The Associated Press

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has helped dress up the wardrobe of her close friend, Villanova coach Harry Perretta, and she's treated him and his players to a cookout at her home. In exchange for this generosity, Perretta will try to knock Summitt and the Lady Vols out of the NCAA tournament.

Wearing one of the lucky ties given to him by Summitt, Perretta coached second-seeded Villanova to a 53-51 victory over Colorado in the Mideast Regional semifinals on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Wildcats will face top-seeded Tennessee for the regional championship on Monday night. The Lady Vols routed Penn State 86-58.

Perretta wore his orange tie for the game. Summitt gave him that piece of neckwear and three others, and Perretta says all have brought him luck.

"I haven't lost in it yet," he said. "She was trying to make me look better on the sideline. I needed a tie that cost more than $5."

Katie Davis hit her fifth 3-pointer with 4:18 left to give Villanova (28-5) its first lead. Sixth-seeded Colorado (24-8) had plenty of opportunities to surge ahead, but Tera Bjorklund, who had 29 points, missed five straight shots in the final five minutes.

Villanova has won seven straight, including a victory over Connecticut in the Big East tournament championship game on March 11 that snapped the Huskies' 70-game winning streak.

"We won another game. I don't know how we do it," Perretta said.

Gwen Jackson had 24 points and 14 rebounds to help the Lady Vols (31-4) jump to a big lead in their game.

Tennessee, trying to reach the Final Four for the 14th time, improved its record in NCAA tournament home games to 43-0. The Lady Vols hosted the first- and second-round games before getting the regional semifinal and championship in Knoxville.

The fourth-seeded Lady Lions (26-9), who won their early-round games by an average of 20.5 points, were overwhelmed by Tennessee's strong defense and dominant rebounding, which led to many easy transition baskets. The Lady Vols had a 53-21 rebounding advantage.

Summitt and Perretta became good friends over the summer after he visited Knoxville to give Summitt some tips on the motion offense. Summitt hosted a cookout at her house Friday for Villanova and Perretta, and her team and had plans to join the Wildcats again Saturday night.

"I may tell him I'm sick and have to watch tape," Summitt said.

Kara Lawson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Jackson followed with another to get Tennessee going. Lawson finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Penn State's leading scorer, Kelly Mazzante, was held to just three points in the first half, but she answered each of Tennessee's 3s. That got the Lady Lions' offense rolling, and they cut the lead to 10 points with 13:49 remaining after Jess Strom stole the ball from Lawson and converted the layup.

But Tennessee responded with a 17-2 run to push the lead to 25, and the Lady Vols ran down the clock from there.

Strom scored 18 points to lead Penn State, and Mazzante had 12.

Still riding a surge from upsetting No. 3 seed North Carolina 86-67 in the second round, Colorado shot 47.8 percent (11-of-23) and led 29-20 at halftime. Colorado was 21-0 this season when leading at the break.

But Villanova has not lost on a neutral court this season, and the Wildcats improved to 7-0 in those games, thanks to Davis.

Midwest: Duke 66, Georgia 63

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Iciss Tillis scored 21 points and freshman Mistie Bass had 10 straight points to spark a second-half run by top-seeded Duke.

Duke (34-1) will meet Texas Tech in the regional final Monday, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.

The Blue Devils overcame some shakiness on offense and a rare off night by All-American guard Alana Beard to win their 14th straight game. Beard finished with 12 points.

Marquita Driskell scored 16 points to lead No. 5 seed Georgia (21-10), which suited up just eight players. Christi Thomas added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs.

Georgia's Ebony Felder made it a three-point game with a layup with 42 seconds remaining and Duke couldn't get off a shot before the 30-second clock expired with 10 seconds left. But Duke guard Sheana Mosch stole the ball from Alexis Kendrick with 4 seconds left and the Blue Devils were able to run out the clock.

Texas Tech 71, New Mexico 48

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The second-seeded Red Raiders got 16 points from Plenette Pierson and used an 18-0 run late in the first half to beat the Lobos.

Texas Tech (29-5) will meet top-seed Duke (34-1) in Monday's regional championship, with the winner moving on to the Final Four in Atlanta.

Tech scored the final 18 points of the first half and held New Mexico scoreless over the final 7:43. The Lobos missed 11 shots, had four turnovers and several airballs in that span.

Sixth-seeded New Mexico (24-9) had used its 3-point shooting - and its raucous home fans - to beat Miami and Mississippi State in the first two rounds. But Texas Tech took the sellout crowd of 16,182 out of the game early on.