Stanford Exits Quietly

On a day when more than half of the second-round NCAA women’s basketball tournament games went to the lower-seeded teams, a longtime West Coast power took an early exit.

Sixth-seeded Minnesota (25-5) stunned third-seeded Stanford, 68-56, Monday night in the West Regional at Palo Alto. The Cardinal finished 27-5.

Also eliminated were third-seeded Mississippi State, third-seeded North Carolina, fourth-seeded Vanderbilt and fourth-seeded Rutgers.

Minnesota advances to the round of 16 against the winner of today’s Arkansas-Texas game.

Louisiana State 80, Wisconsin Green Bay 69-- With the victory over the Phoenix (28-4) at Eugene, Ore., the Tigers (29-3) advance to the round of 16 against the winner of today’s Louisiana Tech-Ohio State game.

MIDEAST

Tennessee 81, Virginia 51 -- The top-seeded Lady Vols (30-4) improved their NCAA home record to 42-0 with the victory over eighth-seeded Cavaliers (17-14) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee advanced to the round of 16 for the 22nd consecutive time, led by 17 points and nine rebounds from Shyra Ely.

The Lady Vols will play the winner of today’s game between South Carolina and Penn State.

Colorado 86, North Carolina 67 -- Tera Bjorklund, a 6-foot-5 junior center scored a career-high 34 points, and the Buffaloes (24-7) made nine three-point shots to upset the Tar Heels (28-6) at Boulder, Colo. Bjorklund made 11 of her 14 shots and 12 of her 17 free throws for Colorado, which plays the winner of today’s George Washington-Villanova game.

EAST

Boston College 86, Vanderbilt 85 -- Amber Jacobs’ high-arching layup with 2.5 seconds left in overtime lifted the fifth-seeded Eagles (22-8) over the Commodores (22-10) at Norfolk, Va.

The junior guard, who scored 18 of her 25 points after halftime against Vanderbilt, had stunned regional host Old Dominion in the first round, 73-72, by making a jump shot with 3.3 seconds to play.

Vanderbilt had taken an 85-84 overtime lead on Hillary Hager’s fifth three-pointer in as many tries with 12.7 seconds to play in the extra period.

Boston College had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Becky Gottstein, who finished with 24 points, missed both free throws with 0.8 seconds left.

Purdue 80, Virginia Tech 62 -- Erika Valek scored 24 points as the second-seeded Boilermakers (28-5) defeated the seventh-seeded Hokies (22-10) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue, which had a 15-0 record at home this season, will play the winner of today’s game between Notre Dame and Kansas State.

MIDWEST

Georgia 74, Rutgers 64 -- Christi Thomas, Alexis Kendrick and Ebony Felder each scored 17 points as the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (21-9) beat the Scarlet Knights (21-8) at Athens, Ga.

Georgia, which plays the winner of today’s Duke-Utah game, probably will be without starting guard Sherrill Baker, who left the game early in the second half because of a separated right shoulder.

New Mexico 73, Mississippi State 61 -- The sixth-seeded Lobos (24-8) made 13 of 30 three-pointers in their upset of the Bulldogs (24-8) at Albuquerque.

New Mexico began by sinking 10 of its first 12 shots and had a 41-30 lead at halftime. New Mexico plays the winner of today’s UC Santa Barbara-Texas Tech game.