Buffalo stuns Florida State in women's tourney

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A week ago Buffalo was waiting to find out if it earned one of the final four at-large berths to the women's NCAA Tournament.

Now the 11th-seeded Bulls are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.

Cierra Dillard scored 22 points as Buffalo shocked No. 3 seed Florida State 86-65 in a second-round game on Monday night. The Bulls (29-5) won't have far to go for the regional semifinal as it will face defending champion and second-seeded South Carolina on Saturday in Albany, New York.

"We made history. It hasn't sunk in and hit us," Dillard said. "We're going to the Sweet 16 and to be a mid-major. It's an amazing feeling. This is the year of upsets and to be a part of that is great."

The Bulls are the also the first Mid-American Conference team since Bowling Green in 2007 to advance to the Sweet 16. They were joined moments later by MAC rival Central Michigan which knocked off Ohio State also as an 11-seed.

Buffalo coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she got off the phone with Central Michigan coach Sue Guevara after their game was done. The Bulls were the first team from the conference to earn an at-large berth in 22 years.

"Our goal was to let people know that the MAC was alive and well," Legette-Jack said.

Buffalo made 14 3-pointers in its first-round win over South Florida but was able to work it more inside against Florida State (26-7). It shot 47.4 percent from the field but more importantly went 27 of 30 on free throws.

The Bulls were also able to generate a lot of their offense

from their defense. They held the Seminoles to 33.8 percent from the field and 3 of 25 on 3-pointers.

"There were a lot of shots that were out of rhythm, it wasn't just the three. The long rebounds fueled their fastbreak opportunities," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "Sometimes you have games that you just can't get a rhythm. That was the game for us."

Stephanie Reid scored 18 points and Summer Hemphill added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Buffalo.

Buffalo seized control late in the first half. The game was tied at 28 with 2:05 remaining when the Bulls closed the half with a 10-2 run, including eight straight points by Dillard, to take a 39-30 lead at halftime.

The Bulls would then extend the lead to 14 with a 7-2 run to start the third quarter. Florida State drew within 55-45 with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter but would not get any closer. The Bulls would lead by as many as 23 late in the fourth.

Florida State, which was hoping to make the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year, was led by Shakayla Thomas' 25 points while Nausia Woolfolk added 12.

LEXINGTON REGION No. 1 UCONN 71, No. 9 QUINNIPIAC 46

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 23 points and UConn beat in-state neighbor Quinnipiac to advance to a 25th straight Sweet 16.

Azura Stevens added 14 points and Kia Nurse chipped in with 13 for the Huskies (34-0), who found themselves in a much

slower-paced game than their 140-52 first-round rout of Saint Francis (Pa.).

But Connecticut was not threatened in this one either. They opened with a 9-2 run and never trailed.

Jen Fay had 12 points to lead the ninth-seeded Bobcats (28-6), who saw their school-record 23-game winning streak snapped.

Quinnipiac got plenty of open looks, but hit just four of 24 shots from 3-point range, including just one of 12 from in the first half.

No. 5 DUKE 66, No. 4 GEORGIA 40

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Leaonna Odom scored 16 points and Duke's defense was dominant, holding Georgia to two second-quarter points.

Lexie Brown and Erin Mathias each had 14 points for Duke (24-8), which will play UConn in the Albany Regional on Saturday.

Georgia (26-7) made only 1 of 19 shots in the second period. The Lady Bulldogs set season lows for fewest points in a period and game and lowest field-goal percentage (24.0) in a game.

The Lady Bulldogs missed their first 13 3-pointers before Simone Costa sank a 3 midway through the final period.

The shooting woes even carried over to the free-throw line, where the Lady Bulldogs made only 7 of 14 shots.

While Georgia struggled, Duke shot 50 percent from the field to overcome 21 turnovers.

Caliya Robinson led Georgia with 11 points and 12 rebounds. No other Georgia player had more than five points.

SPOKANE REGION No. 11 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 95, No. 3 OHIO STATE 78

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Presley Hudson scored 28 points and Central Michigan stunned Ohio State to earn the school's first ever trip to the Sweet 16.

Cassie Breen threw the ball high in the air as the clock wound down and the joyous Central Michigan players jumped, screamed and hugged as they celebrated the biggest win in school history.

The Chippewas had won their first tournament game ever in Saturday's first-round upset of No. 6 Louisiana State. With the upset of Ohio State, they advance to face No. 2 Oregon in Spokane, Washington, on Saturday.

Central Michigan (30-4) out-rebounded and out-hustled Ohio State, played taut defense, hit a season-high 14 3-pointers and kept the Buckeyes at bay late in the game.

The Chippewas got plenty of help in the upset from the unusually errorprone Buckeyes, who got behind in the first half and then were run over by momentum and couldn't climb back in. Central Michigan led by as much as 23 points in the second half as Ohio State struggled to put together a run that would shift the tide.

All-American guard Kelsey Mitchell led Ohio State (28-7) with 28 points but hit just 11 of her 29 shots from the floor.