Utah 57, Boston College 54

3/26/2006 2:13 AM

By PETE HERRERA
AP Sports Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Utah Utes never lost their confidence even though scoring star Kim Smith had one of the toughest shooting nights of her career.

The Utes, with Joh-Teena Filipe, Shona Thorburn and Julie Larsen taking up the scoring load, beat Boston College 57-54 Saturday night in the semifinals of the Albuquerque Regional to advance to their first NCAA tournament regional final.

``We felt like we could win games,'' said Utah coach Elaine Elliott of the Utes' still rolling run in the tournament. ``That's probably what got us through the end. It wasn't one of those games where people are making plays to win.''

Fifth-seeded Utah (27-6) will play second-seeded Maryland (31-4) in Monday night's regional final, with the winner advancing to the Final Four. Maryland beat defending national champion Baylor 82-63.

Boston College (21-12) had three late chances to force overtime but Brooke Queenan, who led the eighth-seeded Eagles with 21 points and 9 rebounds, missed two 3-pointers and Kindyll Dorsey another in the final 17 seconds. Queenan's last shot, with 2 seconds left came up short and the Utes rebounded the miss and started their celebration.

``We got the exact shots we wanted,'' said Boston College coach Cathy Inglese. ``That last shot by Brooke was the last play we worked on in practice today. We had three open 3s at the end.''

``It seemed like it took forever, especially that last 20 seconds,'' Smith said. ``They got a couple of shots. But you know, they missed and we were fortunate to get the rebounds.''

The Utes also were fortunate to get help from their bench, especially Filipe, who matched her season high with 11 points. Thorburn and Larsen each scored 10. That was enough to make up for Smith's shooting problems. The Utah senior scored just seven points - only the second time this season she has failed to break double-figures. She was 3-for-13 from the field.

``I just knew the team would need me and I just tried to be ready,'' said Filipe. ``The coaches just told me to use my quickness and get past them.''

Utah got the win despite going scoreless over the final 4:31, but the Eagles couldn't take advantage.

Thorburn hit a fade-away 12-footer in the lane to put the Utes up 57-52 and Aja Parham's inside basket with 4:08 remaining would be Boston College's final points.

Boston College, which ousted No. 1 seed Ohio State in the second round, trailed through much of the game. Except for Queenan, who was 9-for-17 from the field, most of the Eagles struggled offensively. Dorsey, who set a NCAA tournament school record with six 3-pointers in the 79-69 win over Ohio State, went scoreless and was 0-for-5 on 3s.

``They did a nice job on Kindyll,'' Eagles coach Cathy Inglese said. ``She was coming off two hot games and she struggled.''

Smith, who has scored 20 or more points 40 times in her career, contributed to the win with team highs of eight rebounds and six assists. Her best offensive moment came with 8:02 left when she muscled her way inside to bank in a basket that just beat the shot clock and put the Utes up 55-46.

``I don't where my shot went but I'm confident it will be back for the next game,'' Smith said.

While her shot disappeared, Smith's confidence in her teammates didn't.

``There was never a doubt with this team'' Smith said. ``People can say they are focused on Kim and Shona but we have incredible talented players. We got shots when we needed them. It's been like that all year. We've always been able to do it in other ways.''

Utah, which had to rally from 15-point deficits in first and second round wins over Middle Tennessee State and Arizona State, led 53-42 with 9:42 left on a 3-point play by Jessica Perry.

Boston College, which also was trying to reach a regional final for the first time, hung in behind Queenan. After playing just 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, she scored back-to-back baskets to open the second half.

But her shots failed to fall down the stretch.