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Women: Kansas State stunned

MINNEAPOLIS - Janel McCarville had 15 points and a career-high 18 rebounds to lead well-balanced Minnesota to an unexpectedly easy 80-61 victory over Kansas State on Tuesday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Lindsay Whalen scored 15 points and Shannon Schonrock added 14 for the seventh-seeded Gophers (23-8), who will play Sunday against No. 3 seed Boston College in the Mideast Region semifinals in Norfolk, Va.

Coach Pam Borton was an assistant at BC for five seasons before Minnesota hired her in 2002.

Nicole Ohlde scrapped her way to 23 points for the second-seeded Wildcats (25-6), who lost last year in the second round at home to Notre Dame as a No. 3 seed. Kendra Wecker (eight points) and Laurie Koehn (three), the rest of Kansas State's talented trio, didn't make an impact. Megan Mahoney scored 17.

With 7:15 remaining, Wecker fouled out and walked to the end of the raised floor next to the Wildcats bench, staring in disgust with her hands on her hips.

The Gophers didn't waste any time taking control, riding the endless energy of a partisan crowd of 13,425 that stayed loud the entire night. It was the sixth-largest first- or second-round attendance in the history of the tournament.

McCarville dominated in the middle, overcoming a 3-inch height disadvantage against Ohlde. McCarville continually pushed the 6-5 All-American too far off the blocks to be effective, grabbing nearly every missed shot in sight and finishing her share of soft-touch layups.

DUKE 76, MARQUETTE 67: Alana Beard and reserve Brittany Hunter carried the Blue Devils into the round of 16 in Durham, N.C.

Beard scored 30 in her final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Hunter added 12 after halftime to lift the Blue Devils.

Monique Currie had 15 first-half points for the top-seeded Blue Devils (29-3), who have won 12 straight heading to Norfolk, Va. Duke will face No.5 seed Louisiana Tech on Sunday.

UCONN 79, AUBURN 53: Diana Taurasi scored 17, and the Huskies used a 30-4 run in the second half to beat the Tigers in Bridgeport, Conn.

Second-seeded Connecticut (27-4) made a season-high 14 3-pointers and clamped down hard on the Tigers in the second half to win going away.

When Auburn's open looks disappeared, so did its offense. The seventh-seeded Tigers (22-9) missed their first 17 shots in the second half. Le'Coe Willingham scored Auburn's first basket with 3:49 left.

The two-time defending champions advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight year and will play UC Santa Barbara.

PENN STATE 61, VA. TECH 48: Tanisha Wright made up for fellow All-American Kelly Mazzante's 4-for-16 shooting by scoring 26 of the Lions' first 36 in Blacksburg, Va.

Penn State (27-5) will be making its third straight trip to the round of 16 and showed itself something by winning at Tech that might come in handy when it moves on to Hartford, Conn., next week to play UConn.

NOTRE DAME 59, MID. TENN. ST. 46: Jacqueline Batteast tied her career-high with 27 points, 14 during a decisive 22-1 run, leading the Irish in South Bend, Ind.

TEXAS 80, MICHIGAN STATE 61: In Austin, Texas, Jamie Carey shook off a ferocious collision to lead the Longhorns.

Carey had to leave the court for several minutes after running into a defensive screen but returned to score 20 points, hitting five 3-pointers.

Heather Schreiber had 23 points for Texas (30-4).

LSU 76, MARYLAND 61: In Baton Rouge, La., Seimone Augustus scored 26 to help rally the Tigers. The victory sends LSU (25-7) to the region semifinal in Seattle on Saturday.

PURDUE 60, VILLANOVA 42: Shereka Wright scored 19, and the Boilermakers dominated the second half after a slow start in Ames, Iowa.

UCSB 56, HOUSTON 52: Lindsay Taylor had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the East's 11th-seeded Gauchos upset the third-seeded Cougars in Santa Barbara, Calif., to reach the round of 16 for the first time.

LA. TECH 81, TEXAS TECH 64: Erica Smith-Taylor had a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Mideast's fifth-seeded Techsters over the fourth-seeded Red Raiders in Missoula, Mont.

STANFORD 68, OKLAHOMA 43: Nicole Powell had 23 points, Kelley Suminski added 19 and the Midwest's sixth-seeded Cardinal scored 22 in a row in the second half against the third-seeded Sooners in Tempe, Ariz.

SO. NAZ. 77, OKLA. CITY 61: Tournament MVP Ndeye Ndiaye scored 19 points to lead Southern Nazarene to a repeat title in Jackson, Tenn.