WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Boston College seemed an unlikely candidate to pull the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament.
Snapping out of a late-season slump, the eighth-seeded Eagles made Ohio State the first No. 1 seed to exit the NCAAs with a 79-69 victory in the second round of the Albuquerque Regional on Tuesday night.
Kindyll Dorsey scored 24 points and hit six 3-pointers, a school record for a tournament game, to lead the Eagles.
The Buckeyes became the first top seed eliminated in the second round since Texas Tech in 1998.
While it was a surprise to see the Buckeyes (29-3) struggle, it was every bit as stunning that the Eagles managed to right themselves and reach the regional semifinals.
Boston College (21-11) had lost five straight entering the tournament, but won two games in three days at a site — Mackey Arena — where Ohio State has won only twice since 1994. The Eagles now face fifth-seeded Utah on Saturday as they continue their quest to go home for the Final Four in Boston.
"That's all we heard is we lost five in a row," Boston College coach Cathy Inglese said. "All we worked on was our execution on defense."
The Buckeyes, in contrast, had been cruising. They came into the tournament crowned Big Ten regular-season and tourney champs, and had just taken over the nation's longest winning streak when they won No. 20 Sunday against 16th-seeded Oakland.
But the most debated of this year's top seeds also proved the most vulnerable.
Ohio State fell one game short of tying the school's single-season record for wins and lost in the second round for the third time in four years. They also lost guard Brandie Hoskins, who appeared to injure her left ankle with 1:17 left. There was no immediate update on the injury.
Big Ten player of the year Jessica Davenport led the Buckeyes with 21 points and seven rebounds — not enough to avoid their first loss since Jan. 1, which was also at Purdue.
"We didn't come out on the level we needed to, especially in the first four minutes," said Marscilla Packer, who had 16 points for the Buckeyes. "We were scoring, but we weren't stopping them."
Davenport was not much of a factor in the first half, and they shot a dismal 37.8 percent from the field in the second half. But they still managed to rally twice.
MARYLAND 81, ST. JOHN'S 74: At State College, Pa., Crystal Langhorne capped a 30-point effort with two late inside baskets and St. John's went cold from the field as the second-seeded Terps advanced to the regional semifinals. After Barlow hit a free throw to tie the game at 72-72 with just over 3 minutes left, Maryland took over from there. Langhorne converted an offensive rebound to give the Terps a 76-72 lead.
CLEVELAND REGIONAL
TENNESSEE 66, GEORGE WASHINGTON 53: At Norfolk, Va., Shanna Zolman scored 19 points and Candace Parker had 15, and Tennessee started fast and led throughout. The Lady Vols advanced to the semifinals of the Cleveland Regional against TCU or Rutgers. Tennessee (30-4) also reached 30 victories for the 16th time in Pat Summitt's 32 years as coach, and will play in the regional semis for the 25th straight year.
RUTGERS 82, TCU 48: At Trenton, N.J., Cappie Pondexter scored 24 points to lead Rutgers to a victory over TCU. Matee Ajavon led four other players in double figures with 18 points and also had 13 assists for No. 3 seed Rutgers (27-4). Rutgers' win was the 750th for coach C. Vivian Stringer in her 1,000th game spanning 34 years at Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers.
PURDUE 61, UCLA 54: At West Lafayette, Ind., Katie Gearlds scored 15 points and Erin Lawless and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton added 14 apiece as Purdue advanced to the regional semifinals for the third time in four years. Nikki Blue had 18 points and five assists and Lisa Willis added 15 points for the Bruins.
BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL
GEORGIA 73, HARTFORD 54: At Trenton, N.J., Sherill Baker scored 26 points and Tasha Humphrey had 24, helping Georgia blow the game open in the second half and defeat Hartford. Humphrey had 17 rebounds for No. 3 seed Georgia (23-8), which reached the round of 16 for the 16th time in 23 NCAA appearances. The inside-outside combination of the 6-foot-3 Humphrey and the 5-8 Baker was too much for No. 11 seed Hartford (25-8), which had upset No. 6 seed Temple on Sunday.
UCONN 79, VIRGINIA TECH 56: At State College, Pa., Ann Strother had 22 points and six 3-pointers, and Barbara Turner dominated inside with 18 points and 16 rebounds as the second-seeded Huskies routed No. 7 seed Virginia Tech. The win sends the Huskies (31-4) into the regional semifinals for a 14th straight season. The Huskies will play their next game against Georgia, in Bridgeport, Conn., about a 90-minute drive from the UConn campus in Storrs.
DUKE 85, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 51: At Norfolk, Va., Alison Bales scored a career-high 22 points and blocked six shots and the top-seeded Blue Devils took command early against Southern California. Monique Currie added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Duke, and fellow senior Mistie Williams had nine points and eight rebounds. The Blue Devils (28-3) will take on Michigan State in the Bridgeport Regional semifinals Sunday.