STANFORD, Calif. — Jayne Appel scored 29 points, Jeanette Pohlen added 15 and No. 2 Stanford avoided sharing its ninth straight conference title with Arizona State, snapping the 18th-ranked Sun Devils' school-record 15-game winning streak with a 77-68 victory yesterday

A compelling showdown for the league title turned somber when Arizona State lost leading scorer Dymond Simon for the season with a torn left knee ligament midway through the first half. Simon, a junior guard and the Pac-10's fourth-leading scorer with 14.1 points per game, tore the same ligament during her freshman season in January 2007.

"I'm really sorry to see a player go down," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "We're just happy to finish out playing a great team and winning the championship and not sharing it. We're generous, but we didn't want to do that."

The Cardinal (26-4, 17-1) have won the last five regular-season conference titles outright.

Briann January scored 19 points to lead Arizona State (23-7, 15-3), which hasn't won at Maples Pavilion since 1984.

NO. 4 MARYLAND 95, NORTH CAROLINA 84: Marissa Coleman scored 29 points, Kristi Toliver — the ACC's player of the year — had 25 and the top-seeded Terrapins (27-4) beat the Tar Heels (26-6) to advance to the conference tournament final against No. 8 Duke at Greensboro, N.C.

No. 5 Baylor 64, No. 10 Texas A&M 60: Jessica Morrow scored 23 points, including her team's final 12 of the game, helping the host Lady Bears (25-4, 12-4 Big 12) turn back the Aggies (23-6, 11-5).

No. 6 Auburn 78, No. 19 Tennessee 58: DeWanna Bonner scored 26 points and the Lady Tigers (29-2) opened the second half with a 21-4 run to rout the Lady Vols (22-10) in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at North Little Rock, Ark.

No. 8 Duke 75, No. 12 Florida State 57: Jasmine Thomas scored 14 points and the Blue Devils (26-4) raced to a 40-18 halftime lead in beating the Seminoles (25-7) to advance to the ACC final at Greensboro, N.C.

No. 9 California 51, Arizona 48: Devanei Hampton had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Ashley Walker added 11 points, leading the host Bears (24-5, 14-4 Pac-10) over the Wildcats (11-18, 4-14).

No. 12 Ohio State 72, Iowa 56: Jantel Lavender had 21 points and 17 rebounds to propel the Buckeyes (26-5) past the Hawkeyes (21-10) and into the Big Ten tournament final against Purdue at Indianapolis.

Dayton 63, No. 16 Xavier 60: Freshman Justine Raterman scored 17 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, helping the Flyers (20-12) stun the top-seeded Musketeers (25-6) in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals at Charlotte, N.C.

NO. 17 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 77, ORAL ROBERTS 49: Maria Boever had 21 points and the Jackrabbits (29-2) raced past the Golden Eagles (13-17) to advance to the semifinals of the Summit League tournament at Sioux Falls, S.D.