Purdue gets a rematch vs. UNC

Purdue is the only No. 2 seed left in the NCAA tournament. To keep playing, the Boilermakers are going to have to beat the No. 1 seed _ and the same team that knocked them out last year.

The Boilermakers get a rematch with North Carolina and a shot at getting to the Final Four in the Dallas Regional final Tuesday night.

"Obviously, it's special and it leaves you kind of speechless," Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. "We went above and beyond expectations, and when you really believe in something, you're not denied, you have that mental focus."

Versyp may be in her first year as their coach, but she was a four-year starter for the Boilermakers in the mid-1980s. And she knows how determined current star Katie Gearlds, one of only two Purdue seniors, is to keep winning.

Gearlds had 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting with four 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds Sunday night while helping the Boilermakers overcome a big early deficit and beat No. 3 seed Georgia 78-65. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton added 24 points and nine rebounds.

In the other semifinal game, North Carolina (33-3) won 70-56 over George Washington, a No. 5 seed that had advanced with a win over Texas A&M and kept the Aggies from getting to play in front of a partisan crowd.

Purdue has won 10 straight games, all since Gearlds had impromptu meetings with her teammates and Versyp.

After playing in all 132 games in her career, her 100th start could be the one that finally gets her to the Final Four.

When Gearlds was a freshman, the final game was a loss to Georgia in another regional semifinal. The Boilermakers won only one tournament game in 2005, but got to the round of 16 again last season before losing 70-68 to North Carolina on Ivory Latta's basket with 2.8 seconds left.

"I am going to quote what Peyton Manning said and say that I am not going to get into that subject right now," Gearlds said. "I don't have a monkey on my back. It is all about this team and we have worked so hard."

Purdue had four turnovers and two missed shots while the Lady Bulldogs raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes. Gearlds finally hit a 15-foot jumper that rolled around the rim a few times before falling.

Gearlds had the final points in Purdue's 14-4 run to end the opening half, with a 3-pointer and a free throw. Her missed free throw with 41 seconds left kept the Boilermakers from getting even before the break, but she more than made up for that miss.

The first of Gearlds' 18 points after halftime come on a long jumper she made despite having the arms of a defender wrapped around her waist while she was in the air.

"Early in the game, we were there," Georgia coach Andy Landers said about defending Gearlds. "We knew what was coming."

Tasha Humphrey had 20 points and Angel Robinson 14 for Georgia (27-7), which was in the round of 16 for the fifth straight season but failed to advance farther for the fourth time in that stretch.

Once North Carolina didn't have to worry about Whitney Allen, the Tar Heels had no trouble with the rest of George Washington (28-4).

Allen's pesky defense bothered UNC from the start but her aggressiveness also led to three fouls in the first 7 minutes. As she watched from the bench, Latta and the Tar Heels went on a 22-5 run and to their third straight regional final.

Hours after the UNC men missed their chance at making the Final Four, LaToya Pringle had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 junior also blocked four shots, giving her a school-record 116 for the season.

"She gives us so much," coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "She's a great shot blocker and defensively she's so tough in there. She's just a really solid player."

North Carolina's women reached the Final Four last year, but have been ousted by the eventual national champion two years in a row.

The nation's top-scoring team is also pretty good on defense. The Heels grabbed 23 more rebounds and had 16 steals, many that kept GW from setting its offense.

"Coach Hatchell wanted us to dominate from the beginning, and that's what we did," said Erlana Larkins, who finished with 14 points, six rebounds, five steals and six assists.

Allen never got her fifth foul, but three GW players did because of UNC's tough inside play. Sarah-Jo Lawrence led the Colonials with 23 points before fouling out with 3:18 left.

"We weren't surprised," Lawrence said. "We knew that that's how they scored mostly, a lot of offensive boards. That's how they get their points and we didn't take care of that."