Colorado Eliminates Stanford

At 6 feet 2, Randie Wirt rarely defends on the perimeter. One thing she has done for a long time, though, is shoot free throws in the driveway with her father. She was great on both counts, and it paid off for Colorado.

Wirt made two free throws with eight seconds remaining and Tera Bjorkland scored 10 of her 17 points in the second half as third-seeded Colorado beat No. 2 Stanford, 62-59, Saturday night in a West Regional semifinal at Boise, Idaho.

“It was just another two free throws,” said Wirt, who practiced them with her father, Robert, as a youth in New Prague, Minn. “That’s what everybody does with their dad growing up. Pretend it’s an NCAA regional and shoot.”

Colorado (24-9) will play Big 12 rival Oklahoma next.

Besides being cool at the line, Wirt drew the assignment against 6-2 Nicole Powell, who posted triple-doubles in Stanford’s first two tournament games. This time, she had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Stanford (32-3) had a chance to force overtime with 4.2 seconds left. The ball went to Powell on the left wing but she passed to Lindsey Yamasaki at the top of the key. Her three-point attempt at the buzzer missed.

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Oklahoma 72, Texas Tech 62--Forward Caton Hill scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds as the top-seeded Sooners beat the Red Raiders (20-12) in the other semifinal at Boise.

The Sooners (30-3) also got 18 points from LaNeishea Caufield and 15 from Stacey Dales, their All-American swing guard.

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MIDWEST REGIONAL

Vanderbilt 70, North Carolina 61--Chantelle Anderson had 22 points and 12 rebounds and top-seeded Vanderbilt topped fourth-seeded North Carolina at Ames, Iowa. Vanderbilt (30-6) held on after losing most of a 13-point halftime lead.

Coretta Brown scored 19 for North Carolina (26-9).

Tennessee 68, Brigham Young 57--Freshman Shyra Ely scored the first 12 points of a game-turning 15-0 run late in the first half and finished with 21 as second-seeded Tennessee defeated 11th-seeded BYU at Ames, Iowa. The Lady Vols improved to 28-4. Melanie Pearson led BYU (24-9) with 23 points.

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MIDEAST REGIONAL

Old Dominion 88, Kansas State 62--Seventh-seeded Old Dominion (28-5) cruised past the No. 3 Wildcats at Milwaukee, getting 30 points from Lucienne Berthieu to win their 21st consecutive game and earn a meeting in the final with top-seeded Connecticut. Kansas State finished 26-8.

Connecticut 82, Penn State 64--The top-seeded Huskies struggled before holding fourth-seeded Penn State to 13 points over the final 15 minutes to win at Milwaukee. Sue Bird scored 24 points for the Huskies (36-0).

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EAST REGIONAL

Duke 62, Texas 46--Alana Beard scored 15 points and Sheana Mosch added 13 to help top-seeded Duke win at Raleigh, N.C. for its school-record 21st consecutive victory. Duke (30-3) advanced to play third-seeded South Carolina. Texas finished 22-10.

South Carolina 79, Drake 65--Shaunzinski Gortman and Jocelyn Penn each had 19 points as third-seeded South Carolina (25-6) won at Raleigh, N.C.