Baylor in title game for 9th year in row

BIG 12 WOMEN NO. 6 BAYLOR 66, TEXAS 55

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — NaLyssa Smith had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Queen Egbo added 10 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 6 Baylor held off Texas 66-55 in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals on Saturday.

After trailing by 14 in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns (18-9) got within five but couldn’t get any closer after Smith drilled a three-pointer in the closing minute.

“We were much better down the stretch than we were last time we played them,” Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey said. “We did enough things to keep it away from where they thought they could win.”

Moon Ursin scored 19 and Dijonai Harrington had 14 as Baylor (24-2) will play in its ninth consecutive Big 12 Tournament final today against West Virginia.

“Today I was just knocking down shots, but our bigs did a great job with screens,” Ursin said. “I was just confident in my shot.”

Joanne Allen-Taylor led the Longhorns with 22 points and Celeste Taylor had 18.

The Lady Bears were too much in the paint for Texas, outrebounding the Longhorns 51-29, 22 on the offensive glass. Baylor also scored 36 in the paint and had 28 second-chance points.

“Rebounding and defending will win you a lot of games, along with second-chance points,” Mulkey said. “They are physical and there were spurts we didn’t execute very well.”

The Lady Bears held a 37-30 lead at the half despite Collier playing just a couple of minutes.

NO. 17 WEST VIRGINIA 59, OKLAHOMA STATE 50

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Esmery Martinez had 19 points and 15 rebounds, powering West Virginia into the Big 12 Tournament final.

Next up for the Mountaineers is No. 6 Baylor on Sunday.

Kysre Gondrezick scored 17 points for West Virginia (21-5). Kirsten Deans had 11.

Natasha Mack had 19 points, 9 rebounds, 8 blocks and 3 steals for the Cowgirls (18-8).

BIG TEN NO. 7 MARYLAND 104, IOWA 84

INDIANAPOLIS — Chloe Bibby scored 21 points and Mimi Collins had 17, leading Maryland to a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament championship.

The Terrapins (24-2) shot 51% from the floor in their 13th consecutive win.

Monika Czinano scored 22 points for Iowa (18-9).

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC JACKSON STATE 67, ALABAMA STATE 66

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Cherelle Jones made two free throws with 13.9 seconds left and top-seeded Jackson State earned its first NCAA Tournament in 13 years with a victory over second seed Alabama State.

Jones, who was 19 of 40 from the line this season, and 16 of 46 last season, came through after grabbing an offensive rebound. Moments earlier SWAC freshman of the year Farrah Pearson hit a three-pointer from the left wing that put Alabama State on top 66-65 with 17.2 seconds left.

Dayzsha Rogan led the Tigers (18-5) with 25 points. Ayana Emmanuel led the Hornets (16-4) with 17 points.

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC NORTH CAROLINA A&M 59, HOWARD 57

NORFOLK, Va. — Deja Winters hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 3 seconds to play, lifting North Carolina A&M into the NCAA Tournament with a victory over Howard.

The Aggies earned their fifth NCAA berth when the final heave for the Bison went off the back iron.

Jayla Jones-Pack scored 16 points and Winters 15 for North Carolina A&T (14-2). Iyanna Warren led the Bison (15-4) with 21 points and six assists.

WESTERN ATHLETIC CALIFORNIA BAPTIST 78, GRAND CANYON 60

LAS VEGAS — Tiena Neale scored 21 points and California Baptist, the nation’s lone undefeated Division-I women’s team, beat Grand Canyon 7860 on Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament title game — but its Utah Valley that is headed for the NCAAs for the first time.

Top-seeded California Baptist (24-0) is in the third year of a four-year transition to D-I and ineligible for the NCAA Tournament. The Lancers will participate in the WNIT.

Third-seeded Grand Canyon (18-7) beat second-seeded Utah Valley 57-54 in the semifinals but the league predetermined that the Wolverines, second during the regular season, would be the WAC’s automatic qualifier if California Baptist won the tournament. Utah Valley was 10-4 in conference play while thirdplace Grand Canyon was 8-4 within a league schedule hit with pandemic-related cancellations. The teams split their regular-season series.

CONFERENCE USA MIDDLE TENNESSEE 68, RICE 65

FRISCO, Texas — Courtney Whitson tied her career highs of 22 points and six three-pointers and Middle Tennessee held on to beat Rice in the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament.

Anastasia Hayes had 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Middle Tennessee (17-7). Nancy Mulkey had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks for Rice (19-3).

BIG WEST UC DAVIS 61, UC IRVINE 42

LAS VEGAS — Cierra Hall scored 23 points, Evanne Turner had 22 and top-seeded UC Davis pulled away late in the third quarter to beat No. 2 seed UC Irvine in the Big West Conference tournament championship.

It was the second consecutive title and third overall for UC Davis (13-2), which also won the tournament in 2011.

Chloe Webb had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Anteaters (15-9).

COLONIAL ATHLETIC DREXEL 63, DELAWARE 52

ELON, N.C. — Keishana Washington scored 30 points and Drexel used the third quarter to beat Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship game.

After Drexel’s eight-point second quarter helped Delaware (21-4) build a 34-22 halftime lead, after the break the Dragons (14-8) returned the favor and never looked back.