Tar Heels Escape the Heat in Tempe

North Carolina, top-seeded but playing Arizona State on its home court, overcame the Sun Devils, 79-72, Saturday to advance to the final of the Tempe Regional.

North Carolina led by four at halftime and then had to withstand a strong charge by Arizona State (24-10), which had been 12-1 on its home floor.

The Sun Devils had trailed by only two, at 62-60, before the Tar Heels slowly pulled away, building 70-62 lead by the time 6:16 was left.

The Tar Heels (30-3) will next play the Baylor Bears on Monday at Wells Fargo Arena.

Baylor 64, Minnesota 57 -- After an emotional reunion with her mother, Sophia Young scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the regional semifinal at Tempe, to lead the second-seeded Bears (30-3) to the NCAA tournament’s round of eight for the first time.

Young, Baylor’s scoring and rebounding leader, saw her mother earlier in the day for only the second time since leaving home at age 15 to be an exchange student in the United States.

“It was just joy, really,” she said of seeing her mom. “My emotions are just running wild. I’m happy my mom could come and see me play. It was such a great atmosphere.”

Her mother, Annie Christopher called the experience “awesome” after traveling in from St. Vincent, West Indies. “She’s good, man. She’s good,” Christopher said.

The Golden Gophers (26-8) struggled early but came back to within four points, at 54-50, with slightly more than six minutes left.

Yet 16 turnovers were too much for Minnesota to overcome, and in the final 17 seconds, the Gophers’ frustration showed when 6-4 center Janel McCarville and Baylor’s Abiola Wabara were whistled for a double-technical foul when McCarville shoved Wabara after a rebound and Wabara let her elbows fly.

McCarville, who was booed by Baylor fans, finished with 16 points on six-for-16 shooting, 11 rebounds, four blocks and four assists in the final game of her All-American career.

“I really don’t have an answer for that,” McCarville said of her team’s slow start. “We’ve been in awe being back in the tournament and trying to relive everything.”

CHATTANOOGA REGIONAL

Louisiana State 90, Liberty 48 -- The 42-point margin of victory for the top-seeded Tigers was the second largest in regional-semifinal history behind Louisiana Tech’s 44-point win over Purdue in 1990.

By halftime, LSU’s Seimone Augustus had 18 of her 22 points, and Tamecka Johnson had seven of her 12 points and nine of her 15 assists. Scholanda Hoston also had 22 points for the Tigers (32-2), who began the game by building a 17-0 lead over 13th-seeded Liberty (26-7).

LSU forced 22 Liberty turnovers and limited the Flames’ 6-8 center Katie Feenstra to nine points. The Flames had five turnovers in the first 4 1/2 minutes and only two shots during that time.LSU will play Duke in the regional final Monday.

Duke 63, Georgia 57 -- Monique Currie made four free throws in the final 26 seconds to help the second-seeded Blue Devils (31-4) put away the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (24-10) in the regional semifinal.

Tasha Humphrey’s three-point shot brought Georgia within two, at 59-57, with 36 seconds left, but Currie’s free throws never let the Bulldogs get closer.

Both coaches pointed to the boards as the difference, with the Blue Devils’ having a 45-32 rebounding edge and scoring 16 points off putbacks.

“It wasn’t a game where we were ever able to generate any momentum offensively early in the game because of our turnovers and later in the game because of our inconsistency,” Georgia Coach Andy Landers said.

Humphrey finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.