woMen’s top 25 basketball roundup Saturday’s games

March 8, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

No. 12 Ohio State 72, Iowa 56

INDIANAPOLIS — Jantel Lavender had 21 points and 17 rebounds to help Ohio State beat in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. Star Allen had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the top-seeded Buckeyes (26-5), who will play Purdue in the final for the third time in four years. Purdue, the No. 3 seed, beat No. 7-seed Wisconsin 70-56 in the other semifinal to advance to Sunday’s championship game.

No. 2 Stanford 77, No. 18 Arizona State 68

STANFORD, Calif. — Jayne Appel scored a season-high 29 points, Jeanette Pohlen added 15 and No. 2 Stanford avoided sharing its ninth straight Pac-10 Conference title with Arizona State, snapping the 18th-ranked Sun Devils’ 15-game winning streak. Nnemkadi Ogwumike added nine points for the Cardinal (26-4, 17-1 Pac-10), who have won the last five regular-season conference titles outright.

No. 4 Maryland 95, No. 11 North Carolina 84

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Marissa Coleman scored 29 points and Maryland ended North Carolina’s dominance of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, beating the Tar Heels in the semifinals. ACC player of the year Kristi Toliver added 25 points and rookie of the year Lynetta Kizer finished with 15 for the top-seeded Terrapins (27-4).

No. 6 Auburn 78, No. 19 Tennessee 58

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — DeWanna Bonner scored 26 points and Auburn went on a 21-4 run at the start of the second half to rout Tennessee in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament. Whitney Boddie added 19 points for the Tigers, who advanced to the championship game for the first time since winning the title in 1997. Auburn (29-2) trailed by five at halftime before Bonner and Boddie turned a close game into a blowout.

No. 9 California 51, Arizona 48

BERKELEY, Calif. — Devanei Hampton scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help California beat Arizona and snap its two-game losing streak. Natasha Vital added 12 points and Ashley Walker had 11 for the Bears (24-5, 14-4) in their Pac-10 regular-season finale.

Dayton 63, No. 16 Xavier 60

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Justine Raterman scored 17 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime to help Dayton stun Xavier in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. The eighth-seeded Flyers had a wild celebration after ending the top-seeded Musketeers’ two-year run as league champion. It opens the door for another team to get an automatic NCAA tournament berth.

No. 17 South Dakota State 77, Oral Roberts 49

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Maria Boever had 21 points and South Dakota State routed Oral Roberts in the first round of the Summit League tournament. The Jackrabbits (29-2), who play the winner of today’s IUPUI-IPFW game in the semifinals, are trying to become the first No. 1 seed to win the conference tournament since 1998.

No. 20 Notre Dame 62, St. John’s 45

HARTFORD, Conn. — Lindsay Schrader had 16 points and Natalie Novosel added 15 as Notre Dame defeated St. John’s in the second round of the Big East tournament. The Irish (23-8) will play fourth seed Villanova in the quarterfinals.

No. 25 Bowling Green 79, Ohio 64

BOWLING GREEN— Niki McCoy scored 21 points to lead five Bowling Green players in double figures as the Falcons beat Ohio, bouncing back after having their 25-game winning streak ended.

Associated Press