WVU eliminated in first round

When Shaina Pellington left the game with four fouls early in the third quarter, Arizona didn’t miss a beat. In fact, freshman Kailyn Gilbert helped the Wildcats pull away.

Cate Reese scored 25 points and Esmery Martinez had a double-double against her former team, leading seventh-seeded Arizona to a 7562 victory against 10thseeded West Virginia in the women’s NCAA tournament on Friday at Columbia, S.C. The Wildcats (22-9) went on a 16-3 run in the second half with Pellington on the bench.

“Anything we tried to get into from a defensive standpoint, we really had a hard time slowing them down,” West Virginia coach Dawn Plitzuweit said.

The Mountaineers (19-12) eventually settled in. It was a seven-point game at halftime, and Arizona’s lead was three early in the third. Pellington picked up her third and fourth fouls in the third, but after two free throws by West Virginia made it 42-39, Arizona pulled away again

Greenville Region 1

South Florida 67, Marquette 65 (OT): Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 22 points and Elena Tsineke hit a jumper with 31.2 seconds left in overtime to lift the eighthseeded Bulls (27-6) past the ninth-seeded Golden Eagles (22-11) at Columbia.

South Carolina 72, Norfolk State 40: The top-seeded defending champions had no trouble in running their record to 33-0 against the 16thseeded Spartans (26-7) at Columbia.

Maryland 93, Holy Cross 61: Abby Meyers scored 16 points and Diamond Miller added 13 for the secondseeded Terrapins ( 26- 6) against the 15th-seeded Crusaders (24-9) at College Park, Md.

Notre Dame 82, Southern Utah 56: The third-seeded Irish (26-5) got 20 points from

Maddy Westbeld in an easy win against the 14th-seeded Thunderbirds ( 23- 10) at South Bend, Ind.

Mississippi State 81, Creighton 66:

The 11thseeded Bulldogs (22-10) upset the sixth-seeded Bluejays (22-9) behind JerKaila Jordan’s 20 points.

Greenville Region 2 Michigan 71, UNLV 59:

The sixth-seeded Wolverines (239) took the lead midway in the first quarter and never surrendered it at Baton Rouge, La.

LSU 73, Hawaii 50: Angel Reese’s 34 points and 15 rebounds carried the thirdseeded Tigers (29-2) past the 14th-seeded Rainbow Wahine (18-15) at Baton Rouge.

Utah 103, Gardner-Webb 77: Alissa Pili’s 33 points boosted the second-seeded Utes (26-4) at Salt Lake City.

Seattle Region 3 Virginia Tech 58, Chattanooga 33:

Georgia Amoore’s 22 points help the top-seeded Hokies (20-13) get past the 16th-seeded Mocs (20-13) at Blacksburg, Va.

South Dakota State 62, USC 57 (OT):

The eighthseeded Jackrabbits ( 29- 5) watched the Trojans (21-10) force overtime on Destiny Littleton’s 3-pointer with eight seconds left, but they controlled the extra period.

Seattle Region 4 Georgia 66, Florida State 54:

Diamond Battles scored 21 points and Audrey Warren added 11 points as the 10thseeded Bulldogs (22-11) upset the seventh-seeded Seminoles (23-10) at Iowa City.

Iowa 95, SE Louisiana 43:

Caitlin Clark had 26 points and 12 assists for the second-seeded Hawkeyes (27-6) in a blowout against the 15thseed Lions (21-10) at Iowa City.

Stanford 92, Sacred Heart 49:

Haley Jones scored 17 points for the top-seeded Cardinal (29-5), which was missing star Cameron Brink because of a stomach flu.