UCF falls as Northwestern attains first tournament win in 28 years
Lindsey Pulliam scored 25 points to lead seventhseeded Northwestern to a 62-51 win over 10th-seeded UCF on Monday, the Wildcats’ first women’s NCAA Tournament victory in 28 years.
Northwestern (16-8) is in the tournament for the first time since 2015 and just the third time since 1993, when the Wildcats beat Georgia Tech before falling to Tennessee in the second round.
The Knights (16-5) sustained a huge blow midway through the second quarter when they lost second-leading scorer Diamond Battles to what appeared to be a right knee injury. Masseny
Kaba led UCF with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
UCF made the tournament for the second straight time and sixth since moving up to Division I in the 1984-85 season.
UCF scored nine straight points in the fourth quarter, five from Courtajia Sanders, to get within six. Pulliam ended the run with a three-point play that made it 53-44.
Pulliam carried Northwestern while top scorer Veronica Burton struggled. Burton, who came in averaging 16.9 points per game, scored four points before fouling out with about six minutes remaining.Wright
State 66, Arkansas 62:
Angel Baker made a go-ahead threepointer with 29.1 seconds left, and the Raiders
(19-7) become the first
No. 13 seed to beat a No.
4 since 2012. Baker scored 26 points.
Jada Roberson made two free throws with 8.1 seconds left to seal the victory for the Horizon League Tournament champions.
Chelsea Dungee had 27 points for Arkansas (19-9).
Texas A&M 84,
Troy 80: Jordan Nixon scored nine points over the final six minutes, and the No. 2-seed Aggies escaped an upset bid by the No. 15 Trojans.
Destiny Pitts made four free throws over the final 6 seconds as the Aggies avoided what would have ranked among the biggest surprises in tournament history.
No 15 seed has ever beaten a No. 2. The Trojans, who rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter, came oh-so-close to the tournament’s most startling win since No. 16 seed Harvard topped No. 1 Stanford in 1998.
Belmont 64, Gonzaga
59: Belmont freshman Destinee Wells had 25 points and seven assists, and the 12th-seeded Bruins earned their first victory ever in the tournament.
Belmont (21-5) had been 0-5 in the NCAA Tournament.
Jill Townsend had 17 points for Gonzaga (23-4).
BYU 69, Rutgers
66: Paisley Johnson Harding scored 28 points, leading the 11th-seeded Cougars over the No. 6 Scarlett Knights (14-5).
Arella Guirantes scored 30 points for the Scarlet Knights.
Alabama 80, North Carolina 71: Jordan Lewis had 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Crimson Tide, who were playing their first game in the tournament since 1999.
Hannah Barber had 14 points for Alabama (17-9), and Jasmine Walker finished with 13.
Stephanie Watts led
North Carolina (13-11) with a season-high 29 points, hitting seven three-pointers.
Maryland 98, Mount St. Mary’s 45: Ashley Owusu had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for second-seeded Tar Heels (25-2). Diamond Miller added 19 points.
Maryland will take a 14-game win streak into a second-round game against Alabama.
Georgia 67, Drexel
53: Jenna Staiti scored all of her 19 points in the second half, helping the Bulldogs (21-6) overcome a slow start.
Que Morrison had 11 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high eight assists for Georgia. Hannah Nihill led Drexel (14-9) with 22 points.
Indiana 63, VCU 32:
Grace Berger scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half, and the No. 4 seed Hoosiers (19-5) held 13th-seeded VCU to 22.8% shooting.
Ali Patberg had 17 points for Indiana.
Arizona 79, Stony Brook 44: Aari McDonald scored 20 points and Trinity Baptiste had 18 in the rout for the thirdseeded Wildcats (17-5). Cate Reese scored 16 points.
Asiah Dingle scored 14 points for the Seawolves (15-6), who shot 29% from the field and turned it over 25 times.
Iowa State 79 Michigan State 75: Ashley
Joens scored an Iowa
State NCAA Tournament record 33 points, including the clinching free throw with 3.1 seconds left, to lift the Cyclones.