Gearlds teeming with talent as Purdue downs Georgia

Maybe Purdue star Katie Gearlds can keep doing her best imitation of Peyton Manning, the home-state quarterback who is finally recognized as a champion.

After helping the Boilermakers get within one victory of the NCAA Final Four with a 78-65 regional semifinal victory over Georgia, Gearlds insisted that the ongoing success wasn't about settling any personal issues.

"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."

Yes, Purdue's senior star sounds a lot like Manning did when he finally got to the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts earlier this year.

Manning got his title. And Gearlds still has a chance to get hers.

Not wanting her career to end yet, Gearlds had 30 points, nine rebounds and helped Purdue (31-5) overcome a big early deficit last night to earn a spot in the Dallas Regional final.

"They did what we knew they were going to do," said Georgia guard Cori Chambers, the primary defender on Gearlds. "They run off screens and I didn't do what I needed to do stop them. I didn't get job done."

Purdue won its 10th straight game, all since Gearlds had impromptu meetings with her teammates and first-year coach Sharon Versyp, who in the mid-1980s was a 4-year starter at the school.

The Boilermakers will play North Carolina tomorrow in their first regional final since 2003, which came 2 years after they were national runner-ups.

"It's special for me because I'm an alum," Versyp said. "But the kids have gone above and beyond expectations."

Georgia (27-7) was in the Round of 16 for the fifth straight season, but it was the fourth time in that stretch the Lady Bulldogs didn't advance past that.

The Bulldogs missed becoming the fourth Southeastern Conference team to get into a regional final this season - even after scoring the game's first eight points and jumping out to a 23-10 lead midway through the first half.

Gearlds had the final points in Purdue's 14-4 run to end the opening half, with a three-pointer and a free throw.

Wisdom-Hylton had 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds, while Danielle Campbell had 11 points for Purdue.

Tasha Humphrey had 20 points to lead Georgia.

In another Dallas Regional:

* N. Carolina 70, G. Washington 56: At Dallas, LaToya Pringle had 16 points and 14 rebounds for North Carolina (33-3), which reached the Final Four last year, and has been ousted by the eventual national champion 2 years in a row. Sarah-Jo Lawrence led the Colonials (28-4) with 23 points.

* Tennessee 65, Marist 46: At Dayton, Ohio, Candace Parker keyed a 14-0 first-half that put Tennessee in control, and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Vols (31-3).

Tennessee will meet Mississippi in the regional final tomorrow.

Marist (29-6), a 4,000-student school in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was just the third No. 13 seed to make it to the round of 16 in NCAA history.

Meg Dahlman had 16 points and Rachele Fitz 13 for Marist.

* Mississippi 90, Oklahoma 82: At Dayton, Ohio, Armintie Price scored 31 points, Ashley Awkward added 25 for Ole Miss (24-10).

Courtney Paris led Oklahoma (28-5) with 31 points and 20 rebounds. *