March 21, 2005

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery

By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Rene Haynes saved top-seeded Michigan State from an embarrassingly early exit from the NCAA tournament.

Haynes came out of a wild scramble with the ball and made a layup with 2.9 seconds left, giving Michigan State a 61-59 victory over eighth-seeded Southern California in a second-round game Monday night.

It was a scary game for the Spartans (30-3), who were outhustled and outrebounded by their young, scrappy opponent. But they survived and will take a 14-game winning streak into the semifinals of the Kansas City Regional on Sunday against the winner of Monday's late game between Kansas State and Vanderbilt.

Lindsay Bowen led Michigan State with 19 points, including four huge 3-pointers in the second half. Her final 3 gave the Spartans a 59-56 lead with 37.3 seconds to play, but USC (20-11) tied it on freshman Brynn Cameron's long 3 with 21.7 seconds remaining.

The Spartans then got the ball inside, the shot was blocked and players dove all over the floor trying to get the ball. Haynes, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, finally came up with it to the left of the lane, took a step and made the basket.

Southern Cal wasn't able to get off a final shot and Michigan State moved on, despite going more than 5 minutes without scoring in the second half.