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Minnesota Holds Off UCLA

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From Times Wire Services

UCLA, nearly surprising the hometown favorites before a crowd of 12,357 at Minneapolis, pushed seventh-seeded Minnesota until the final minute, then fell out of the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, 92-81, Sunday.

The 10th-seeded Bruins (17-13) got 33 points from sophomore point guard Nikki Blue, who scored 20 of her points after halftime and tied the score, 79-79, with 1:30 left, before fouling out in the final seconds.

It was not enough to match Minnesota’s Lindsay Whalen, the school’s all-time leading scorer, who had 31 points in her first game since sitting out more than five weeks because of two broken bones in her right (shooting) hand.

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With the score tied, 79-79, Whalen responded with a driving layup, then added two free throws with 41 seconds left to give the Golden Golphers (22-8) a four-point lead.

On the ensuing possession, a controversial foul call drew UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier well off the bench and resulted in a technical foul as the Gophers pulled away in a march to the free-throw line.

Minnesota center Janel McCarville, who sat out because of foul trouble midway through the second half, added 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Gophers.

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Freshmen Lisa Willis and Noelle Quinn each scored 15 points for UCLA. They joined Blue in helping the Bruins surge from an 11-point deficit, at 54-43, after a three-point play by Kadidja Andersson with 14:59 left.

UCLA didn’t have the brawn to move McCarville around in the middle, but the Bruins made a game of it with their quickness on defense and ability to drive through the middle of the Gopher defense.

A 16-4 surge gave UCLA the lead back midway through the second half, and it was close the rest of the way.

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Whalen, a 5-foot-9 senior guard who has helped resurrect the program from an 8-20 record her freshman year to a third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance this season, made the pivotal plays for Minnesota.

Her return not only gave the Gophers a scoring lift, it improved their balance on offense. Minnesota’s Shannon Schonrock finished with 15 points, all on three-point shots, and Andersson scored 14 points on six-for-nine shooting.

Minnesota will play No. 2-seeded Kansas State Tuesday in a second-round game at Minneapolis.

Kansas State 71, Valparaiso 63 -- The 15th-seeded Crusaders tried Hack-an-Ohlde, and it backfired.

Wildcat center Nicole Ohlde, a 67% free-throw shooter, scored 25 points, setting career highs by making 15 of 21 from the line, to lead second-seeded Kansas State (25-5) over Valparaiso (20-12).

The 21 free throws tied an NCAA record for a first- or second-round game set by Harvard’s Allison Feaster against Stanford in 1998.

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“Definitely didn’t expect that,” said a smiling Ohlde, who made 12 of 14 free throws in the first half.

Jamie Gutowski had 20 points to lead Valparaiso, which dropped to 0-2 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

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