Tennessee 89, Notre Dame 50

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Kara Lawson scored 16 points, and Brittany Jackson added 10 as Tennessee and beat Notre Dame 89-50 Sunday night, ending the defending national champions' season in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

The No. 2 seed Lady Vols (27-4) advanced to the round of 16 to face either BYU or Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, next weekend.

Tennessee came out with its usual aggressive offense and defense and with a relentless intensity and domination not shown in any other game this season.

Two big runs put the Lady Vols ahead 53-27 at halftime. They led by 30 points just 2:15 into the second half and never slacked off.

The No. 7 Irish (20-10), 0-14 against the Lady Vols, couldn't match Tennessee's pressure or quick shooting. The loss was their worst of the season, surpassing the 27-point defeat at Connecticut on Jan. 21.

After Brittany Jackson hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Vols a 5-4 lead, Tennessee never looked back.

Le'Tania Severe's basket for Notre Dame cut it to 15-8 with 14:02 to go before halftime.

Gwen Jackson's jumper started a 13-6 Tennessee run that ended with Ashley Robinson's three-point play to put the Lady Vols ahead 28-14.

Michelle Snow scored 11 points in reserve for Tennessee, which got points from 11 players.

Snow, who has dunked three times in her career, nearly capped the game with her fourth - and first at home.

LaToya Davis got a loose ball and passed it to Snow on the fastbreak with 1:59 to go, but the ball got caught under the rim as she jumped to put it in.

The Lady Vols harassed Notre Dame into 25 turnovers and grabbed 16 steals.

When their shots didn't fall, the Lady Vols were 27-for-35 from the foul line.

The Irish got as close as 11 on Severe's two free throws with seven minutes left, but Notre Dame was scoreless the next three minutes.

Tasha Butts made a shot at the halftime buzzer for a 26-point lead, Notre Dame's biggest halftime deficit of the season.

Notre Dame was led by Kelsey Wicks' 10 points while Jacqueline Batteast, the Irish's second-leading scorer was held to just five.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has been looking for a proven starting lineup and may have found it. She didn't pull any of the starters _ Gwen and Brittany Jackson, Lawson, April McDivitt and Shyra Ely _ until the 12:25 mark in the first half.

Tennessee has won 40 straight NCAA games at home and hasn't lost at home in the postseason since 1979 against Old Dominion in the AIAW tournament.

Texas Tech 77, Mississippi St. 55

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Amber Tarr scored 25 points, and Cisti Greenwalt added 19 as Texas Tech defeated Mississippi State 77-55 Sunday night in the second round of the West Regional.

The win earned Tech (20-11) its fourth straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen.

The Lady Raiders will play Saturday in Boise, Idaho, against the winner of the Oklahoma-Villanova game Monday night in Norman, Okla.

Tech, the fourth seed, brought a swarming defense, double teaming the Lady Bulldogs' top scorer LaToya Thomas almost every time she got the ball in the paint. Mississippi State pulled within six points with about 11 minutes remaining.

In the first half, Tech held Mississippi State (19-12) scoreless for more than eight minutes and kept the top two scorers _ Thomas and Tan White _ to just seven points.

Meanwhile, Tech scored 11 straight to lead 17-5.

Tarr's performance matched her career high and ended a four-game shooting slump in which she made only 9 of 38 shots. Greenwalt had 11 rebounds, and Jia Perkins added 10 points.

Thomas scored 15 points, and Jennifer Fambrough added 14 to lead the Lady Bulldogs.

Kansas St. 82, Arkansas 68

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Laurie Koehn scored 29 points and Nicole Ohlde had 19 as Kansas State beat Arkansas 82-68 Sunday night for the Wildcats' first round of 16 appearance in 20 years.

The lead changed 17 times before Koehn capped off an 8-1 Wildcats run with a three-point play. That gave the Wildcats (26-7) their biggest lead at 65-57 with 8:47 left.

The sixth-seeded Lady Razorbacks (20-12) cut it to three with three minutes left. But Kansas State scored eight straight points to seal the victory.

Kendra Wecker scored 12, and Kristin Rethman and Megan Mahoney each had 10. Ohlde and Mahoney both had 11 rebounds.

Shameka Christon scored 19 points, India Lewis had 15, and Andrea Wright had 14 points for Arkansas.

The Wildcats will play in Milwaukee on Saturday against either Old Dominion and Purdue.

Colorado 69, LSU 58

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- Mandy Nightingale scored 20 points and Tera Bjorklund had 13 of her 17 points in the second half, leading Colorado past LSU 69-58 Sunday night in NCAA women's West Regional second-round play.

Colorado (23-9), the No. 3 seed, advances to the regional semifinal in Boise, Idaho, against the winner of Monday night's Tulane-Stanford game.

Nightingale, whose 17 first-half points staked Colorado to a 37-27 lead at the break, hit only one basket in the second half, but it was a 3-pointer with 5:30 left that gave Colorado a 61-50 lead.

Doneeka Hodges, who led LSU with 23 points, scored the Tigers' first seven points of the second half during a 12-2 run that produced a 39-39 tie.

Bjorklund, playing 31 minutes in place of injured starting center Britt Hartshorn, hit a free throw to put Colorado ahead for good at 42-41. Bjorklund then scored eight straight Colorado points as the Buffaloes built a 58-48 lead with 6:40 remaining, and Nightingale hit her 3-pointer a minute later.

LSU (18-12), the No. 6 seed, got no closer than seven points after that.

Colorado hit 13 straight free throws in the final 10 minutes.

Two 3-pointers by Nightingale and one by Jenny Roulier put the Buffaloes ahead 11-4 with 12:57 left in the first half.

The Tigers, dressing only seven players, countered with a 13-2 run, starting and ending on 3-pointers by Hodges, to take a 17-13 lead. It included a three-point play by Aiysha Smith, who beat a double team on a layup.

Colorado outscored LSU 24-10 over the remainder of the half. The taller Buffaloes, who had failed to establish an inside presence against the quicker Tigers, got their first inside basket on a layup by Bjorklund with 10:00 remaining.

The Buffaloes scored 11 straight points, including Nightingale's driving layup and her two 15-foot jumpers, for a 34-25 lead. After LSU's Temeka Johnson hit a baseline jumper, Nightingale followed with a 3-pointer with four seconds left.