Bell’s Layup Rescues North Carolina, 72-70

Coretta Brown scored 20 points and Nikita Bell made a layup with 20 seconds to go to lift third-seeded North Carolina over 14th-seeded Austin Peay, 72-70, Saturday night in the first round of the women’s basketball Mideast Regional at Boulder, Colo.

Brooke Armistead, who scored a season-high 30 points for Austin Peay, missed a layup at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.

The loss ended a school-record 22-game winning streak for Austin Peay (27-3).

Bell, who scored the final four points for North Carolina (27-5), finished with 14.

Armistead scored 25 of her 30 points in the second half, including five three-point baskets.

North Carolina led, 32-29, at the half but Austin Peay opened the second half with a 16-7 run. Armistead had 10 points during the spurt and her layup gave the Austin Peay a 45-39 lead with 14:22 to go.

Colorado 84, Brigham Young 45 -- Kate Fagan scored 21 points for Colorado (23-7) at Boulder, Colo.

Erin Thorn had 10 points for Brigham Young (19-12), all in the first half.

Tennessee 95, Alabama State 43 -- Playing on its campus against an NCAA tournament newcomer, top-seeded Tennessee was in control from the start.

Shyra Ely had 17 points for Tennessee (29-4), which jumped to a 12-0 lead after only 3 1/2 minutes. Alabama State (20-11) shot 24% (17 of 70) from the field.

Virginia 72, Illinois 56 -- Anna Crosswhite and Brandi Teamer each scored 17 points for the eighth-seeded Cavaliers (17-13) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Ninth-seeded Illinois (17-13) was making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2000.

Virginia, playing in its 20th consecutive NCAA tournament, had lost in the first round the last two years.

EAST

Boston College 73, Old Dominion 72 -- Amber Jacobs’ jumper with 3.3 seconds remaining lifted the Eagles at Norfolk, Va.

The Eagles (21-8) inbounded the ball with 21 seconds left and missed two shots under the basket before Jacobs made her shot from the top of the key. She finished with a team-high 23 points.

Old Dominion (21-11), seeded No. 12, was led by Monique Coker with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Vanderbilt 54, Liberty 44 -- Ashley McElhiney scored 17 points to lead the fourth-seeded Lady Commodores (22-9) at Norfolk, Va.

Liberty (26-4), seeded 13th, closed to within 37-34 on a layup by Katie Feenstra with a little over nine minutes remaining. Vanderbilt responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead to 13 points with less then five minutes to go.

Virginia Tech 61, Georgia Tech 59 -- Carrie Mason drove the lane for an uncontested layup with one second to go to lift the Hokies (22-9) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Fallon Stokes scored for the Yellow Jackets (20-11) on a fastbreak layup to tie the score with 18 seconds left. She had a game-high 25 points.

Purdue 66, Valparaiso 51 -- Erika Valek scored 23 points and second-seeded Purdue (27-5) forced eight turnovers during a 24-2 first-half run at West Lafayette, Ind.

Valparaiso (18-13) matched its season high with 23 turnovers.

WEST

Stanford 82, Western Michigan 66 -- Nicole Powell had 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for third-seeded Stanford at Palo Alto.

Stanford (27-4) won its 26th consecutive home game, including its 15th in a row this season at Maples Pavilion. Maria Jilian led Western Michigan (20-12) with 16 points.

Minnesota 68, Tulane 48 -- Lindsay Whalen scored all of her 18 points in the second half when the sixth-seeded Golden Gophers (24-5) took control for good at Palo Alto.

Kelly Nadeau had 11 points for the 11th-seeded Green Wave (19-10).

Wisconsin Green Bay 78, Washington 65 -- Tiffany Mor scored 15 points at Eugene, Ore., and the eighth-seeded Phoenix (28-3) advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

Giuliana Mendiola, the Pacific 10 Conference player of the year, scored 22 points for ninth-seeded Washington (22-8).

MIDWEST

New Mexico 91, Miami 85 -- Mandi Moore’s four second-half three-pointers and Jordan Adams’ five points in overtime carried New Mexico in front of 16,151 at Albuquerque, the largest crowd ever to see a first-round women’s game in the NCAA tournament.

Adams led New Mexico with 27 points. Freshman Tamara James led the Hurricanes (18-13) with 23 points.

Mississippi State 73, Manhattan 47 -- Tan White made five three-point baskets and scored 22 points, and Mississippi State (24-7) took advantage of an early scoring drought by Manhattan (20-10) at Albuquerque.

Manhattan missed its first 13 shots and 21 of its first 24.

Rutgers 64, Western Kentucky 52 -- Cappie Pondexter scored 13 of her 21 points in the last 11 minutes, and fourth-seeded Rutgers (21-7) overcame an eight-minute scoreless drought in the second half at Athens, Ga.

Leslie Logsdon scored 13 points for 13th-seeded Western Kentucky (22-9).

Georgia 80, Charlotte 61 -- Christi Thomas scored a career-high 31 points to lead fifth-seeded Georgia (20-9) at Athens, Ga.

Charlotte (21-9) had no answer for Thomas, who made 13 of 14 field-goal attempts.

Monica League and Krystion Obie each scored 12 points for 12th-seeded Charlotte, which was playing in its first NCAA tournament.