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North Carolina Gets Past UCF; Auburn Rolls

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The Associated Press

Published: March 22, 2009

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Heather Claytor scored a season-high 17 points while Italee Lucas and Jessica Breeland added 17 each to lead third-seeded North Carolina past Central Florida 85-80 on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels (28-6) improved to 15-3 all-time in first-round games but never led by more than 14 against pesky UCF, whose roster is filled with only sophomores and freshmen.

Chelsie Wiley led UCF with 22 points, Emma Cannon had 18 and Marshay White 12 in the Oklahoma City Regional game.

The Knights (17-17) won the Conference USA Tournament title with four wins in four days to make their third NCAA trip and first since 1999.

AUBURN 85, LEHIGH 49

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - DeWanna Bonner scored 26 points and led an early 21-3 spurt that carried the second-seeded Tigers (30-3) to an easy win against Lehigh (26-7).
Whitney Boddie had eight points and nine assists in becoming the career assists leader at Auburn. Trevesha Jackson added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who opened an 18-point lead in the first eight minutes and never looked back.

PURDUE 65, CHARLOTTE 52

Danielle Campbell scored 12 points to help sixth-seeded Purdue (23-10) to its 12th straight first-round win.

Charlotte (23-9) missed on making school history with an NCAA win in its second trip, and the 49ers can blame themselves. A team averaging 19.4 turnovers per game had 20 in the first half alone and finished with 28, one off its worst of the season.

RUTGERS 57, VCU 51

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Epiphanny Prince scored 26 points, including 10 during a decisive run in the second half, to lead seventh-seeded Rutgers (20-12) past Virginia Commonwealth (26-7).

PITTSBURGH 64,

MONTANA 35

SEATTLE - Shavonte Zellous scored 15 of her 31 points in the first half to keep Pitt even with energized and inspired Montana (28-5), and the superior talent of the fourth-seeded Panthers (24-7) took over in the second half.

Trenton Region

ARIZONA ST. 58, GEORGIA 47

DULUTH, Ga. - Arizona State held Georgia (18-14) to 20 first-half points, winning despite fill-in Kate Engelbrecht scoring only three points in place of injured guard Dymond Simon.

Lauren Lacey and Becca Tobin had 12 points each for Arizona State (24-8).

CALIFORNIA 70,

FRESNO STATE 47

LOS ANGELES - California's Ashley Walker scored 21 points and Cal (26-6) used a strong defense to overwhelm Fresno State (24-9) in the Trenton Regional.

Berkeley Region

MISSISSIPPI ST. 71, TEXAS 63

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Alexis Rack was perfect in eight trips to the foul line down the stretch, and 11th-seeded Mississippi State was 21 of 22 as a team in upsetting Texas (21-12).

Rack finished with 20 points, her 13th straight game in double figures. Chanel Mokango scored 15 and Mary Kathryn Govero added 11 off the bench for the Lady Bulldogs (23-9).

OHIO STATE 77,

SACRED HEART 63

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Samantha Prahalis scored a career-best 23 points, and Jantel Lavender added 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Ohio State (28-5) past Sacred Heart (25-8).

Ashlee Trebilcock had 13 points and Maria Moeller added a career-high 12 for the Buckeyes, the regular-season and tournament champions of the Big Ten. The win was their ninth in a row.

SAN DIEGO STATE 76,

DEPAUL 70

SAN DIEGO - Jene Morris tied her career high with 35 points to lead 10th-seeded San Diego State (24-7) past seventh-seeded DePaul (23-10).

Raleigh Region

VANDERBILT 73,

WESTERN CAROLINA 44

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Christina Wirth scored 23 points and Jennifer Risper had 11 points and nine rebounds as fourth-seeded Vanderbilt (25-8) beat No. 13 Western Carolina (21-12).

The loss ended the Lady Catamounts' 10-game winning streak.

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