Georgia Tech edges Stephen F. Austin
Lorela Cubaj took a scary fall and her Georgia Tech team almost did too but both recovered to play another day in the NCAA women’s tournament.
Cubaj scored 14 points, including the go- ahead free throws in overtime, and the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets came back from a 17-point halftime deficit to turn back No. 12-seeded Stephen F. Austin, 54-52, Sunday in San Antonio.
The Yellow Jackets’ first opening-round victory since 2012 — and the fourth-largest comeback in tournament history — sends them to a Tuesday matchup against West Virginia in the Hemisfair Region.
Cubaj, of Italy, left the the game in the second quarter after taking a fall while going for a rebound. She appeared to hit the back of her head on the court and after several minutes was able to leave with assistance. She came back four minutes later to finish the half with SFA leading 34-17 — the lowest-scoring half of the season for Georgia Tech (16-8).
“The major problem for us in the first two quarters is we were not playing as together,” Cubaj said. “We were talking about how we needed to stick together. I feel like it was also like the nerves. It is our first NCAA tournament game, so we just kind of had to get rid of those.”
The Ladyjacks shot 45% in the first half but plummeted to 15% on 4-of-26 shooting in the second half.
“Definitely the press I thought was the differencemaker for us,” said Nell Fortner, in her second year as Tech’s head coach. “Creating some turnovers and really pressuring them into some shots they might not have taken otherwise.
“I’m so proud of our kids for how hard we fought back being 17 down. Just really did a good job of fighting our way back, believing and just never giving up.”
After Cubaj’s overtime free throws gave Georgia Tech its first lead since 6-4, Anaya Boyd and Lotta-May Lahtinen sandwiched baskets around an SFA free throw for a fivepoint lead with 1:36 remaining.
SFA freshman Avery Brittingham converted a threepoint play with 47 seconds left and had a chance to tie the score at the end but missed twice under the basket before her third try went in after the buzzer.
Cubaj grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots for Georgia Tech. Lahtinen also scored 14 points and Kierra Fletcher added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Brittingham scored 16 points with 13 rebounds for the Ladyjacks (24-3), who had a 19- game win streak snapped. Visscher added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
More Hemisfair Region
South Carolina 79, Mercer 53: South Carolina coach Dawn Staley got her 500th career victory when Aliyah Boston and the top-seeded Gamecocks beat Mercer (197). 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.
Mercado Region
N.C. State 79, North Carolina A& T 58: Jada Boyd scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and topseeded N.C. State overcame a slow start to beat 16thseeded North Carolina A&T. N.C. State (21-2) was making its fourth consecutive tournament appearance and 26th overall, but earned a No. 1 seed for the first time. N.C. State will face the South Florida-Washington State winner. Chanin Scott led NC A&T (143) with 23 points.
South Florida 57, Washington State 53: Elena Tsineke scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1: 32 remaining, and South Florida (19-3) edged Washington State (12-12) in Austin, Texas.
River Walk Region
Baylor 101, Jackson State 52: Moon Ursin scored a career-high 24 points and secondseeded Baylor routed Jackson State. All-American NaLyssa Smith added 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and had 10 rebounds for the Bears (26-2). They will face Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Keshuna Luckett led the 15thseeded Tigers (19-6) with 15 points.
Connecticut 102, High Point 59: The Huskies did just fine without coach Geno Auriemma, with Paige Bueckers scoring 24 points to lead the top-seeded Huskies to a victory again High Point. 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 Tuesday against Syracuse.
Virginia Tech 70, Marquette 63: Elizabeth Kitley had 23 points and seventhseeded Virginia Tech built a big lead and held off 10thseeded Marquette. Kitley also had eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks for Virginia Tech (15-9). Van Kleunen led Marquette (19-7) with 18 points.
Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee 62: Rennia Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds and No. 3 seed Tennessee used a dominant second half to beat 14th-seeded Middle Tennessee. Rae Burrell scored 22 points and Jordan Walker had nine points and 14 rebounds for Tennessee (17-7). The Vols outrebounded the Blue Raiders ( 17- 8), 56- 21. Anastasia Hayes scored 26 points for Middle Tennessee.
Michigan 87, Florida Gulf Coast 66: Leigha Brown scored 28 points, including 17 in a row for sixth-seeded Michigan, and the Wolverines beat 11th-seed Florida Gulf Coast. Big Ten player of the year Naz Hillmon finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Wolverines ( 15-5). Kierstan Bell had 25 points for Florida Gulf Coast (26-3).
Kentucky 71, Idaho State 63: Rhyne Howard and Chasity Patterson scored 14 points apiece and fourth- seeded Kentucky beat 13th-seeded Idaho State. Blair Green added 10 points for the Wildcats (18-8). They will face Iowa in the second round. Diaba Konate led the Big Sky champion Bengals (22-4) with 16 points.
Iowa 87, Central Michigan 72: Freshman Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer, had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists and fifthseeded Iowa beat 12thseeded Central Michigan. Monika Czinano also scored 23 points for Iowa (19-9). Micaela Kelly had 23 points for Central Michigan (18-9).
Syracuse 72, South Dakota State 55: Emily Engstler scored 18 points and made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and eight-seeded Syracuse pulled away to beat ninth-seeded South Dakota State. Paiton Burckhard had 17 points for South Dakota State (21-4).
Alamo Region
Oklahoma State 84, Wake Forest 61: Natasha Mack had 27 points and 15 rebounds in eighth-seeded Oklahoma State’s victory over ninth- seeded Wake Forest (12-13). Mack was 13 of 22 from the field for Oklahoma State (19-8). Ja’Mee Asberry added 18 points with four 3pointers.
Stanford 87, Utah Valley 44: Kiana Williams scored 20 points as the top-seeded Cardinal ( 26- 2) overwhelmed first-timer Utah Valley (13-7) in San Antonio.