Strong 3rd quarter lifts Tennessee past Liberty
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Freshman Rennia Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in her women’s NCAA Tournament debut as No. 3 seed Tennessee pulled away in the second half to beat No. 14 Liberty 100-60 in the first round on Friday.
Tennessee (25-7) plays No. 6 Oregon State in the second round of the Lexington Regional on Sunday with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. Oregon State beat No. 11 Western Kentucky 82-58 in the opening game.
The Lady Vols used an offensive outburst in the third quarter to win their NCAA opener for the ninth straight season and remain undefeated at home in NCAA play at 57-0.
Tennessee finished 24 of 30 from the field in the second half (80 percent) and scored 64 points.
Liberty (24-10) entered the game ranked No. 7 in the country in scoring defense (53.7 points per game), but couldn’t hold Tennessee’s offense down for a full game.
Oregon State 82, Western Kentucky 58
Marie Gulich scored 21 of her 29 points in the second half and grabbed 15 rebounds as No. 6 seed Oregon State beat No. 11 Western Kentucky.
Oregon State is attempting to reach its third straight Sweet 16.
The 6-foot-5 Gulich finished 11 of 15 from the field, with a steady stream of layups and short jumpers highlighting her second-half surge.
Louisville 74, Boise State 42
Kylee Shook had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to lead Louisville to a blowout of Boise State.
Beginning NCAA play as a top seed for the first time in school history, the Cardinals (33-2) used quick spurts early in both halves, along with defense, to cruise to victory. They shook off their initial sluggishness shortly after Shook entered midway through the first quarter. The 6-foot-4 sophomore alternated 3-pointers with Jazmine Jones’ layups for a 19-8 lead before adding her own layup to make it 21-11.
Louisville combined size and quickness to break it open coming out of the break, outscoring No. 16 seed Boise State (23-10) 16-4 for a 50-26 cushion.
Michigan 75, Northern Colorado 61
Hallie Thome scored 24 points, Katelynn Flaherty added 20 and seventhseeded Michigan defeated No. 10 Northern Colorado.
The Wolverines shot 57 percent from the floor and took advantage of their size at nearly every position to dominate on the boards, 33-18.
Michigan (23-9) pulled away with a 20-4 run that turned a 7-6 deficit into a 26-11 lead that eventually stretched as far as 32-14.
Maryland 77, Princeton 57
Kaila Charles scored 20 points as Maryland beat Princeton in the Kansas City Regional.
Eleanna Christinaki added 16 points, Kristen Confroy finished with 14 and Brianna Fraser had 11 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Terrapins (26-7).
Abby Meyers scored 13 points and Bella Alarie had 12 for the 12th-seeded Tigers (24-6), who allow just 54.3 points per game – 10th-best in the country.
N.C. State 62, Elon 35
Kiara Leslie scored 13 points as North Carolina State beat Elon.
Aislinn Konig added 12 points to help the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (25-8) advance to a second-round matchup with Maryland in the renewal of a past Atlantic Coast Conference rivalry. Leslie played two seasons at Maryland before coming to N.C. State last summer as a graduate transfer.
Shay Burnett had 12 points for the 13th-seeded Phoenix (25-8), who had their 13-game winning streak snapped.
Notre Dame 99, CS Northridge 81
Arike Ogunbowale scored 30 points as top-seed Notre Dame (30-3) beat Cal State Northridge (19-16) in the Spokane Regional.
The Irish did suffer another injury as senior captain Kathryn Westbeld went down early in the game with a rolled left ankle and did not return.
There was no immediate word whether Westbeld would be ready for Sunday’s game.
DePaul 90, Oklahoma 79
Amarah Coleman and Kelly Campbell each scored 17 points and sixth-seeded DePaul held off a second-half comeback by Oklahoma.
Ashton Millender and Mart’e Grays both added 16 for the Blue Demons (27-7), which used 3-pointers to jump to an early lead that it never lost.
DePaul’s first four baskets came on 3pointers, building a 15-7 led with Coleman hitting fallaway shots to open and close the run.
Ortiz scored 18. Center Vionise Pierre-Louis led Oklahoma (16-15) with 21.
Texas A&M 89, Drake 76
Freshman Chennedy Carter scored 26 points, powering No. 4 Texas A&M to an 89-76 victory over 13th-seed Drake on Friday in the opening round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Khaalia Hillsman added 22 to help send the Aggies to the second round against DePaul. Carter also had 11 assists and six steals.
Sara Rhine scored 21 and Becca Hittner had 19 for Drake (26-8).
The Aggies (25-9) broke the game open in the second quarter, building a 57-42 halftime edge.
Virginia 68, Cal 62
Dominique Toussaint hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:08 to go and No. 10 seed held off seventh-seeded Cal in the Albany Regional for its first women’s NCAA Tournament win in nine years.
Felicia Aiyeotan led the Cavaliers (1913) with 16 points, just her second game in double figures since Jan. 7.
Cal had a streak of seven straight first-round NCAA wins entering the game, but played without leading scorer and rebounder Kristine Anigwe, who was medically ruled out after missing a morning shoot-around. The team would not detail what was wrong with the 6foot-4 junior.