Vols’ loss at home an NCAA first
Third-seeded Tennessee lost for the first time at home in women’s NCAA tournament history when Marie Gulich had 14 points and 12 rebounds yesterday to lead No. 6 Oregon State to victory in Knoxville, Tenn., in the Lexington Regional. The thirdseeded Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home in the tournament with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who led the team to eight national championships. It’s the second straight season that Tennessee lost in the second round of the NCAAs and will miss the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program’s 37year tournament history.
“We had an opportunity to do something today that is really special and that is a first,” Beavers coach Scott Rueck said. “So when the clock was ticking down right at the very end and we knew we had it, I just couldn’t hardly believe how far this team has come.”
Oregon State (26-7) advanced to the regional semifinals for the third straight year.
The Lady Vols (24-8) and Beavers played a close game befitting of two teams separated by only one spot in The Associated Press’ poll entering the tournament.
Louisville 90, Marquette 72 — In Louisville, Ky., Myisha Hines-Allen had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Asia Durr scored 19 points and the topseeded Cardinals (34-2) quickly pounced on the No. 8 Golden Eagles (24-10) on the way to a victory.
Hines-Allen and Durr made sure of that right away by combining for 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting in the first half after the duo totaled just 13 points in a first-round rout of Boise State.
Allazia Blockton had a career-high 34 points for Marquette.
Spokane Regional
Notre Dame 98, Villanova 72 — Kathryn Westbeld sat out the first half with a left ankle sprain, but her appearance coming out of intermission served as inspiration, and the top-seeded Irish (31-2) found their way to the regional semifinals for the ninth straight season by beating the No. 9 Wildcats (23-9).
Jessica Shepard had her fourth straight double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Notre Dame. Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young had 24 points each for the Irish.
Jannah Tucker led Villanova with 19 points. The Wildcats missed all five 3-pointers it took in the second half after hitting 10-of-15 in the first 20 minutes.
Texas A&M 80, DePaul 79 — In College Station, Texas, freshman Chennedy Carter hit a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left, capping a 37-point performance, to help the fourth-seeded Aggies (26-9) rally from a 17-point second-half deficit and beat the No. 5 Blue Demons (27-8).
Carter had 32 of her points after halftime and the fourth-seeded Aggies pulled off the largest comeback ever in the second round of the tournament and the fourth largest ever.
Tanita Allen’s 19 points led DePaul.
Kansas City Regional
N.C. State 74, Maryland 60 — In Raleigh, N.C., Kiara Leslie had 21 points and 11 rebounds against her former team, and the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (26-8) shelled the No. 5 Terrapins (26-8).
Leslie, who spent three seasons at Maryland before graduating and transferring to N.C. State, finished one point shy of a career high.
Kalia Ealey and Chelsea Nelson added 12 points apiece while Akela Maize scored 11 to help the Wolfpack earn their first Sweet 16 appearance since the late Kay Yow led an inspirational run in 2007.
N.C. State was 7-of-14 on 3-pointers. Brianna Fraser had 17 points to pace the Terrapins.