The men had their "Upset Sunday," earlier this week in the NCAA basketball tournament. On Thursday night, it was the women's turn to spring a few surprises.
By the time all eight region semifinal games were completed, top-ranked Tennessee was no longer alive in the Mideast, thanks to sixth-ranked Louisiana Tech, a No. 4 seed, which eliminated the Lady Vols, 71-68.Defending NCAA champion and second-seeded Texas Tech, was also gone, eliminated in the Midwest by sixth-seeded Alabama, 73-68.
And in the East, second-seeded Vanderbilt, which made the Final Four last year, was ousted by third-seeded North Carolina, 73-69.
Third-ranked Connecticut, the top seed in the East, struggled before beating No. 22 Southern Mississippi, the fourth seed, 78-64. And back in the Midwest, second-ranked Penn State held off fourth-seeded and No. 14 Seton Hall, 64-60.
In a Mideast semifinal, No. 7 Southern Cal, the second seed, beat No. 10 Virginia, the third seed, 85-66. In the West, No. 11 Stanford, the second seed, avenged No. 5 Colorado, 78-62, while No. 8 Purdue, the top seed, eliminated 13th-seeded Texas A&M, 82-56.
Louisiana Tech 71, Tennessee 68
At Fayetteville, Ark., Louisiana Tech (29-3) was on a 23-game winning streak since losing to Tennessee, 94-60, on Dec. 22. But the Techsters were more explosive this time, particularly the play of point guard Pam Thomas, who scored 18 points.
"She ran the floor well, created, dished and she made good decision," said coach Pat Summitt, whose Tennessee team finished 31-2 and missed the Final Four a third straight year.
The Lady Vols, led by Nikki McCray's 19 points, were after an unprecedented fourth NCAA title.
Stanford 78, Colorado 62
Anita Kaplan settled a year-old score for Stanford. Kaplan had 29 points and second-seeded Stanford held third-seeded Colorado scoreless over the final 5:30 for a 78-62 victory.
The win, Stanford's 14th straight, avenged a loss to Colorado in a West Regional semifinal at Missoula, Mont., last year. That was the only time in the last six seasons the Cardinal failed to reach at least the final eight.
"As bad as it felt last year to lose up there, it feels twice as good to win this year here," Kaplan said.
"It was an empty, crushing feeling last year. We were very motivated not to lose to this team this year," added Christy Hedgpeth, who finished with 17 points for the Cardinal (25-5), who advanced to Saturday night's regional championship against Purdue.