Tulsa 71, North Carolina State 61

3/19/2006 1:10 AM

By ANDREW SELIGMAN
AP Sports Writer

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Megan Moody made sure Tulsa's first appearance in the NCAA tournament wasn't a one-game affair.

The senior scored 20 points and the Golden Hurricane converted seven free throws in the final minute to hold off North Carolina State 71-61 in a near-empty arena on Saturday night.

Tulsa will play DePaul, a 68-43 winner over Liberty, in the second round of the San Antonio Regional on Monday.

Moody shot 8-for-15, 2-for-2 on 3-pointers, and grabbed eight rebounds. Tandem Mays and Emily Jaskowiak scored 17 apiece, and Mays had seven assists.

Jillian Robbins, the Conference USA player of the year, had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Tiffany Stansbury scored 11 for North Carolina State, a first-round loser for the third straight year.

Back-to-back baskets by Moody made it 55-40 with 11:31 left, and the Golden Hurricane (26-5) withstood several pushes by the Wolfpack. They didn't blink when NC State scored six straight to pull within nine.

Instead, after a blocking foul against Stansbury, Moody caught the inbounds pass and hit a jumper with about 6 minutes left. Robbins then banked in a shot near the top of the key to make it 59-46.

NC State (19-12) made another charge in the closing minutes.

The lead dwindled to eight on Billie McDowell's 3-pointer and was down to five - 62-57 - after a jumper by Keisha Brown with 1:48 left. A long jumper by McDowell that was initially ruled a 3 made it 66-61 in the final minute.

But Jaskowiak hit two foul shots to make it a seven-point game with 47.5 seconds left. Mays hit three in the final 34 seconds to preserve the victory.

A Tulsa program that was reborn in 1996 after being disbanded in 1987 earned its first NCAA berth by winning Conference USA's regular-season and tournament championships. The Golden Hurricane's accomplishments came with a new coach (Charlene Thomas-Swinson), offense (the triangle) and defense (matchup zone) after back-to-back 19-win seasons and WNIT appearances.

They started three seniors and two juniors and scored the game's first seven points.

NC State, meanwhile, committed four turnovers and missed its first eight shots before Ashley Key made an elbow jumper 5:14 into the game.

Moody made two free throws, a 3-pointer and another basket during a 13-2 run that turned a 19-15 deficit into a 28-21 lead for Tulsa with about 3 minutes left in the first half.

And the Golden Hurricane went into the locker room with a flourish.

A 3-pointer by Kara Pongonis-Paslay made it a nine-point game in the final minute. A bad pass to Gillian Goring led to Mays driving the lane and, in mid-air, scooping the ball off the glass in the final seconds to make it 38-27.

Moody, Mays and Jaskowiak each had nine points in the first half, and the Golden Hurricane hit 14 of 29 shots, including three of four 3-pointers.

NC State was just 12-of-29 and committed 12 turnovers during the first 20 minutes.