Mississippi State knocks off DePaul

Third-quarter surge seals deal

Mississippi State’s role players have become stars and the stars are often role players. Bulldogs’ coach Vic Schaefer saw a 29-win team that was struggling on offense going into the NCAA Tournament and blew up the playing rotation in mid March.

The results, at least so far, have been fantastic.

Blair Schaefer scored 18 points, Jazz mun Holmes added 14 and Mississippi State pushed past DePaul, 92-71, on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament’s Oklahoma City Regional in Starkville, Miss.

Schaefer and Holmes were two who rarely played at times during January and February. Now they’re the two main reasons Mississippi State is going to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.

Dominique Dillingham, who had started 19 straight games before the NCAA Tournament and is now coming off the bench, said no one is questioning their coach’s logic. Dillingham added 10 points and two steals on Sunday.

“He’s not crazy,” Dillingham said. “I think we have 10 starters. Anyone could start. We’re really deep.”

Mississippi State (31-4) used a 14-0 run in the middle of the third quarter to turn a tight game into a 6143 advantage.

DePaul scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 61-50 by the end of the third quarter, but Mississippi State responded with the first eight points of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

DePaul (27-8) was led by Jessica January, who scored 18 points. Brooke Schulte added 16.

The Blue Demons’ fastpaced offense was effective until the third quarter when the shots stopped falling. That’s when the Bulldogs were able to exploit their height advantage — they had a 48-26 rebounding advantage — and put together a big second-half push.

“If you quick shoot and miss, and don’t defend and rebound, you’re putting together a recipe for disaster,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. LEXINGTON REGIONAL

Ohio State 82, Kentucky 68: Tori McCoy scored six straight points midway through the fourth quarter to help the Buckeyes withstand the Wildcats’ furious rally from a 19-point secondhalf deficit and escape with a victory in Lexington, Ky.

The Wildcats (22-11) trailed, 50-31, early in third but closed to 65-64 with 6:04 remaining. The fifth-seeded Buckeyes answered with eight straight points behind McCoy.

Ohio State (28-6) held on from there to earn its second straight Sweet 16 appearance.

Texas 84, North Carolina State 80: Brooke McCarty scored 23 points and Joyner Holmes scored a put-back basket with 4 seconds left to the send the Longhorns past the Wolfpack in Austin, Texas.

Lashann Higgs had given Texas a two-point lead when she made one free throw with 8 seconds left but missed the second.

Holmes grabbed the rebound, missed her first shot, grabbed the rebound then made the second to seal the win. Holmes finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Texas (25-8) had to overcome a 31-point scoring effort by Wolfpack senior guard Miah Spencer, who fouled out with 1:03 to play when she tangled with McCarty, the Big 12 player of the year, away from the ball.

Dominique Wilson added 27 points for the Wolfpack (23-9) but a go-ahead basket with 8 seconds left was waived off with an offensive foul when she charged Higgs. BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL

Maryland 83, West Virginia 56: Destiny Slocum nailed a 70-foot shot to cap a pivotal second quarter for Maryland, and the Terrapins went on to defeat the Mountaineers in College Park, Md.

Brionna Jones had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Slocum scored 21 and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 19 for third-seeded Maryland (32-3).

Teana Muldrow led West Virginia (24-11) with 16 points. STOCKTON REGIONAL

South Carolina 71, Arizona State 68: A’ja Wilson scored 21 points, including the put-back that gave South Carolina the lead for good and the free throws that sealed it, to help the Gamecocks stave off an upset bid by the Sun Devils in Columbia, S.C.

Sophie Bruner missed a heavily contested threepointer at the buzzer that would have tied it.

Arizona State (20-13) scored 11 straight points to take a 68-67 lead with two minutes to go, but Wilson put back her own miss with 46.8 seconds to go that gave South Carolina (29-4) a 69-68 advantage.

Kaela Davis had a steal on the Sun Devils’ next-tolast possession and Wilson converted the two free throws.

Florida State 77, Missouri 65: Shakayla Thomas scored 20 points and the Seminoles (27-6) rolled past the Tigers (2211) in Tallahassee, Fla.

Thomas, who also had 11 rebounds, was one of four Seminoles in double figures.

The Seminoles led, 3227, at halftime but put the game out of reach by scoring the first eight points of the third quarter.