NCAA BASKETBALL : WOMEN’S ROUNDUP : Arkansas Knocks Off No. 7 Georgia, 81-71

Juliet Jackson scored 16 of her 30 points in the first half as No. 22 Arkansas took control early and upset No. 7 Georgia, 81-71, in the second round of the NCAA West Regional Sunday at Athens, Ga.

Jackson made eight of 10 first-half shots and the Lady Razorbacks (24-4) shot 75% to take a 47-41 lead at halftime.

Amber Nicholas added 21 points, including a three-pointer with 4:01 left to give Arkansas a 73-61 lead.

“This team does not possess a lot of talent,” Arkansas Coach John Sutherland said. “It has to work hard for everything it gets, and we certainly did today. I’m very, very proud of them.”

Arkansas advanced to the West Regional semifinals Thursday at Stanford against No. 3 seeded Stephen F. Austin.

The Lady Bulldogs (25-5) made just 35% of their shots. Tammye Jenkins had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Georgia, but made only eight of 22 shots.

No. 4 Tennessee 87, Old Dominion 68--Daedra Charles scored 18 points and the Lady Volunteers coasted past the Lady Monarchs at Knoxville, Tenn.

Defending national champion Tennessee (26-5) advances to the semifinals of the East Regional in Norfolk, Va., Thursday.

The Lady Volunteers led, 39-36, at halftime and pulled away with a 16-7 run to start the second half.

Old Dominion (21-10) came within 55-46 with 12:23 left, but never got closer.

The Lady Volunteers outrebounded ODU, 51-35, and made 50% of their shots. The Lady Monarchs shot 39%.

Kelly Lyons scored 23 points and Angela Jackson added 22 for Old Dominion.

No. 8 Texas 95, Ohio State 66--Sophomore Vicki Hall scored 26 points, including 12 in a row during a stretch in the first half, to help the Lady Longhorns overcome a slow start and beat the Buckeyes in the second round of the Midwest Regional at Austin, Tex.

The Lady Longhorns (26-4) will face No. 11 North Carolina State in the regional semifinals in Austin Thursday. The Buckeyes (18-12) also lost to Texas, 82-52, on Dec. 14.

Texas didn’t score its first basket for almost three minutes. Hall scored 19 points in the first half on nine of 12 shooting.

No. 9 Auburn 73, No. 21 Tennessee Tech 54--Evelyn Thompson scored 21 points and Carolyn Jones added 18 as the Lady Tigers defeated the Eaglettes at Auburn, Ala.

The victory extended Auburn’s home winning streak to 55 games, longest in the nation for men or women.

The Lady Tigers (25-6) meet Vanderbilt (23-10) in the Mideast Regional semifinals at Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday night.

Auburn burst to a 12-1 lead after 3 1/2 minutes, capped by a three-point shot by Jones.

Auburn led by 14 with 12:50 remaining but Tennessee Tech (26-5) made four straight baskets to cut the advantage to six points with 9:17 left. However, the Eaglettes went scoreless for six minutes.

No. 12 Virginia 85, Penn State 64--Dawn Staley scored 32 points to lead the Cavaliers past the Lady Lions at Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers advance to the semifinals of the East Regional in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday.

Penn State (25-7) took a 15-7 lead with 13:30 left in the first half, but the Cavaliers (27-5) went on a 14-4 run to take a 21-19 lead on a basket by Tammi Reiss with 9:07 left and never trailed again.

The Lady Lions were within 52-48 early in the second half, but Staley and Reiss combined for 11 unanswered points in under three minutes to break open the game.

No. 15 Purdue 86, No. 17 Northern Illinois 81--Joy Holmes scored 17 of her 26 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket with 2:28 left, and the Boilermakers got past the Huskies (26-5) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (24-6) will play top-ranked Louisiana Tech (30-0) at Austin, Tex., Thursday.