Blue Devils roll to first tourney win since 2018
Celeste Taylor and Elizabeth Balogun each scored 13 points Saturday night as thirdseeded Duke (26-6) romped past 14th-seeded Iona 89-49 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
It was the first NCAA Tournament win for Duke since 2018, when it last had a spot in the tournament. Duke has won at least one tournament game in all 25 seasons when it has been in the field. The Blue Devils will play host to Colorado at 9 tonight.
Kennedy Brown and Jordyn Oliver added 10 points apiece as the Blue Devils shot 57.1% from the field.
Ketsia Athias led Iona (26-7) with 20 points.
Colorado 82, Middle Tennessee State 60: Frida Formann scored 21 points and sixth-seeded Colorado unleashed a torrid 3-point shooting display to roll past 11th-seeded MTSU. Colorado (24-8) will be in the second round for the first time since 2013.
Anastasiia Boldyreva’s 16 points, Savannah Wheeler’s 15 points and Kseniya Malashka’s 13 points led MTSU (28-5), which had won 10 in a row.
Baylor 78, Alabama 74: Ja’Mee Asberry scored 26 points, including three key foul shots in the final minute, and seventhseeded Baylor overcame an early 18-point deficit to beat 10th-seeded Alabama in Storrs, Connecticut. The Bears will play at UConn tonight.
Sarah Andrews and Caitlin Bickle each added 14 for the Bears (20-12), whose rally tied for the third- biggest comeback in tournament history. Baylor closed the game on a 7-0 run, all from the free-throw line.
Brittany Davis tied a career high with 33 points for Alabama (20-11), which closed its season on a five-game losing streak.
Miami 62, Oklahoma State 61: Haley Cavinder scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and made what proved to be the decisive free throw with 8.9 seconds left. Ninth-seeded Miami pulled
off a 17-point second-half rally to defeat eighth-seeded Oklahoma State in Bloomington, Indiana.
The comeback was tied for the fifth-largest in tourney history. But the game wasn’t over until Naomie Alnatas’ 10-footer rolled off the rim at the buzzer following a 5-second call on the Hurricanes for not throwing the ball inbounds.
Miami (20-12) will play top-seeded Indiana tonight with a ticket to the Sweet 16 at stake.
Texas 79, East Carolina 40: Shaylee Gonzales scored 20 points and fourth-seeded Texas rolled over 13th-seeded ECU in Austin to earn a clash with fifthseeded Louisville tonight.
Taylor Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for Texas (26-9). Danae McNeal led East Carolina (23-10) with 13 points in the Pirates’ first NCAA Tournament game since 2007.
Louisville 83, Drake 81: Hailey Van Lith scored 13 points over the final five minutes, including five in a row in the final 16 seconds, and fifth-seeded Louisville held off 12th-seeded Drake’s upset bid.
Van Lith’s three-point play off
a layup out of timeout put Louisville up by four before Drake answered with a 3-pointer by Sarah Beth Gueldner. Van Lith then made two more free throws.
Van Lith finished with 26 points and Mykasa Robison scored 14 for Louisville (24-11).
Katie Dinnebier scored 20 points and Anna Miller 17 for Drake (22-10).
UCLA 67, Sacramento State 45: Kiki Rice had 15 points, Emily Bessoir added 14 and fourthseeded UCLA rolled over No. 13 seed Sacramento State in Los Angeles.
Charisma Osborne had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Bruins, who will face fifth-seeded Oklahoma tonight. Isnelle Natabou had 16 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento State.
Oklahoma 85, Portland 63: Aubrey Joens and Taylor Robertson each scored 14 points for Oklahoma, which took control in the third quarter to defeat 12th-seeded Portland.
Madi Williams added 13 points for the Sooners (26-6). Alex Fowler led Portland (23-9) with 18 points.