Colorado knocks off Duke in March Madness thriller
Miami stuns Indiana to advance
DURHAM, N.C., March 21, (AP): Colorado made enough big plays to survive. It was a pretty sweet moment for Quay Miller and the Buffaloes.
Miller had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Aaronette Vonleh converted two overtime baskets in the lane after picking up her fourth foul, helping No. 6 seed Colorado beat third-seeded Duke 61-53 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
Jaylyn Sherrod had 14 points and Vonleh finished with 12 as the Buffaloes (25-8) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 20 years.
Colorado outscored Duke 11-3 in overtime after the Blue Devils made a big push in the second half.
Colorado held Duke without a field goal for almost seven minutes to end the game. By the end, the Buffaloes were celebrating with the pep band in the stands after quieting the home crowd.
Elizabeth Balogun scored 14 points and Reigan Richardson had 10, but the Blue Devils didn’t hit a field goal in overtime. Duke (26-7) overcame a 13-point deficit in regulation.
Next up for Colorado is Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Seattle 4 Region semifinals.
Duke lost for the third time in its last four second-round home games in the NCAA tourney.
Sherrod scored on a drive with 33.9 seconds left in regulation, but missed a free throw to leave the game tied at 50-all.
That capped a hectic stretch.
Miami 70, Indiana 68
In Bloomington, Destiny Harden made a shot in the lane with 3.5 seconds left to send ninth-seeded Miami past top-seeded Indiana 70-68 , lifting the Hurricanes to their first Sweet 16 since 1992.
The Hoosiers (28-4) became the second No. 1 seed to be eliminated in two nights. Stanford was upset Sunday on its home court. It’s the first time since 1998 that two No. 1 seeds did not advance to the regional semifinals.
“It feels good to make a shot and send Miami to the Sweet 16,” Harden said. “I’m very humbled, very special moment for us.”
Harden finished with 18 points and Lola Pendade had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Hurricanes (21-12), who never trailed on the Hoosiers home court.
Instead of celebrating Indiana’s third consecutive march to the Sweet 16, the raucous crowd grew increasingly annoyed with the way the game was called, anxious as time ticked off the clock and stunned as the Hurricanes celebrated.
Villanova 76, Florida Gulf Coast 57
In Villanova, as Maddy Siegrist hugged and high-fived every Villanova fan down the front row of seats in a wild celebration following the biggest win of her career, it was hard for the All-American not to think about far the Wildcats have come in just four seasons.
Siegrist’s journey saw her dominate as the program’s career leading scorer, lead Villanova into the kind of elite team that can pack a postseason game in their own house and now this milestone, a Sweet 16 berth for the first time in 20 years. Siegrist sure left hers on the Main Line.
Siegrist scored 31 points, had four blocks, four steals and sent the winningest team in Villanova history into the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history with a 76-57 win over 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast t.
UCLA 82, Oklahoma 73
In Los Angeles, Charisma Osborne has taken a lot on her shoulders during her four years at UCLA. With her team down four points late in the third quarter after blowing an 18-point deficit, the senior guard wasn’t about to let a trip to
the Sweet 16 go away.
Osborne’s three-point play was the catalyst in a rally that propelled the fourth-seeded Bruins to an 8273 victory over No. 5 seed Oklahoma 82-73 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Osborne scored a career-high 36 points in her final game at Pauley Pavilion, including 13 points in the final 10 minutes as the Bruins (267) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.
The Bruins, who had an 18-point lead in the second quarter, found themselves trailing 54-50 late in the third quarter before Osborne started the comeback. She drove the lane and hit a layup while being fouled by Beatrice Culliton. Osborne made the ensuing free throw to bring them within one.
UConn 77, Baylor 58
In Storrs, Azzi Fudd is still rounding back into form after missing 22 games with injuries this season.
She’s only been back for five games and hadn’t looked like the player that was dominating the game before suffering two knee injuries.
But after going 2 of 8 from the floor in the first half Monday night, the sophomore guard scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in a decisive third quarter, leading secondseeded UConn to a 77-58 win over No. 7 seed Baylor. That put the Huskies in a 29th straight Sweet 16.
Fudd said she just stayed confident and her shots began to fall.
Aaliyah Edwards added 19 points, Aubrey Griffin pulled down 12 rebounds and Nika Muhl had 10 assists for the Huskies (31-5). Dorka Juhasz chipped in with 11 points and Caroline
Ducharme added 10 points.
Ja’mee Asberry scored 15 points and Jaden Owens had 14 for Baylor, which finishes its season 20-13. Bella Fontleroy scored 12 points for the Bears, who made 12 3-pointers after hitting 14 in their first-round win over Alabama.
But the Huskies dominated inside, outscoring the Bears 36-12 in the paint and outrebounding Baylor 42-31.
“I think we settled for too many jump shots,” Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. “We don’t want to be 50% of our shots from three. But when they have that size and they’re backing up, there’s a time and place. Sometimes that’s the best shot you’re going to get against them.”
Ohio St 71, UNC 69
In Columbus, Jacy Sheldon made a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 1.8 seconds left to lift No. 3 Ohio State to a 71-69 win over No. 6 seed North Carolina and help the Buckeyes advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
With the game tied, Sheldon took the pass from Eboni Walker and floated in the game-winning score. North Carolina had one final chance, but turned it over with a second remaining.
Ohio State (27-7) saw its 12-point lead with 7:02 to go erased as the Tar Heels went on a 13-2 run midway through the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels did most of that run without star Deja Kelly, who exited midway through the final quarter with a leg injury. She went to the locker room, but returned to the court a short time later.
Louisville 73, Texas 51
In Austin, Louisville rarely opens the NCAA Tournament away from home. The Cardinals could learn to love these early road trips.
Faced off with No. 4 Texas on the Longhorns’ home court, Hailey Van Lith and the No. 5 Cardinals delivered a swaggering, smothering, romping 73-51 victory Monday night to earn Louisville’s sixth consecutive trip the Sweet 16.
Van Lith scored 21 points, delivering the early punches and then the late knockout blows for the Cardinals.
Louisville didn’t host the first two rounds of the tournament for the first time since 2015, excluding the 2021 pandemic tournament played entirely in Texas. And from the opening tip against Texas, the Cardinals pushed around the Big 12 regular season co-champion and relished the silence as the Longhorns unraveled.