STANFORD, Calif. - Diamond DeShields escaped two close calls with injury to score 19 points, leading North Carolina one victory closer to a sweet reunion with healing Coach Sylvia Hatchell by beating top-seeded South Carolina 65-58 in the Stanford Regional semifinals on Sunday night.

Brittany Rountree converted a pair of free throws with 1:14 left and two more at the 36.4-second mark to help seal it for the No. 4 seed Tar Heels (27-9), who backed up their December victory against the Gamecocks with another on the NCAA Tournament stage.

The Tar Heels will play in Tuesday night’s regional final against second-seeded Stanford (32-3), an 82-57 winner on its home court against No. 3 seed Penn State in Sunday’s first game.

Alaina Coates hit several key baskets down the stretch on the way to 22 points for South Carolina (29-5), held to 37.7-percent shooting while committing 13 turnovers.

North Carolina players lingered well after the final buzzer hand handshakes, with DeShields holding Stephanie Mavunga in a long embrace. Mavunga, who contributed 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals, then lifted Jessica Washington into the air as the guard raised her arm in triumph.

North Carolina needs one more victory to be reunited with Hatchell, whose doctors have said she could travel to the Final Four in Nashville, Tenn., after recently undergoing her final chemotherapy session for leukemia.

Hatchell hasn’t coached this season after being diagnosed with leukemia in October, though she does plenty of game planning with associate coach Andrew Calder by phone

DeShields threw everything at advancing her team to Tuesday night’s regional final against second-seeded Stanford (32-3).

The Atlantic Coast Conference’s top freshman blocked South Carolina’s opening shot of the second half, and jumped in the passing lane for a steal six minutes later.

Teams have tried every last trick to try to stop her - and DeShields didn’t even let a couple of scary injury moments keep her off the court for long.

The arena fell silent when DeShields first went down with an apparent right ankle injury just 2:23 into the game.

It didn’t hinder the Tar Heels much. DeShields returned five minutes later and hit a jumper to push North Carolina’s lead to 11-6.

She went down again at the 7:51 mark, grabbing left leg before hustling to the bench with a limp and grimacing in pain. She scored under the basket on the play.

Following the media timeout, she came back out, calmly hit a free throw to complete the three-point play and give Tar Heels a 20-10 advantage, and then returned to the bench.

On a late possession in the first half, she knocked down a baseline jumper with the shot clock winding down to put her team ahead 29-15. But there would be one more scary moment. With 1:09 to play in the half, DeShields slammed into the basket support and bounced right back.

STANFORD 82, PENN STATE 57

STANFORD, Calif. - Chiney Ogwumike had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Mikaela Ruef produced a career performance on both ends, and second-seeded Stanford beat Penn State to reach the NCAA Tournament regional final on its home floor.

The Cardinal (32-3) built a big first-half lead and rolled against the third-seeded Lady Lions to move into Tuesday night’s regional final against either No. 4 seed North Carolina.

Ruef recovered from getting poked in the eye early to contribute 11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. She was cheered at every chance by the raucous home crowd at Maples Pavilion. Amber Orrange added 18 points in Stanford’s ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament home victory.

Ariel Edwards scored 22 points for the Lady Lions (24-8), while leading scorer Maggie Lucas was held scoreless in the second half and finished with six.

Sports, Pages 17 on 03/31/2014