North Carolina, Old Dominion Advance

NORFOLK — North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell couldn't have asked for a better tuneup.

Heading into a New Orleans Regional she expects will offer a major challenge to her team's hopes for a third straight trip to the Final Four, the second-ranked Tar Heels were tested by Georgia before pulling away to win 80-66 on Tuesday night. The victory came after host Old Dominion got a late 3-pointer from Jazzmin Walters and beat Virginia 88-85 in overtime in the Greensboro Regional.

If North Carolina (32-2) beats Louisville in its first game in New Orleans, it will likely have to play second-seeded and close-to-home LSU with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

"At the end of the game, we were sitting over there saying this was probably good for us," Hatchell said. "I just don't want it to be too good."

The Tar Heels had more than enough to withstand it.

Rashanda McCants scored 15 of her 23 points in the second half and North Carolina used a 20-0 run spanning the halves to take command against the Bulldogs (23-10), seeking their sixth straight trip to the regionals.

Erlana Larkins added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 13 as the Tar Heels won their 15th straight, and first in six tries against Georgia.

Georgia actually led 33-26 before allowing a 10-0 run to end the first half and another to start the second. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs never quite recovered.

"We probably victimized ourselves with turnovers that led to easy baskets," Bulldogs coach Andy Landers said. "That's how we finished the first half and that's how we started the second half, and unfortunately, that was our undoing."

It played out just the way the Tar Heels planned it.

"It's something we talked about in the locker room. Our objective was to have them call a timeout in the first few minutes of the second half," Larkins said.

They did, after eight points by the Tar Heels in the first 1:48.

The Tar Heels held Georgia scoreless for 7 minutes in all, opening a 46-33 lead that grew to 56-40 before the Bulldogs made a last charge to within seven.

Tasha Humphrey, a four-time all-Southeastern Conference first-teamer, led Georgia with 20 points and 10 rebounds in her last college game. Megan Darrah added 14.

"To end like this, it's tough," said Darrah, the Bulldogs' only other senior.

In the early game, Walters made a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in overtime and Tiffany Green blocked a tying 3-point attempt just before the buzzer for Old Dominion, which earned the right to play No. 1 Connecticut in the Greensboro Regional.

Fifth-seeded Old Dominion (31-4) fell behind 85-81 in overtime, but closed the game on a 7-0 run. Walters started it with a free throw, Jessica Canady added a three-point play with 1:25 to go, and Walters barely beat the shot clock buzzer with the winner.

"Once I got the ball, I just let it fly," Walters said of her third 3-pointer of the game. "That play wasn't set up for me to score, but it ended up that way."

Green then met Lyndra Littles at the top of the key and blocked her shot. Littles, who scored 29 points, collected the rejection and tried again, but missed that, too.

"I thought Littles during the last five minutes of the game was phenomenal," Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. "She played with a different passion and energy. But this little engine that could was relentless, too," she added, meaning Walters.

Littles made just 17 3-pointers this season, but the last play was for her.

"I tried to get into good range and she (Green) was right there," she said.

Walters led ODU with 17 points and 10 assists. Shahida Williams and Green scored 13 each, and Green had 12 rebounds and six blocks. Canady had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Littles had 14 rebounds, and Aisha Mohammed had 17 points and 15 rebounds. Sharnee Zoll scored 13 with nine assists in her final game for Virginia (23-10), which trailed all night and needed a three-point play with 1.8 seconds left to force OT.

Mohammed made it after a sequence of five missed shots by Virginia in close.

"It felt like we were battling from behind from the very start," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "We were getting to the rim, but we weren't able to finish. ... When the game got into overtime and we were up by four, I felt like we were on our way."

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