Turning point:

Ohio State’s LEXINGTON, KY. — slim series advantage over Kentucky means nothing with more than 10 years having passed since the schools last played and none occur- ring in the postseason.

All of which makes today’s inaugural NCAA Tournament matchup very intriguing.

A second straight Sweet 16 berth is at stake for fifthseeded Ohio State and No. 4 seed Kentucky (22-10), which for the host Wildcats could mean another home game a few blocks away at Rupp Arena. Both schools will rely heavily on veterans to make it happen, and Buckeyes junior guard Linnae Harper could play a key role in the series’ newest chapter.

After all, she has a history with Kentucky.

“It is strange, once being on that scout (report) and now I’m on the opposite end,” said Ha r per, who played two years with the Wildcats before transferring last season. “Then again, it’s just business and have to just focus as a team and look to the coaches for what the game plan is.”

Harper was among nearly half the roster that left Kentucky over the course of the 2015-16 season, a mass exodus that included three assist a nt coaches. With her went 11.4 points and 7.1 boards per game, the latter of which would have made her Kentucky’s top returning rebounder.

Harper has gone on to become the Big Ten Conference Sixth Player of the Year and enters the second-round game averaging 8.2 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Kentucky has moved on from the departures thanks to senior forward Evelyn Akhator (16 points, 10.5 rebounds) ultimately taking charge on the glass. But Harper and former teammates recall t heir time together fondly and have exchanged texts since the Lexington Region bracket was announced.

And the Wildcats still mar- vel at the 5-foot-8 guard’s knack for getting rebounds.

“She can really, really jump, has incredible tim- ing, has great strength, a really quick jumper off the floor,” Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said Saturday.

Kentucky has other Ohio State veterans to stop such as junior guard Kelsey Mitchell, the Big Ten’s Player of the Year who had 15 points in Friday’s 70-63 victory over Western Kentucky. Senior forward Shayla Cooper had a season-high 15 rebounds in the win.

Kentucky’s veterans pres- ent a challenge as well after they helped the Wildcats escape No. 13 seed Belmont 73-70.

Guard Makayla Epps made a career-best five 3-point- ers for her second consecutive 30-point game. Akhator added 22 points and 10 rebounds for her 17th double-double and Maci Morris (15 points) made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to seal a hardfought win that Kentucky appreciated as a prelude to another hurdle.

“If we come out with a sharper mental focus, keep our composure and communicate with each other bet- ter on defense, we’ll be in better shape against Ohio State,” Epps said.

For awhile, LOUISVILLE, KY. — it looked like the University of Dayton women’s basketball team was going to follow the same script from the Atlantic 10 Tournament in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center:

Get down big early, make a run to tie the game then slowly build a lead after getting the jets revved. Well, two out of three. The Flyers (22-10) got down by double digits to Tennessee early and came back to tie at the half, but couldn’t pull the final part of the equa- tion together in a 66-57 loss.

“We’ve had some slow starts in the first quarter,” Flyers coach Shauna Green said. “I thought our start was going to be really, really key today in how we came out. We’ve been known to make runs and come back and that’s exactly what we did today. It was the same pattern.”

Diamond DeShields scored 24 points to lead the Vols. She’s the daughter of Delino DeShields, the former major leaguer and current manager of the Louisville Bats, the Reds’ Class AAA team.

Here are five things to know from the game:

The Flyers fell behind 20-9 after the first quarter while struggling with their shooting, making 3 of 19 shots, many of which were open.

Dayton did bounce back to tie 29-29 at halftime on a pair of free throws from Lauren Cannatelli.

“I thought we came out a little timid,” Green said. “That’s all you talk about all

Slow start:

week is attacking them and being confident. We shot the ball well at the shootaround.

“So we didn’t have a great start. Yeah, we were 1-for-16, but I’m not going to tell them to stop shooting.”

Dayton was 7 of 12 in the second quarter, which it closed on a 16-6 run. The difference? “I think we let the game come to us a little more after the first quarter,” point guard Jenna Burdette said. “We just needed to calm down.”

With the Flyers trailing 41-39 with 5:21 remaining in the third quar- ter, backup Jordan Wilmoth got tangled up with Alex Middleton under the basket and went down holding her right knee. The freshman had scored a career-high seven points in the first half to go with two rebounds.

Tennessee closed the quar- ter with a 10-3 run to open a 51-42 lead.

Post battle:

Dayton was out-rebounded 43-39. Alex Harris had 14 rebounds for the Flyers, but Tennessee got 15 from Schaquilla Nunn and 10 from Mercedes Russell.

