DURHAM, N.C. – Duke kept taking the ball from typically sure-handed LSU. It was only a matter of time before the game belonged to the Blue Devils, too.

Jasmine Thomas scored 15 points to help Duke pull away late and beat the Tigers 60-52 on Monday night in the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Memphis Regional.

Bridgette Mitchell scored 12 points for the second-seeded Blue Devils (29-5), who went ahead to stay on Thomas’ layup with 31/2 minutes left. The Tigers (21-10), whose average of 121/2 turnovers per game ranked No. 2 nationally, matched a season high with 22 giveaways and had just one field goal in the final 4 minutes.

“We knew that if we put a lot of pressure on the guards and put a lot of stress into getting it to (star Allison Hightower), they’d make some mistakes,” Duke’s Karima Christmas said. “And we capitalized on those.”

So much pressure, in fact, that LSU Coach Van Chancellor said the Blue Devils’ zone defense “makes it look like there’s six players out there.

“That’s hard to get in the gaps of. And when we got in the gaps of it, we turned the ball over,” Chancellor said. “You turn the ball over 22 times against a team this good on the road, it’s hard to overcome that.”

Hightower had 19 points and LaSondra Barrett added 12 for seventh-seeded LSU. Katherine Graham hit two free throws with 3:49 left to give the Tigers their last lead at 47-46.

Thomas drove the lane for a layup and Keturah Jackson added a basket after an offensive rebound to start the 10-2 run that put the Blue Devils on their way to their 12th regional semifinal berth in 13 years.

 

TENNESSEE 92, DAYTON 64: Alicia Manning had 17 points and 10 rebounds to help top-seeded Tennessee (32-2) beat eighth-seeded Dayton (25-8) in the second round at Knoxville, Tenn.

 

BAYLOR 49, GEORGETOWN 33: Brittney Griner blocked an NCAA tournament-record 14 shots, leading fourth-seeded Baylor (25-9) by No. 5 Georgetown (26-7) at Berkeley, Calif.

KANSAS CITY REGIONAL

KENTUCKY 70, MICHIGAN STATE 52: Victoria Dunlap scored 21 points to lead fourth-seeded Kentucky (27-7) into the regional semifinals for the first time in 28 years with a victory over fifth-seeded Michigan State (23-10) at Louisville, Ky.

DAYTON REGIONAL

FLORIDA STATE 66, ST. JOHN’S 65: Jacinta Monroe scored with 28.9 seconds left in overtime to put Florida State (28-5) ahead for good, and the third-seeded Seminoles got one last stop to beat sixth-seeded St. John’s (25-7) at Tallahassee, Fla.

SACRAMENTO REGIONAL

GONZAGA 72, TEXAS A&M 71: Vivian Frieson scored 23 points, including the winning 12-footer with 17 seconds left, to lead seventh-seeded Gonzaga (29-4) over second-seeded Texas A&M (26-8) at Seattle.

 

STANFORD 96, IOWA 67: Rosalyn Gold-Onwude hit a career-high seven 3-pointers on the way to a career-best 26 points, and top-seeded Stanford (33-1) shot 68.8 percent in the first half to roll over eighth-seeded Iowa (20-14) at Stanford, Calif.

Former McAuley standout Ashley Cimino had two points for the Cardinal.

 

GEORGIA 74, OKLAHOMA STATE 71: Freshman Jasmine James scored 14 of her 27 points in overtime to lead fifth-seeded Georgia (25-8) to a win over No. 4 Oklahoma State (24-11) at Tempe, Ariz.