JOYOUS STATE
Quincy Olivari scored 25 points and Rice held off Our Lady of the Lake 80-77 on Friday.
Olivari and Travis Evee each made a pair of free throws, for three-point leads, in the final 16 seconds to secure the win for the host Owls.
Evee had 12 points for Rice (13-12), which snapped its four-game losing streak. Chris Mullins added 10 points.
Ethan White had 24 points for the Saints. Ruben Monzon added 17 points. Jordan Embry had 17 points.
NO. 20 LOYOLA-CHICAGO 73 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 49
The top-seeded Ramblers easily dispatched the No. 9 seeded Salukis in the first quarterfinal of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis, moving the Ramblers one step closer to what would be their first tournament title since 2018.
Loyola (22-4) is considered safely in the NCAA Tournament and the blowout allowed coach Porter Moser to rest his starters.
The Ramblers advanced to Saturday’s semifinals and will play No. 4 seed Indiana State.
INDIANA ST. 53 EVANSVILLE 43
Tyreke Key posted 19 points and nine rebounds as the Sycamores advanced to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney in St. Louis.
DRAKE ADVANCES
The Drake and Northern Iowa matchup in the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament quarterfinal was canceled due to a COVID-19 issue with Northern Iowa. Drake advances to Saturday’s semifinal round.
Women
NO. 4 STANFORD 79 OREGON ST. 45
Cameron Brink scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinal into the Pac-12 Tournament title game with a victory over the Beavers at Las Vegas.
Stanford will play for the championship Sunday against No. 9 UCLA.
Kiana Williams had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists for Stanford (24-2).
Aleah Goodman scored 12 points and Taylor Jones pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Oregon State (11-7).
NO. 5 LOUISVILLE 65 WAKE FOREST 53
Freshman Hailey Van Lith scored a season-high 24 points and helped the Cardinals pull away from the Demon Deacons in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Greensboro, N.C.
NO. 3 N. CAROLINA ST. 68 VIRGINIA TECH 55
Elissa Cunane scored a season-high 27 points to help the Wolfpack advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Jada Boyd added 13 points off the bench for the second-seeded Wolfpack (18-2), the reigning tournament champions.
SYRACUSE 68 FLORIDA ST. 67
Kamilla Cardoso scored on a putback at the horn to help the Orange edge the Seminoles in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Greensboro, N.C.
Cardoso was alone on the left of the lane as teammate Kiara Lewis airballed a desperation 3-pointer from the right wing. Cardoso caught the ball and quickly put it back up to beat the horn, with teammates mobbing her under the basket.
That marked the first lead of the day for the fifth-seeded Orange (14-7), who trailed by 15 points in the first half.
The Orange will take on top-seeded Louisville in a semifinal on Saturday.
NO. 16 GEORGIA 78 NO. 17 KENTUCKY 66
Jenna Staiti and Maya Caldwell scored 20 points each and the Bulldogs beat the Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Greenville, S.C.
Fourth-seeded Georgia (19-5), which has won six of its last seven games, faces No. 2-ranked and top seed Texas A&M in a semifinal on Saturday.
NO. 7 SOUTH CAROLINA 75 ALABAMA 63
Zia Cooke scored 22 points, Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 13 rebounds and the Gamecocks beat the Crimson Tide.
The Gamecocks (20-4) will play No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday night in the semifinals.
Jordan Lewis scored 25 points for Alabama (16-9).
NO. 14 TENNESSEE 77 MISSISSIPPI 72
Rennia Davis had a career-high-tying 33 points and 14 rebounds and the third-seeded Lady Vols advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals for the first time in five years.
The Lady Volunteers (16-6) will face No. 7 and second-seeded South Carolina on Saturday.