Night of Upsets At Stanford

First Marist, then Florida State

March 20, 2007

(AP) - First Marist, then Florida State. It was a night of upsets at Stanford.

After watching the Red Foxes beat Middle Tennessee 73-59, the Seminoles knew they could upend the host Cardinal in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Florida State then advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time with a 68-61 victory.

Alicia Gladden scored the final seven points of an 11-0 run that frustrated the Cardinal and sent Florida State to the first second-round win in school history.

After Candice Wiggins' 3-pointer gave Stanford a 50-49 lead with 8:40 left, the 10th-seeded Seminoles (24-9) took charge to avenge an 18-point loss in the same round last March.

And Sue Semrau's in-your-face squad featuring one senior -- Gladden -- gets to play out West in the Fresno Regional later this week.

"Ten years ago, this program was 0-16 in our conference," Semrau said. "It took a lot of players to come and believe that this could be a good basketball school, and not just a football school. These are three of them right here (Gladden, Shante Williams, Mara Freshour). It was fun to see them succeed tonight. These players all have a lot of courage."

Williams scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Freshour had 15 and Gladden added 12 points, six rebounds and four steals -- scoring the first of her seven consecutive points with 6:46 left. Second-seeded Stanford (29-5) never recovered, making an early exit in Maples Pavilion just the way the Cardinal did four years ago against Minnesota in a heartbreaking defeat that kept them from playing on campus the next week in the regionals.

Fresno Regional

LSU 49, West Virginia 43

At Austin, Texas, Sylvia Fowles scored 14 of her 21 points in the second half, and the Lady Tigers rallied from an 11-point deficit to keep their run to a fourth consecutive Final Four alive.

Playing without former head coach Pokey Chatman, who abruptly resigned March 7 amid allegations of improper conduct with a former player, third-seeded LSU (28-7) trailed by 11 in the second half. But Fowles scored six points in a 12-0 run that saw the Lady Tigers rally to take the lead 36-35 on her layup with 7:58 to play.

LSU will play Florida State on Saturday in the regional semifinals.

Dallas Regional

Georgia 76, Iowa State 56

At Minneapolis, Cori Chambers scored all 18 of her points in a perfect first-half performance, and Georgia advanced to the school's 17th regional semifinal and fifth in a row.

Tasha Humphrey had 21 points and seven rebounds for the third-seeded Lady Bulldogs (27-6), which shot 61 percent and made eight 3-pointers in the first half. Georgia will play second-seeded Purdue on Sunday in the regional semifinals.

Lyndsey Medders had 11 points and nine assists for sixth-seeded Iowa State (26-9).

Purdue 76, Georgia Tech 63

At Minneapolis, Katie Gearlds scored 26 points and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Boilermakers (30-5).

Stephanie Higgs scored 27 points and Janie Mitchell had 16 points for the Yellow Jackets (21-12).

George Washington 59, Texas A&M 47

At Los Angeles, Kimberly Beck scored 18 points and made a 3-pointer that put the game away with 1:40 to play and fellow guard Sarah-Jo Lawrence added 12 points for the Colonials.

George Washington (28-3) advance to Sunday's regional semifinals, where it will face either No. 1 seed North Carolina or ninth-seeded Notre Dame, who play Tuesday night.

Takia Starks had 15 points for the Aggies (25-7).

Greensboro Regional

Arizona State 67, Louisville 58

At Los Angeles, The Sun Devils rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final 11 minutes to reach the round of 16 for the second time in three years.

Briann January matched a career-high with 22 points and Emily Westerberg scored 12 for the Sun Devils (30-4), who outscored the Cardinals 31-8 down the stretch. They missed their first 15 shots, but went 15-of-29 in the second half to win going away.

Jazz Covington led Louisville (27-8) with 11 points and 12 rebounds.