College Confidential

Tennessee's Parker returns

Candace Parker returned to the bench with 14:19 remaining and checked back into the game at the 10:39 mark with the game tied at 36 after dislocating her left shoulder.

A two-time All-American, Parker hurt her right shoulder in Tennessee’s second round game against Purdue but she had not previously injured the left shoulder.

Texas A&M led 40-36 with 7:36 to play. A spot in the Final Four is at stake.

-- The Associated Press

Tennessee star leaves game vs. A&M

Candace Parker dislocated her left shoulder in the first half of Tennessee’s regional final against Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

The 6-foot-4 All-American had just stolen the ball and was dribbling up court in transition when she curled to the side and stopped.

A team trainer met her on the court and escorted her to the locker room with 3:50 remaining in the first half. She returned to the bench a minute later and checked in at the first chance she got, but then clutched it again while trying to deflect a pass by Texas A&M’s La Toya Micheaux and went back to the locker room with 15.6 seconds left.

She was not with her team when it came out of the locker room after halftime, and team spokesman Debby Jennings said trainers were trying to restore strength to the shoulder.

Prior to the injury, she had scored Tennessee’s previous 16 points.

Tennessee led 29-27 at halftime and with 10:39 to play in the game, the score was tied 36-36.

-- The Associated Press

Wiggins, Stanford women beat Maryland

Candice Wiggins checked off the one accomplishment missing in her career at Stanford — getting the Cardinal back to the Final Four.

The three-time Pac-10 player of the year, Wiggins scored 41 points, and got some help from unlikely sources as the second-seeded Cardinal pulled away from No. 1-seed Maryland 98-87 on Monday night in the Spokane Regional final.

Playing with a swagger and confidence bred from Stanford being denied a No. 1 seed in the tournament, the Cardinal are back in the Final Four for the first time in 11 years. They will face either Connecticut or Rutgers in the national semifinals in Tampa.

“We knew coming in we were the underdogs,” Wiggins said through tears as her teammates jumped up-and-down on the NCAA logo as “All Right Now” was played by the Stanford band. “We stayed tough and did the things that got us here and we’re going to keep it going.

“It’s amazing. It’s the most incredible feeling.”

With a young supporting cast, Stanford took its cue from Wiggins, its senior star who failed in two previous regional finals as a freshman and sophomore. She bounced all over the court, providing problems for the Terrapins, whether hitting step-back 3-pointers or rising between defenders in the lane.

Maryland made one final charge. Toliver scored nine straight points to pull Maryland within single digits at 79-72 following a 3 with 6:19 to play. Wiggins answered with a 3 from the top of the arc moments later.

-- The Associated Press

LSU women move on to Final Four

LSU coach Van Chancellor can thank Sylvia Fowles for his first trip to a Final Four.

Fowles had 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, lifting LSU to a 56-50 victory over top-seeded North Carolina on Monday night. The victory sent the second-seeded Lady Tigers (31-5) to their fifth Final Four in as many seasons. Only Connecticut also has made five straight trips to the Final Four and no team has made six.

“We knew it was our last year and we wanted to go all out,” said Fowles, named the most outstanding player of the New Orleans regional.

For North Carolina (33-3), forced to play before a hostile crowd wearing purple and gold, the loss snapped a 16-game winning streak and left the Tar Heels one victory short of a third straight Final Four appearance.

LaToya Pringle led the Tar Heels with 21 points, all but two coming in the second half, but it was not enough as the rest of her team combined for 10 points after the break.

“The only player that really played like they usually do is LaToya,” North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “It was tough coming down here playing in this environment.

“It was a very ugly game, I mean, who wants to watch a game 56-50,” Hatchell continued. “It was very different than how we normally play. ... LSU probably had a lot to do with that.”

-- The Associated Press

Texas A&M women on to Elite Eight

The Texas A&M Aggies defeated Duke 77-63 as A&M reached the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament for the first time. They did it behind the driving force of pint-size point guard A'Quonesia Franklin, who scored all 13 of her points in the second half, while overcoming the loss of Danielle Gant. Gant sat out the second half suffering from dehydration.

No. 2 seeded A&M played with grit and defensive discipline, frustrating Duke's guards in the second half and expanding a four-point halftime lead to double digits. A&M did it with balance from its starters and super sub Morenike Atunrase. Patrice Reado scored 17 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Aggies, and she and La Toya Micheaux drew charges from discombulated Duke to keep A&M in control in the second half.

Franklin went down with a severe leg cramp with 4 minutes to play but came back to finish out the game as Duke couldn't trim the lead under 10 points.

Takia Starks had 15 points and Atunrase had 13 for the Aggies.

A&M will play the winner of the Tennessee-Notre Dame game on Tuesday night in the Oklahoma City regional final for a berth in the Final Four.

-- Vince Langford

Season ends for Lady Frogs

Colorado scored 12 of the first 15 points in overtime to pull away for a 96-90 overtime win over TCU in the Women's NIT quarterfinal at Coors Events Center in Boulder. TCU pulled within 90-87 on Lorie Butler-Rayford's 3-pointer with 56 seconds left, but the Lady  Frogs never got any closer. TCU ends its season at 23-12 while Colorado (19-14) will host Marquette in the semifinals Wednesday night.

-- Lori Dann

Fantastic finish ... and there's more

TCU's Helen Roden grabbed an offensive rebound and beat the buzzer with a putback to send the Lady Frogs' WNIT quarterfinal game against Colorado into overtime. That came just after a clutch pullup jumper from Colorado's Whitney Houston.

-- Lori Dann

TCU trails for first time

After leading the entire game, TCU now trails Colorado 69-68 with 4:31 left. The Buffs are on a 13-3 run, capped by Aija Putnina's 3-pointer that put them ahead.

-- Lori Dann

Knight picks up third foul

It took TCU point guard Moneka Knight less than three minutes to pick up her third foul, but coach Jeff Mittie is gambling by keeping her in the game. So far it's paying off. Immediately after the foul, Knight hit a 3-pointer, and she now has 13 points as the Lady Frogs lead Colorado 54-44 in the Women's NIT quarterfinals.

-- Lori Dann

Lady Frogs weather storm

After Colorado made an 11-0 run to pull within three, TCU responded with a 7-0 streak of its own to stretch its advantage back to double-digits. Adrianne Ross had five of the points, going coast to coast and spinning past a defender for a layup, then hitting a 3-pointer to make it 42-32. The Lady Frogs lead 44-38 at the half behind Ross' 12 points. Jackie McFarland has 11 points and Aija Putnina has 10 for the Buffs. The winner takes on Marquette, a 69-64 winner over Kentucky, in the semifinals.

-- Lori Dann