Notre Dame 81, Stanford 60

Lindsay Allen normally focuses on setting others up.

On Friday, the sophomore point guard turned into a scorer, dropping in a career-high 28 points to help top-seeded Notre Dame defeat Stanford in the NCAA women's Sweet 16.

Allen entered the night averaging just under 10 points per game, but she matched her career high with 24 points in the first half alone.

"Our posts did a really good job of setting screens, and we were just reading the defense really well and getting open shots for our offense," Allen said.

Jewell Loyd scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half for the Fighting Irish (34-2), who advanced to play Baylor (33-3) on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four. The Fighting Irish beat Baylor 88-69 in a regional final last year.

Loyd, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, did her part to open things up for the Fighting Irish and make the rematch with Baylor possible.

"She did a really good job in the second half, but she is going to draw the most attention, which is why you see Lindsay Allen making so many shots," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said.

Bonnie Samuelson scored 17 points and Erica McCall and Amber Orrange each added 12 for No. 4 seed Stanford (26-10).

It was the first postseason meeting for veteran coaches McGraw and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, and just the third-ever meeting between the schools. Stanford won the previous meetings in 1990 and 1991.

This one turned into a blowout in the second half.

"I just think we lost to a really outstanding team," VanDerveer said. "Congratulate Notre Dame and Muffet. I thought our team played really well. They had some outstanding players, and they played a really great game."

Allen scored nine quick points to help the Irish take a 20-11 lead.

The Cardinal trimmed it to 34-29 with about 3 minutes left in the first half before Allen drained two 3-pointers to help the Fighting Irish close the half on an 8-2 run and take a 42-31 lead into the break.

Stanford cut its deficit to 48-44 early in the second half before Loyd got going. Her 3-point play with just over 10 minutes remaining put Notre Dame up 59-47. The Fighting Irish shot 52 percent in the second half to pull away.

"Jewell Loyd is probably the (national) player of the year," VanDerveer said. "We were just dodging some bullets in the first half, and she picked it up in the second half."

Now, the Fighting Irish can look ahead.

"We'll be dialed in at practice tomorrow," Notre Dame guard Hannah Huffman said. "Coach will come up with a great game plan, and I cannot wait."

South Carolina 67, North Carolina 65

For the second straight year, South Carolina found itself trailing late against North Carolina and staring at an early NCAA Tournament exit despite its No. 1 seed.

This time, Tiffany Mitchell and the Gamecocks found a way to regroup, rally and advance.

Mitchell drove to the basket and scored with 4.2 seconds left to help South Carolina edge North Carolina, earning the program's second trip to a regional final.

Mitchell finished with 18 points for the No. 1-seeded Gamecocks (33-2), who had to survive a tense finish to push past the Tar Heels in a rematch of last year's Sweet 16 game.

"It is nerve-wracking (late) because you don't want your season to end," coach Dawn Staley said. "But I thought our team was really resilient. ... We were poised and we didn't feel the moment in a way that we got too high emotionally."

The Gamecocks could've been feeling the opposite, too, as North Carolina pushed ahead and led 63-60 entering the last 90 seconds.

Instead, the Gamecocks responded with tough-minded play. There was a 3-pointer from Olivia Gaines that bounced around the rim before dropping through the net to tie it near the 1-minute mark.

There was a defensive stop followed by two free throws from Alaina Coates with 46.1 seconds left for a 65-63 lead after a tussle for a rebound.

Then, after UNC's Jessica Washington scored to tie it, there was Mitchell's final drive.

"It was kind of emotional but we stayed the course and kept our heads," Mitchell said. "We knew North Carolina was going to give us their best push and we knew they had runs in them, so we just had to answer them and just keep our head."

Fourth-seeded UNC (26-9) had one more chance, but freshman Jamie Cherry's desperation runner hit all backboard as the horn sounded to start the Gamecocks' oncourt celebration.

South Carolina had reached the Elite Eight once before, losing to Duke in 2002. Now Staley's Gamecocks are back to face the Arizona State-Florida State winner on Sunday to go to the Final Four.

As for the Tar Heels, they were left to lament coming up a play or two short of closing out South Carolina. Most notably, there was a hurried missed shot from Coleman with 1:24 left, a loose offensive rebound on a missed free throw that set up Gaines' tying 3, then a missed contested 3 from Washington that led to Stephanie Mavunga fouling out while battling for the rebound underneath to set up Coates' free throws.

"I still think that we're the better team," Mavunga said. "I just feel as if, like I said, if there was just one possession here or there and it would have been a different team celebrating."

Latifah Coleman scored 10 of her 15 after halftime to lead UNC.

Florida State 66, Arizona State 65

Leticia Romero scored a career-high 21 points for Florida State.

Adut Bulgak had 15 points and Maegan Conwright added 11 to send the second-seeded Seminoles (32-4) to the regional final — just the second Elite Eight appearance in program history.

Katie Hempen had 22 points for the third-seeded Sun Devils (29-6).

Baylor 81, Iowa 66

Sune Agbuke had a career-high 23 points and Baylor reached the advanced to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in six years.

Nina Davis added 20 points and Niya Johnson had 16 assists for the No. 2-seed Lady Bears (33-3).

Agbuke finished with 12 rebounds for Baylor, which outrebounded the Hawkeyes 45-35. The 6-foot-4 senior topped her previous career best of 16 points, set last season against Kansas State.

Kristy Wallace hit her first seven shots and finished with 17 points for Baylor.

Samantha Logic had a triple-double to lead third-seeded Iowa (26-8), finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. The Hawkeyes were making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1996.