Purdue Ousts UC Santa Barbara

Camille Cooper scored 23 points and Purdue used a late run to hold off UC Santa Barbara, 75-62, on Friday night in the first round of the Mideast Regional at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (27-6) clamped down on defense as UC Santa Barbara (22-9) could not solve its full-court press and was harassed into 24 turnovers.

“It was kind of exciting for a while,� UC Santa Barbara Coach Mark French said. “We withstood a couple of real runs by Purdue where the crowd really got into it. We came back strong and made it close in the second half.�

The Boilermakers were 24 of 35 from the free-throw line while the Gauchos made nine of 14 attempts.

LSU 83, Arizona St. 66--Ke-Ke Tardy scored 21 points as Louisiana State (20-10) rallied to beat the Sun Devils (20-11) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Tennessee 80, Austin Peay 38--Ashley Robinson scored 17 points as Tennessee (30-2) easily defeated the Lady Governors (17-14) at Knoxville, Tenn.

St. Mary’s, Calif. 68, Texas 64--Triola Alexander scored 21 points as St. Mary’s of California (26-5) beat Texas (20-13) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Texas Tech 100, Penn 57--At Lubbock, Texas, Plenette Pierson scored 19 points as the Lady Raiders (23-6) routed Penn (22-5).

Virginia Tech 77, Denver 57--Virginia Tech (22-8) opened a 15-0 lead in an easy win over Denver (24-7) at Lubbock, Texas.

Xavier 80, Louisville 52--Nicole Levandusky’s three-pointer started a 24-2 run as Xavier (29-2) took control early and dominated Louisville (19-10) at Cincinnati.

Clemson 51, Chattanooga 49--Nuria Forns’ two free throws with less than a second left gave Clemson (21-9) the win over Chattanooga (24-7) at Cincinnati.

EAST REGIONAL

Georgia 77, Liberty 48--Kelly Miller scored 16 points, and the Lady Bulldogs (27-5) cruised to a first-round win over the Flames (18-12) at Athens, Ga.

Missouri 71, Wisconsin 68--Missouri (21-9) won its first NCAA women’s tournament game in 15 years, beating the Badgers (18-10) at Athens, Ga.

North Carolina State 76, Delaware 57--At Raleigh, N.C., Amy Simpson finished with 17 points as North Carolina State (21-10) routed Delaware (26-5).

Villanova 66, Drake 58--Courtney Mix keyed a late 12-2 run as Villanova (22-8) beat Drake (23-7) at Raleigh, N.C.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Iowa St. 100, Howard 61--Angie Welle scored 16 of her 23 points in the first half as Iowa State (26-5) cruised past Howard (21-10) at Ames, Iowa.

Florida St. 72, Tulane 70--April Traylor scored a career-high 30 points and Florida State (19-11) survived a late rush by Tulane (22-10) at Ames, Iowa.

WEST REGIONAL

Washington 67, Old Dominion 65--Loree Payne’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer lifted the Huskies (20-9) past Old Dominion (21-9) at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida 84, Holy Cross 52--Naomi Mobley had 16 points and a career-high 20 rebounds to help Florida (24-5) overpower Holy Cross (21-9) at Gainesville, Fla.