STORRS, Conn. - Diana Taurasi scored a career-high 35 points to lead top-seeded Connecticut to an 81-66 win over stubborn Texas Christian on Tuesday night.
TCU's Tiffany Evans pulls in a rebound in the first half of the Connecticut-TCU East Region second-round game at Storrs, Conn., Tuesday. Also in on the play were TCU's Amy Pack and Connecticut's Ann Strother. Bob Child / Associated Press
The junior guard had 10 points in an 18-2 run to open the second half, erasing a two-point halftime deficit.
UConn (33-1) has only trailed three times in the last 87 games and for most of the first half, the Huskies' home-winning streak of 62 games was in jeopardy.
UConn will play Big East rival Boston College in the East Regional semifinal on Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.
Against the ninth-seeded Lady Frogs (20-14), UConn ran into a team just as big and fast. Its problems started in the middle against center Sandora Irvin, who led TCU with 19 points and nine rebounds.
The school's all-time leader in blocked shots, Irvin dominated inside, putting UConn defenders in foul trouble early.
Taurasi took over in the second half as the Huskies went on their big run.
TCU never recovered and trailed by as many as 19.
Notre Dame 59,
Kansas State 53
La'Tania Severe scored 17 points and 11th-seeded Notre Dame made six straight free throws in the final 1:01 to pull off another upset.
Notre Dame (21-10) frustrated a team that had been averaging 75 points a game with an active zone defense and patient offense and advanced to the round of 16 for the fifth time in seven years.
The Irish will play second-seeded Purdue in the East Regional semifinals next Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.
Even with its potent offense, No. 3 seed Kansas State (29-5) couldn't recover after going 12:44 without a field goal and had a 22-game home winning streak broken.
Laurie Koehn hit seven 3-pointers and led Kansas State with 23 points.
Midwest
Duke 65,
Utah 54
Alana Beard scored a game-high 27 points as top-seeded Duke advanced to the round of 16 for the sixth straight season.
Duke (33-1) will face No. 5 seed Georgia on Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M. Iciss Tillis added 12 points and freshman Jessica Foley had 11 for Duke.
Kim Smith scored 20 points and went 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point arc to lead the eighth-seeded Utes (24-7), who came into the game allowing just 50 points per game. Shona Thorburn added 12.
Beard scored 10 points in the last 13:28 of the game as the Blue Devils slowly pulled away.
With Duke leading by four, Beard scored six points in an 11-2 run that gave the Blue Devils a 51-38 lead.
Texas Tech 72,
UC Santa Barbara 68
Jia Perkins scored 23 points as Texas Tech held off UC Santa Barbara.
The second-seeded Lady Raiders (28-5) advance to the round of 16 and will play sixth-seeded New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday night.
Tech has made it to a regional semifinal five straight years.
Lindsay Taylor had 26 points, 10 above her season average, to lead the seventh-seeded Gauchos (27-5).
Tech led most of the way, but Santa Barbara overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to make it close.
Plenette Pierson scored five of her 15 points in the final 27.7 seconds to help Tech put it away.
Mideast
Penn State 77,
South Carolina 67
Kelly Mazzante scored 27 points to lead fourth-seeded Penn State.
The Lady Lions (26-8) advance to the round of 16 and face top-seeded Tennessee on its home court Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Fifth-seeded South Carolina (23-8) could not handle Penn State's pressure defense. Kelly Morrone hit a 3-pointer to bring the Gamecocks to 46-35 with 12:15 left, but that's as close as they would get until it was too late.
Jocelyn Penn, who came in as the nation's fifth-leading scorer at 24 points a game, had 21 points, but most of them came when the game was out of reach. Cristina Ciocan had 14 points, and Petra Ujhelyi scored 11.
Villanova 70,
George Washington 57
Katie Davis scored 24 points and Trish Juhline had 14 of her 16 in the second half as second-seeded Villanova (27-5) reached the round of 16 for the first time in seven NCAA tournament appearances.
They will play Colorado on Saturday in the regional semifinals in Knoxville, Tenn.
Villanova, which averages nearly nine 3-pointers per game, had a tough time getting good shots from the perimeter in the first half. Then the Wildcats missed their first four shots of the second half before getting six 3s in a span of 4.5 minutes to take control.
Ugo Oha had 21 points for the seventh-seeded Colonials (25-7).
West
Texas 67, Arkansas 50
Heather Schreiber scored 20 points and Stacy Stephens added 16 points and 14 rebounds as Texas won its 15th straight game.
The second-seeded Longhorns (27-5), making their 19th appearance in the NCAA tournament, will play Minnesota in the round of 16.
Shameka Christon led seventh-seeded Arkansas (22-11) with 16 points.
Texas led 38-29 at halftime. Jamie Carey opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns a 12-point lead, and Arkansas never got closer than eight points after that.
Louisiana Tech 74,
Ohio State 61
Cheryl Ford had 25 points and 15 rebounds as Louisiana Tech won its 29th straight game.
