No. 5 North Carolina Holds Off Villanova

The North Carolina Tar Heels put their lackluster first half behind them. Then they did the same to Villanova.

After scoring just 25 points in the first half, the No. 5 Tar Heels went on a 13-2 run to start the second and survived a late surge by the No. 24 Wildcats for a 63-56 victory Saturday in the semifinals of the Rebel Shootout in Las Vegas.

“They told us to just forget about the first half,” said Camille Little, who scored 13 points for the Tar Heels (4-0). “We started off slow, but we knew it was a new game in the second half.”

Nikita Bell scored five consecutive points to open the second half, and the Tar Heels held Villanova (2-1) to six points during a nine-minute stretch.

“We just had to settle down and play our game,” Tar Heel Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “We got going in the second half, but if you look at the shot chart, we had plenty of chances on the inside in the first half.”

North Carolina advanced to today’s championship and will face the winner of UNLV-Texas Arlington game. Villanova will play the loser in the consolation game.

No. 2 Louisiana State 75, Colorado 44 -- The Tigers (7-0) used a smothering defense to overwhelm the Buffaloes (2-2) in the championship game of the Coors Classic at Boulder, Colo.

Seimone Augustus had 16 points and six assists for the Tigers. She scored in double figures for the 33rd consecutive game.

Colorado, which was held without a basket over the final 5:13 of the first half, didn’t make another until there was 8:13 left in the game. By then the lead was 58-25.

Texas Christian 64, No. 3 Georgia 63 -- Sandora Irvin had 28 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Horned Frogs (4-1) in the semifinals of the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu. TCU will play No. 13 Michigan State (4-0) in today’s championship game. The Spartans beat Santa Clara, 81-59. Georgia is 3-1.

No. 10 Duke 63, No. 16 Kansas State 61 -- Monique Currie had 25 points and eight rebounds to lead the Blue Devils (5-1) in the Freeport Division championship game at the Junkanoo Jam at Freeport, Bahamas. Duke led, 28-17, at the break, and scored the first 14 points of the second half. Kendra Wecker led Wildcats (3-1) with 15 points.

Iowa 54, No. 21 Oklahoma 47 -- Jamie Cavey scored seven of her 12 points in the last eight minutes to help the Hawkeyes (4-0) beat the Sooners (3-1) in the Lucaya Division championship game of the Junkanoo Jam tournament at Freeport.

No. 25 Arizona 76, Brigham Young 73 -- Dee-Dee Wheeler came through when the Wildcats (3-1) needed someone to take charge at Provo, Utah. She made a jumper with 1:17 left to give them a 74-69 lead, then made two free throws 23 seconds later to clinch the victory.