74
BATON ROUGE, La. >> When it was time to punctuate her second unforgettable performance in three days, Danielle Ballard whipped the basketball down with both hands and slammed it off the court.
She then leapt into teammate Theresa Plaisance’s arms, tugged at the "LSU" on her jersey and raised her arm in celebration before a jubilant throng of fans.
Ballard had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and seventh-seeded LSU overcame a late seven-point deficit to upset No. 2 seed West Virgina 76-67 in the second round of the NCAA tourney Tuesday.
"I was like, ‘We did it again.’ I was super excited," said Ballard, a sophomore guard, who had 24 points and 17 rebounds in LSU’s first-round win over Georgia Tech. "All of my frustration went out on the ball. … It was just a joyful moment."
Playing the last 12 minutes with four fouls, Shanece McKinney had 13 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for LSU (21-12).
Holding a seven-point lead with 5:05 left, West Virginia was on the verge of winning the first second-round NCAA game in program history, but LSU stunningly seized control with a 16-2 run. Asya Bussie had 21 points for West Virginia (30-5), which fell to 0-8 all time in second-round games.
LINCOLN REGIONAL
UCONN 91, SAINT JOSEPH’S 52
STORRS, Conn. >> Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had the third triple-double (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in UConn history as the Huskies (36-0) moved into their 21st straight NCAA regional semifinal with a rout of the Hawks (23-10).
TEXAS A&M 85, JAMES MADISON 69
COLLEGE STATION, Texas >> Courtney Williams scored 23 points and Karla Gilbert added 20 points with 15 rebounds to help the Aggies (26-8) beat the Dukes (29-6).
LOUISVILLE REGIONAL
MARYLAND 69, TEXAS 64
COLLEGE PARK, Md. >> Alyssa Thomas scored all 16 of her points in the second half, and the Terrapins (26-6) squeezed past the Longhorns (22-12) to reach the Sweet 16.
LOUISVILLE 83, IOWA 53
IOWA CITY, Iowa >> Shoni Schimmel had 26 points, seven assists and five steals to help the Cardinals (32-4) thump the host Hawkeyes (27-9).
STANFORD REGIONAL
SOUTH CAROLINA 78, OREGON STATE 69
SEATTLE >> Aleighsa Welch had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Tiffany Mitchell added 20 points and 10 boards, and the top-seeded Gamecocks (29-4) overwhelmed the ninth-seeded Beavers (24-11).
NORTH CAROLINA 62, MICHIGAN STATE 53
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. >> Freshman Diamond DeShields had 24 points and a season-high 12 rebounds to help the fourth-seeded Tar Heels (26-9) beat the fifth-seeded Spartans (23-10).
PENN STATE 83, FLORIDA 61
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. >> Maggie Lucas and Dara Taylor each scored 22 points to send the third-seeded Lady Lions (24-7) into the Sweet 16 with a win over the 11th-seeeded Gators (20-13).
NIT MEN
CLEMSON 73, BELMONT 68
CLEMSON, S.C. >> Damarcus Harrison scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and the Tigers (23-12) used a late 12-2 run to beat the Bruins (26-10) and reach the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Clemson will play either SMU or California.
MINNESOTA 81, SOUTHERN MISS 73
MINNEAPOLIS >> Austin Hollins scored a career-high 32 points, including 12 straight in a span of 1:42 to erase an eight-point halftime deficit, to lead the Golden Gophers (23-13) over the Golden Eagles (29-7).
Minnesota, in the NIT semifinals for the second time in the last three years, will play either Florida State or Louisiana Tech on Tuesday.