Fifth-seeded Tech (31-2) extended the longest winning streak in the nation and improved to 36-0 overall in NCAA tournament games at home.
The Techsters shook off their early sluggishness to end fourth-seeded Ohio State's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999.
The Buckeyes (22-10) are winless in five games against Louisiana Tech.
UConn (33-1) has only trailed three times in the last 87 games and for most of the first half, the Huskies' home-winning streak of 62 games was in jeopardy.
UConn will play Big East rival Boston College in the East Regional semifinal on Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.
Against the ninth-seeded Lady Frogs (20-14), UConn ran into a team just as big and fast. Its problems started in the middle against center Sandora Irvin, who led TCU with 19 points and nine rebounds.
The school's all-time leader in blocked shots, Irvin dominated inside, putting UConn defenders in foul trouble early.
Taurasi took over in the second half as the Huskies went on their big run.
TCU never recovered and trailed by as many as 19.
Notre Dame 59,
Kansas State 53
La'Tania Severe scored 17 points and 11th-seeded Notre Dame made six straight free throws in the final 1:01 to pull off another upset.
Notre Dame (21-10) frustrated a team that had been averaging 75 points a game with an active zone defense and patient offense and advanced to the round of 16 for the fifth time in seven years.
The Irish will play second-seeded Purdue in the East Regional semifinals next Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.
Even with its potent offense, No. 3 seed Kansas State (29-5) couldn't recover after going 12:44 without a field goal and had a 22-game home winning streak broken.
Laurie Koehn hit seven 3-pointers and led Kansas State with 23 points.
Midwest
Duke 65,
Utah 54
Alana Beard scored a game-high 27 points as top-seeded Duke advanced to the round of 16 for the sixth straight season.
Duke (33-1) will face No. 5 seed Georgia on Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M. Iciss Tillis added 12 points and freshman Jessica Foley had 11 for Duke.
Kim Smith scored 20 points and went 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point arc to lead the eighth-seeded Utes (24-7), who came into the game allowing just 50 points per game. Shona Thorburn added 12.
Beard scored 10 points in the last 13:28 of the game as the Blue Devils slowly pulled away.
With Duke leading by four, Beard scored six points in an 11-2 run that gave the Blue Devils a 51-38 lead.
Texas Tech 72,
UC Santa Barbara 68
Jia Perkins scored 23 points as Texas Tech held off UC Santa Barbara.
The second-seeded Lady Raiders (28-5) advance to the round of 16 and will play sixth-seeded New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday night.
Tech has made it to a regional semifinal five straight years.
Lindsay Taylor had 26 points, 10 above her season average, to lead the seventh-seeded Gauchos (27-5).
Tech led most of the way, but Santa Barbara overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to make it close.
Plenette Pierson scored five of her 15 points in the final 27.7 seconds to help Tech put it away.
Mideast
Penn State 77,
South Carolina 67
Kelly Mazzante scored 27 points to lead fourth-seeded Penn State.
The Lady Lions (26-8) advance to the round of 16 and face top-seeded Tennessee on its home court Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Fifth-seeded South Carolina (23-8) could not handle Penn State's pressure defense. Kelly Morrone hit a 3-pointer to bring the Gamecocks to 46-35 with 12:15 left, but that's as close as they would get until it was too late.
Jocelyn Penn, who came in as the nation's fifth-leading scorer at 24 points a game, had 21 points, but most of them came when the game was out of reach. Cristina Ciocan had 14 points, and Petra Ujhelyi scored 11.
Villanova 70,
George Washington 57
Katie Davis scored 24 points and Trish Juhline had 14 of her 16 in the second half as second-seeded Villanova (27-5) reached the round of 16 for the first time in seven NCAA tournament appearances.
They will play Colorado on Saturday in the regional semifinals in Knoxville, Tenn.
Villanova, which averages nearly nine 3-pointers per game, had a tough time getting good shots from the perimeter in the first half. Then the Wildcats missed their first four shots of the second half before getting six 3s in a span of 4.5 minutes to take control.
Ugo Oha had 21 points for the seventh-seeded Colonials (25-7).
West
Texas 67, Arkansas 50
Heather Schreiber scored 20 points and Stacy Stephens added 16 points and 14 rebounds as Texas won its 15th straight game.
The second-seeded Longhorns (27-5), making their 19th appearance in the NCAA tournament, will play Minnesota in the round of 16.
Shameka Christon led seventh-seeded Arkansas (22-11) with 16 points.
Texas led 38-29 at halftime. Jamie Carey opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns a 12-point lead, and Arkansas never got closer than eight points after that.
Louisiana Tech 74,
Ohio State 61
Cheryl Ford had 25 points and 15 rebounds as Louisiana Tech won its 29th straight game.
Fifth-seeded Tech (31-2) extended the longest winning streak in the nation and improved to 36-0 overall in NCAA tournament games at home.
The Techsters shook off their early sluggishness to end fourth-seeded Ohio State's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999.
The Buckeyes (22-10) are winless in five games against Louisiana Tech.
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