PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers used its home-court advantage to run second-seeded Auburn right out of the NCAA tournament.

Epiphanny Prince scored 27 points and the seventh-seeded Scarlet Knights beat the Tigers, 80-52, last night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

"There's something electric about the RAC," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "When the fans get there it can be pretty intimidating. Auburn was placed in a difficult position when we were hitting shots."

The Scarlet Knights (21-12) jumped all over Auburn, scoring the first nine points of the game. Inside and out the Tigers couldn't stop the Scarlet Knights. By the time the game reached the first media timeout, Rutgers led 13-2.

"They came out at us very hard and it got us back on our heels," Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. "Messed with our confidence a little bit."

Two minutes later the Scarlet Knights extended the advantage to 22-4 as Heather Zurich completed a four-point play and Brittany Ray capped the long run with a 3-pointer to the delight of the home crowd.

"I'm happy to leave the RAC this way," Zurich said. "It's our last game here playing together."

Rutgers advanced to Oklahoma City to play Purdue in the regional semifinals Sunday. The Scarlet Knights have made it out of the second round five straight years.

"I'm proud of this team," Stringer said. "Our two seniors who haven't known anything than a Sweet 16. For them to go out with anything less than that would have been a big disservice."

Zurich and Kia Vaughn wouldn't let their final home game end in defeat. Vaughn had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Zurich added 12 to help pace a balanced offense that had four players in double figures.

"I felt Heather was the X-factor today," Stringer said. "She was smooth, came out and didn't hesitate. She and Kia made up their minds they were going to go out winners."

DeWanna Bonner scored 17 to lead Auburn (30-4), which shot a season-worst 28 percent from the field.

PURDUE 85, NORTH CAROLINA 70:

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Brittany Rayburn scored 18 points each to lead five Purdue players in double digits at Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Boilermakers (24-10), who lost to North Carolina twice in the last three NCAA tournaments, advanced to the regional semifinals for the third time in four years.

Lakisha Freeman scored 16 points for Purdue, and FahKara Malone and Danielle Campbell 12 apiece.

North Carolina (28-7) had dominated the series between these teams coming in and had won the last three overall. The Tar Heels failed to reach the regional semifinals for the first time in five years.

Italee Lucas led the Tar Heels with 21 points, and Jessica Breland added 15. Senior forward Rashanda McCants finished with six points on 3-for-15 shooting.

PITTSBURGH 65, GONZAGA 60:

Shavonte Zellous scored nine of her 24 points in the final 4 minutes, and Pittsburgh capitalized on Gonzaga's youthful mistakes in the closing minutes at Seattle.

The 12th-seeded Bulldogs (27-7) made life extremely difficult for the No. 4 seed Panthers (25-7), but it was Zellous and Pitt's experience coming through at the end.

Zellous scored on a pair of drives off Gonzaga turnovers in the final 2 minutes then hit a pair of free throws to put the Panthers up 63-60 with 15.9 seconds left after another Gonzaga mistake. When Janelle Bekkering's 3-pointer missed with 6 seconds left, the Panthers were headed to the regional semifinals for the second straight year.

BERKELEY (CALIF.) REGIONAL

OHIO STATE 64, MISSISSIPPI STATE 58:

Jantel Lavender had 20 points and Ohio State scored its final 10 points on free throws at Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes (29-5) advanced to the regional semifinal to meet Stanford on Saturday.

Star Allen added 12 points and 10 rebounds, saving her best for last. She rebounded a missed free throw with 15 seconds left and then added two clinching free throws for Ohio State, which has won 10 in a row and 15 of 17.

Tysheka Grimes scored 20 of her 22 points in the opening half for Mississippi State (23-10), which was seeking the school's first trip to the Sweet 16.

STANFORD 77, SAN DIEGO ST. 49:

Freshman Nnemkadi Ogwumike dominated inside with career highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Cardinal past the Aztecs (24-8) at San Diego.

The next road trip for Stanford, which has won 18 straight games, will be across San Francisco Bay to Berkeley for the regional semifinals.

The Cardinal (31-4) is forging a new identity without Candice Wiggins, the All-America guard who left after carrying Stanford to last year's national championship game, a 64-48 loss to Tennessee.

This Cardinal team is deep and big, with Ogwumike and Pac-10 Player of the Year Jayne Appel anchoring one of the country's best frontcourts.

TRENTON (N.J.) REGIONAL

ARIZONA STATE 63, FLORIDA STATE 58:

Danielle Orsillo's 3-pointer gave Arizona State the lead with 32 seconds left at Duluth, Ga.

Following Orsillo's 3, Mara Freshour missed a 3-point attempt for third-seeded Florida State with 22 seconds remaining. Briann January, who was slowed by foul trouble and a sore ankle in the game, Kate Engelbrecht and Orsillo each added two free throws for the Sun Devils in the final 20 seconds to protect the lead.

Sixth-seeded Arizona State (25-8) will play the winner of today's Texas A&M-Minnesota game on Sunday in Trenton, N.J.

Freshour led Florida State (26-8) with 15 points.

CALIFORNIA 99, VIRGINIA 73:

Ashley Walker scored 20 of her career-high-tying 32 points in the first half, and California used its strong inside game at Los Angeles to advance to the NCAA tournament's final 16 for the first time in school history.

Devanei Hampton had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and junior Alexis Gray-Lawson added 22 points for the fourth-seeded Bears (27-6), who advanced to the Trenton Regional semifinals Sunday in New Jersey. They'll play the winner of today's game between Connecticut and Florida.

Monica Wright scored 26 points for fifth-seeded Virginia (24-10).

RALEIGH (N.C.) REGIONAL

VANDERBILT 74, KANSAS ST. 61:

Jennifer Risper scored a career-high 27 points and Christina Wirth added 24 to lead fourth-seeded Vanderbilt past Kansas State at Albuquerque, N.M.

The Commodores (26-8) advanced to the semifinals of the Raleigh regional, where they'll play next weekend against the winner of tonight's contest between Maryland and Utah.

Ashley Sweat led the fifth-seeded Wildcats (25-8) with 17 points.