Fowles leads LSU to national semis

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — 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 last night. The victory sent the second-seeded Tigers (31-5) to their fifth Final Four in as many seasons.

“We knew it was our last year, and we wanted to go all out,” said Fowles, who was 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.

North Carolina came in with five players averaging double figures in scoring, but Pringle was the only one to score more than 10. Rashanda McCants scored nine and Jessica Breland eight.

“Defense has been our bread and butter all year,” Fowles said. “We knew if we came out here and played defense our offense would pick up. We’ve played great defense the last few years.”

After the buzzer sounded, LSU’s band broke into a brass favorite often heard during Mardi Gras and second line parades in New Orleans, and LSU’s players danced together at center court. Then they cut down the nets, and Chancellor pointed at his players and smiled widely before making his cut.

Chancellor coached 19 years at Mississippi, reaching four regional finals. He then moved on to the WNBA, where he won four titles with the Houston Comets. He also won a FIBA world championship in 2002 and Olympic gold in 2004 before a brief retirement.

That ended when LSU, a team with eight seniors — including all five starters — needed a coach because of the resignation last year of Pokey Chatman amid reports she once had an improper relationship with a player no longer with the team.

Chancellor came in and guided LSU to an SEC regular-season title, and the Tigers ended up getting a second seed after losing to Tennessee in the championship game of the SEC tournament.

Quianna Chaney scored 13 points for LSU, hitting three 3-pointers. Erica White had eight points, six on free throws inside the last two minutes to help LSU prevent a North Carolina comeback.

Fowles scored twice inside early in the second half as LSU took its largest lead of the game at 30-23.

North Carolina could not get points from anyone but Pringle through the first 11 minutes of the second half, but that was enough to keep them in the game. Pringle scored 11 points during that span, all inside, and one on a putback as she was fouled for a 3-point play.

Her fifth basket of the half over Ashley Thomas cut LSU’s lead to 34-32. Several minutes later, she hit a turnaround jumper on the baseline to cut LSU’s lead to 36-35.