North Carolina joins Tennessee in Final Four

Once again, Ivory Latta was headed to the locker room way too early in a late-round NCAA tournament game, North Carolina’s hopes possibly going with her.

Only this time, Latta came back. And the Tar Heels never wavered.

Latta limped off a few minutes before halftime, but returned to help Erlana Larkins lead a strong start to the second half that top-seeded North Carolina rode to an 84-72 victory over Purdue (31-6) in the finals of the Dallas Regional on Tuesday night, clinching a spot in the Final Four for the second year in a row.

Last season’s title shot was ruined when Latta hurt her knee early in a loss to Maryland in the national semifinal. Now a senior who has vowed to do whatever it takes to go out with a championship, she’ll have a few days to recover.

“It was only a cramp,” Latta said. “Everything’s all good.”

Larkins had a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Tar Heels (34-3) set a team record for wins and kept alive their chances for a second title. Latta had 21 points.

Tennessee 98, Mississippi 62 -- Candace Parker scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds at Dayton, Ohio, and the Volunteers (32-3) rolled over the Rebels and into their 17th Final Four.

Parker made 10 of 14 shots from the field and also had three assists, three steals and five blocked shots in a virtual highlight film of a game.

Armintie Price had 30 points for Mississippi (24-11).

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS

Sunday at Cleveland

* North Carolina (34-3) vs.

Tennessee (32-3)

* Louisiana State (30-7) vs.

Rutgers (26-8)

Note: Game times 3:30

and 6 p.m., TBA

*

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Tournament at a glance

Play returned to form Tuesday as both top-seeded teams, Tennessee and North Carolina, won to join Louisiana State and Rutgers in the Final Four.

Nice game

Wow.

There wasn’t much else to say about the first half Candace Parker put together in Tennessee’s 98-62 victory over Mississippi on Tuesday night.

Parker dominated on the offensive and defensive ends of the court and put together a halftime stat line that would’ve looked great for a full game.

She had 14 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists and the Lady Vols were up, 51-22, at halftime.

“Candace is a player who is extremely hungry to win a championship,” Mississippi Coach Carol Ross said. “It’s been well documented that she doesn’t want to be compared with other great Tennessee players until she wins a championship.”

Not much help

Armintie Price finished her stellar college career with a second straight 30-point effort in Mississippi’s loss.

“Armintie would rather have scored three points and taken home a victory instead of getting the points she had,” Ross said.

Price left to a standing ovation, including the Tennessee bench.

“We’ve got to stand up for this young lady. She’s one of the best players in the game,” Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said.

From Wire Reports