Mississippi stuns Maryland

Maryland fell into Mississippi’s trap and the defending champion never got out.

The Rebels (23-10) used their stifling defense to steal the ball 15 times and scored 42 points off 29 Maryland turnovers Tuesday night and upset the No. 2-seeded Terrapins, 89-78, in the Dayton Regional at Hartford, Conn.

Armintie Price scored 28 points to lead the Rebels, who were beaten by the Terrapins, 110-79, at a tournament in the Bahamas in November.

Kristi Toliver led Maryland (28-6) with 24 points, including 14 in the second half when the Terrapins cut a 23-point lead to seven. But she also had 10 turnovers.

Maryland was expected to have a good chance at repeating as national champions with all five starters returning. The Terps added depth with transfer Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood, but it wasn’t enough to keep them from a disappointing second-round loss.

“A season ago, we loved the fact that we had youth,” Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said. “I think it really hurt us tonight and spiraled in terms of our frustration and Ole Miss fed off of it.”

Tennessee 68, Pittsburgh 54 -- Candace Parker had 30 points and 12 rebounds and the Volunteers (30-3) defeated the Panthers (24-6) at Pittsburgh.

FRESNO REGIONAL

North Carolina State 78, Baylor 72 -- Khadijah Whittington scored 23 points and the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (25-9) defeated the Bears (26-8) in overtime at Raleigh, N.C.

Connecticut 94, Wisconsin Green Bay 70 -- Freshman Tina Charles had 22 points and the Huskies (31-3) ended the Phoenix’s bid for a 27th consecutive victory at Hartford. Natalie Berglin led Wisconsin-Green Bay (29-4) with 28 points.

GREENSBORO REGIONAL

Duke 62, Temple 52 -- Lindsey Harding had 13 of her 18 points in the first half and the top-seeded Blue Devils (32-1) advanced to the round of 16 for the 10th consecutive season with a victory at Raleigh, N.C. Fatima Maddox scored 18 points for the Owls (25-8).

Rutgers 70, Michigan State 57 -- Kia Vaughn had 12 of her 16 points in the first half and the fourth-seeded Scarlet Knights (24-8) defeated the Spartans (24-9) at East Lansing, Mich.

Bowling Green 59, Vanderbilt 56 -- Amber Flynn scored 19 points and the seventh-seeded Falcons (31-3) moved into the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 for the first time in team history with a victory at East Lansing, Mich.

Liz Sherwood scored 18 points for the Commodores (28-6). Bowling Green is the first team from the MAC to reach the round of 16.

DALLAS REGIONAL

North Carolina 60, Notre Dame 51 -- LaToya Pringle led a frantic late run, Ivory Latta made six free throws in the final minute and the top-seeded Tar Heels (32-3) rallied to avoided an upset at Pittsburgh.

Charel Allen scored 21 points for the Fighting Irish (20-12).

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Women’s tournament at a glance

Well, so much for home-court advantage. Pittsburgh and Michigan State figured they were fortunate to play host to Tennessee and Rutgers, respectively, in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Tuesday night. But neither the Panthers nor the Spartans were able to win. Rutgers defeated Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., 70-57, to advance in the Greensboro Regional. Tennessee was a 68-54 winner at Pittsburgh in the Dayton Regional.

Protecting

the basketball

With turnover after turnover, Maryland just couldn’t hold on to the ball.

The second-seeded Terrapins had no answer for Mississippi’s trapping defense and the defending NCAA champion fell out of the tournament, 89-78.

The Terrapins’ early exit matches the quickest departure for any NCAA champion. Purdue in 2000 and Notre Dame in 2002 also went out in second-round games.

Mississippi used its stifling defense to steal the ball 15 times and force 29 Maryland turnovers.

“I think the game is really simple,” Mississippi Coach Carol Ross said. “You guard hard, you create ball plays, you let ball players make ball plays. You put them into position to do that.”

Resurgent Blue Devil

Duke guard Lindsey Harding’s defense has always been effective, and the ACC’s two-time defensive player of the year finally regained her scoring touch too.

Both were necessary against pesky and physical Temple.

Harding snapped out of a slump with 18 points on eight-of-16 shooting and helped the Blue Devils hold the Owls scoreless for six minutes down the stretch in the Greensboro Regional. She was a combined 14 of 43 in her previous four games.

“I felt I needed to shoot my way back into a rhythm,” Harding said. “I was taking what they were giving me.”