“It was a drastic change in terms of size, but our game plan didn’t change at all,” UD senior Saicha Grant-Al- len said. “We tried to get inside and use our length too. We’re a tall team too, so the game plan didn’t change but it’s definitely a difference.”

Long-distance issues:

The Flyers made 4 of 20 three-pointers after entering the contest shooting 35 percent from behind the arc.

“That is such a big part of what we do,” Green said. “We were getting the looks we wanted, we just couldn’t hit them.

“In past games, we’d hit some of those corner threes or one of those kickouts and that would give us a lot of momentum, and they just didn’t go (Saturday).”

Dayton

Foul problems:

made its biggest run of the day to tie the game in the second quarter with Bur- dette, Kelley Austria and Grant-Allen on the bench with two fouls.

Plagued by foul trouble, the Flyers watched Tennessee make 22 of 33 free throws. Dayton was 11 of 14 from the foul line.

“We made that run with freshmen on the floor,” Green said. “I don’t even know if there was a senior on the floor during that run.

“Sometimes with freshmen, they don’t know any better. They come in and shoot, but I think that they will take this experience and grow from it. That’s going to be something we can go towards next year and that they have a taste of it and know they can play with the best.”

Kalani Brown scored 21 points and top-seeded Baylor overwhelmed much smaller Texas Southern 119-30 on Saturday night in an Oklahoma City Region opener that set a record as the most lopsided women’s NCAA Tournament game.

The host Lady Bears (31-3) were ahead 22-0 after Alexis Jones, on her first shot in her first game since Feb. 20, hit a 3-pointer. She returned from a knee injury.

The 89-point margin broke the previous record 74-point win by Tennessee over North Carolina A&T (111-37) in 1994.

Baylor’s 119 points were the most scored in regulation of a women’s NCAA Tournament game. Ohio State scored 116 in a 1998 game, and UConn matched it twice, including earlier Saturday. Texas Southern (23-10) made the tournament for the first time.

Oklahoma 75, Gonzaga 62:

At Seattle, Vionise PierreLouis had 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots for No. 6 seed Oklahoma (23-9). Laura Stockton scored 14 for Gonzaga (26-7).

Connecticut 116, 55: Albany

Napheesa Collier and Kia Nurse each scored 24 points as top-seeded UConn (33-0) extended records with its 108th straight win and 25th straight in the tournament. The Huskies are going for their fifth consecutive NCAA title and next host Syracuse in a rematch of last season’s final. Albany is 21-12.

Syracuse 85, Iowa State 65:

Brittney Sykes scored 28 for the eighth-seeded Orange (22-10), who opened a 33-8 lead. Iowa State fell to 18-13.

Oregon 71, Temple 70:

At Durham, N.C., Ruthy Hebard hit a jumper with 5.5 seconds left, winning it for the 10th-seeded Ducks (2113). Hebard finished with 23 points. The game had three lead changes in the final 30 seconds. Alliya Butts scored 28 for the No. 7 Owls (24-8).

UCLA 83, Boise State 56:

Monique Billings scored 19 and Jordin Canada had 15 points and 16 assists for fourth-seeded UCLA (24-8) at home. Boise finished 25-8.

Duke 94, Hampton 31:

Rebecca Greenwell had 26 points and 10 rebounds for second-seeded Duke (28-5) at home. Duke lost guard Kyra Lambert to a left knee injury in the second quarter. Jephany Brown scored 18 for No. 15 Hampton (20-13).

Stanford 72, New Mexico State 64:

At Manhattan, Kan., Alanna Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds for No. 2 seed Stanford (29-5). Playing on the road because of a scheduling conflict at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal trailed the No. 15 Aggies (24-7) by as many as nine but advanced to play Kansas State.

Kansas State 67, Drake 54:

Breanna Lewis had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Wildcats (23-10) at home. Lizzy Wendell scored 17 for 10th-seeded Drake (28-5).

Quinnipiac 68, Marquette 65:

At Coral Gables, Fla., Jennifer Fay scored 20 points and Paula Strautmane scored seven of her 15 points in the fourth quarter for the 12th-seeded Bobcats (28-6), who advanced to play Miami. The Bobcats were up 52-33 midway through the third quarter before fifth-seeded Marquette (25-8) roared back.

Miami 62, Florida Gulf Coast 60:

Keyona Hayes scored 16 points, including the go-ahead basket inside with 1.5 seconds left for fourthseeded Miami (24-8). Taylor Gradinjan’s 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left tied the game at 60 for No. 13 FGCU (26-9).