S. Carolina’s Staley earns 500th victory
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley got her 500th career victory when Aliyah Boston and the top-seeded Gamecocks beat Mercer 79-53 on Sunday in San Antonio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Staley is 328-102 in 13 seasons at South Carolina, after going 172-80 in eight seasons at Temple.
Boston had 20 points and 18 rebounds for South Carolina (23-4), which grabbed the lead for good when it closed the first half with a 16-5 run. Victaria Saxton also scored 20 points in the Hemisfair Region game at the Alamodome.
The Gamecocks were national champs in 2017, when the Final Four was last played in Texas. They finished 32-1 last season, spent the final 10 weeks at No. 1 and Staley was the AP coach of the year, but didn’t get a chance to win another title because the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.
Amoria Neal-Tysor had 15 points for Mercer (19-7).
UConn 102, High Point 59
In San Antonio, UConn did just fine without coach Geno Auriemma, with Paige Bueckers scoring 24 points to lead the topseeded Huskies (25-1) over High Point (22-7) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Auriemma is recovering from the coronavirus and missed the opener. Associate head coach Chris Dailey filled in for the Hall of Famer, who is also going to miss the secondround game against Syracuse on Tuesday.
Georgia Tech 54, Stephen F. Austin 52, OT
In San Antonio, Lorela Cubaj recovered from a scary fall to score 14 points, including the go-ahead free throws in overtime, and fifth-seeded Georgia Tech (16-8) overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to beat 12th-seeded Stephen F. Austin (24-3).
N.C. State 79, North Carolina A&T 58
In Jada Boyd scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and top-seeded North Carolina State (21-2) overcame a slow start to beat 16th-seeded North Carolina A&T (14-3) in San Marcos, Texas.
Baylor 101, Jackson St. 52
In San Antonio, Moon Ursin scored a career-high 24 points and second-seeded Baylor (26-2) routed Jackson State (19-6).
Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee 62
In Austin, Texas, Rennia Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds and No. 3 seed Tennessee (17-7) used a dominant second half to beat 14th-seeded Middle Tennessee (17-8).
Syracuse 72, South Dakota St. 55
In Austin, Texas, Emily Engstler scored 18 points and made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and eight-seeded Syracuse (15-8) pulled away to beat ninth-seeded South Dakota State (21-4).