Tennessee 68, Vanderbilt 63

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Tennessee beat a familiar opponent to put itself back in a familiar setting.

Gwen Jackson had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Michelle Snow hit three key shots down the stretch as second-seeded Tennessee beat top-seeded Vanderbilt 68-63 in the Midwest Regional final Monday night, sending the Lady Vols to the Final Four for the 13th time.

Tennessee (29-4) built a 15-point lead early in the second half against its Southeastern Conference rival, then survived a rally that got the Commodores (30-7) within two points.

Chantelle Anderson's 35 points and 12 rebounds weren't enough to get Vanderbilt to the Final Four for the second time. Vanderbilt lost to eventual champion Notre Dame in the Midwest Regional final last year.

Now, Tennessee, a six-time national champion, gets another crack at unbeaten and top-ranked Connecticut, the Mideast Regional champion. They'll meet in the national semifinals in San Antonio on Friday night. Connecticut beat Tennessee 86-72 in Knoxville on Jan. 5.

Disrupting Vanderbilt with its pressure defense, Tennessee built a 42-27 lead early in the second half and was up 57-47 after Jackson scored on a drive.

Vanderbilt then made its run. Zuzi Klimesova scored six straight points and Anderson got a basket inside, drawing the Commodores to 57-55 with 5:29 left. They would get no closer.

Snow, who had managed only two points until then, hit two straight turnaround jumpers to make it 61-55. After Anderson sank two free throws, Jackson made a jump shot from the free-throw line for a 63-57 lead.

Anderson's layup left Vanderbilt trailing 63-60 with 1:14 to play, but Snow came through again, hitting another turnaround jump shot to make it 65-60 with 48.3 seconds remaining.

After Klimesova missed a 3-pointer, Brittany Jackson made two free throws with 20.3 seconds left and the Lady Vols could start celebrating.

Klimesova finished with 18 points for Vanderbilt. Brittany Jackson scored 10 points and Snow added eight.

The victory was No. 788 for Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, tying her with Jody Conradt of Texas for first place among women's coaches.

Tennessee tried to make it difficult for Vanderbilt to run its offense by pressuring the perimeter players so they'd have to work to get the ball to the 6-foot-6 Anderson inside.

That pressure started to take a toll midway through the first half, when Vanderbilt went more then five minutes without a basket. Jackson scored two baskets as the Lady Vols outscored Vanderbilt 10-2 during that stretch to open a 20-10 lead.

Snow scored inside against Anderson and Loree Moore hit a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 34-21 before Vanderbilt got the final four points of the half to pull to 34-25.

Tennessee and Connecticut have become the nation's hottest women's basketball rivalry in recent years and this will be their fourth meeting at the Final Four.

Connecticut's two national championships both came at Tennessee's expense in the finals, in 1995 and 2000. When Tennessee won the championship in 1996, it beat UConn in the national semifinals.

Duke 77, South Carolina 68

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Alana Beard scored 24 points and Monique Currie added 15 as Duke beat South Carolina 77-68 Monday in the East Regional championship to earn its second trip to the Final Four.

The top-seeded Blue Devils (31-3), who have won a school-record 22 straight games, advance to San Antonio to face the winner of Monday's West Regional final between Oklahoma and Colorado. The Blue Devils are returning to the Final Four for the first time since 1999, when they lost to Purdue in the championship game.

South Carolina (25-7) beat Duke during the regular season, winning 87-81 in overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 25.

On Monday, the Blue Devils had an answer for nearly run by the third seeded Gamecocks, rallying from a one-point deficit midway through the second half with several clutch shots and tough defense.

The Gamecocks rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to take a 46-45 lead on a layup by Jocelyn Penn with 9:54 to play.

The Blue Devils answered quickly, as Beard scored on a three-point play and added two free throws to put Duke up 50-46 with 9:03 left. She later added two free throws and a short jumper in the lane after recovering a batted pass for a 68-59 lead with 3:16 to go.

South Carolina didn't get closer than five the rest of the way.

Beard was 9-for-12 from the floor, and had seven rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.

Reserve Krista Gingrich had 10 points and hit two key 3-pointers in the second half as the Blue Devils made the decisive run.

Shaunzinski Gortman had 17 points to lead South Carolina, while Penn added 14.

South Carolina scored the game's first eight points before Duke used a 14-0 run midway through the half to take a 35-22 halftime lead.

Duke's defense was suffocating, holding South Carolina without a point for nearly seven minutes and forcing the Gamecocks into 10 straight misses during the run. The Blue Devils blocked shots on three straight possessions during the run and had eight for the half, matching a season high.