 80, Texas Christian 59--Ayana Walker came back strong from a poor game in the first round, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds at Ruston, La., as the third-seeded Lady Techsters (30-4) defeated the 11th-seeded Frogs (25-8) and ran their winning streak to 18. Louisiana Tech will play 10th-seeded Missouri in the regional semifinals.