Kimberly Kim beat the heat in more ways than one yesterday at the U.S. Women's Amateur at Carmel, Ind.

Kim, the tournament's defending champion, stopped Jennifer Song with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 21st hole in match play to advance to today's semifinals at Crooked Stick Golf Club.

"It felt like 50 yards," Kim said. "I guess I just got lucky on that hole. ... At first, I thought it was too low. Then it went in and I thought, 'Thank God.' "

Kim, the 15-year-old former Big Island resident who lives in Arizona, faces Amanda Blumenherst, 20, of Scottsdale, Ariz., who beat Jennie Lee, 5 and 4, in another quarterfinal.

In the other semifinal, Maria Jose Uribe, 17, of Colombia faces Ha Na Jang of South Korea. The 36-hole final is tomorrow.

Kim covered her head with a towel during the match to keep cool in the near-90 degree heat. She lost the first two holes, but was able to square the match on No. 5.

Neither player took more than a 1-up lead with Kim taking her only lead of the match, winning the No. 10 with a birdie. Song took her final lead, winning No. 15, but Kim squared it with a par on No. 16.

The match remained all-squared until Kim's birdie on the 21st hole (par-4 14th).

Uribe, 17, beat Mina Harigae, 15, of Monterey, Calif., 5 and 4, while Jang, 15, ousted Alexis Thompson, 12, of Coral Springs, Fla., 5 and 4.

Last year, Kim became the youngest U.S. Women's Amateur champion at 14.

Information from www.uswamateur.org and Associated Press was used in this report.