North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell couldn't bring herself to belabor her team's 25 turnovers, double-digit rebounding deficit or bumbling first half.

The Tar Heels had shown too much grit, too much poise in the face of adversity, to be cut down by their own coach.

LaToya Pringle had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and North Carolina climbed out of an 18-point hole in a 78-74 victory against fourth-seeded Louisville yesterday in the New Orleans Region at New Orleans Arena, keeping alive the top-seeded Tar Heels' bid for a third consecutive trip to the Final Four.

"When you look at those numbers and you still won, I see that as a positive, because I don't think we're going to play like that again," Hatchell said. "Those kids had so much heart. It's tough, and we had to rise to the occasion."

The victory extended the Tar Heels' winning streak to 16 and placed them in the regional final tomorrow night, when they'll play LSU, which beat Oklahoma State. Louisville star Angel McCoughtry finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds, but was unable to dominate in the second half as she had in the first, when she scored 21 of her points.

"We believed the entire time that we could win this game," Louisville first-year coach Jeff Walz said. "We knew it was going to be a game of runs, so we were up 18 in the first half, but that wasn't something I felt comfortable with."

For good reason.

Louisville (26-10) led, 48-37, after Chauntise Wright's basket inside opened scoring in the second half. But the Tar Heels (33-2) quickly turned the tide with an 11-1 run that included Pringle's two baskets inside and two free throws after Louisville coach Walz was whistled for a technical foul as he yelled at the officials.

Rashanda McCants' baseline floater pulled the Tar Heels to 49-48, and several possessions later, Heather Claytor's 3-pointer from the left corner tied it at 53-53.

"They stepped up. They were tough," Hatchell said of her players.

Louisville went back ahead on two baseline drives by McCoughtry before Jessica Breland scored six points during an 8-0 run that gave North Carolina its first lead since early in the first half, 61-57. Those baskets began a 20-6 run that gave the Tar Heels a 73-63 lead with 2:27 to go.

"In the second half they pressed us and I don't guess we handled it as well as we should," said Candyce Bingham, who had 17 points and 20 rebounds for Louisville. "I mean, they're a great team. That's what they're supposed to do."

• LSU 67, Oklahoma State 52: Erica White scored 18 points to lead four LSU players in double figures, and the second-seeded Lady Tigers cruised to a 67-52 victory against third-seeded Oklahoma State in the other New Orleans regional semifinal. Rashonta LeBlanc had 11 of her 13 points in the second half for LSU (30-5), while Sylvia Fowles had 12 points and Quianna Chaney 10 for the Lady Tigers, seeking to advance to a fifth consecutive Final Four. Andrea Riley had 26 points for Oklahoma State (27-8).

• Maryland 80, Vanderbilt 66: After lackluster efforts in the first two rounds, Maryland (33-3) finally looked like a No. 1-seed. Crystal Langhorne scored 28 points in the first half and Maryland's defense swarmed Vanderbilt (24-9) in a convincing win.