Indiana sits best player, still gets first-round rout
Big Ten battles take heavy toll on All-American
All-American center Mackenzie Holmes started Indiana’s NCAA title quest on the bench Saturday at Bloomington, Ind. She doesn’t intend to stay there long.
After watching Sydney Parrish score 19 points and grab eight rebounds and her replacement, Lilly Meister, add seven points and three blocks in the top-seeded Hoosiers’ 77-47 rout of 16thseeded Tennessee Tech, Holmes said she plans to return for Monday night’s game vs. Miami.
“It’s something we had planned for a while. We’re trying to be cautious after I got banged up in the Big Ten tournament,” Holmes said.
With Parrish playing her role, Grace Berger adding 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks and Meister and Alyssa Geary splitting minutes in place of Holmes, Indiana (28-3) looked the part of a No. 1 seed.
Greenville Region 2
Miami 62, Oklahoma State 61: The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (20-12) rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to stun the eighth-seeded Cowgirls (21-12). Haley Cavinder
had team-leading totals 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists for Miami. A 3-pointer by Anna Gret Asi with three seconds remaining, followed by a Miami turnover, gave Oklahoma State a chance but Naomie Alnatas missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Villanova 76, Cleveland State 59: Maddy Siegrist pumped in 35 points, including four 3-pointers, as the
of fourth-seeded Wildcats (296) blew out the 13th-seeded Vikings (30-5) at Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Florida Gulf Coast 74, Washington State 63: Maddie Antenucci made three consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter — her only field goal attempts in the game — to lift the 12th-seeded Eagles (33-3) past the fifthseeded Cougars (23-11) at Bryn Mawr, Pa. Her third 3 was one for the highlight reel. The shot bounced twice straight up off the back of the rim, then tapped the front of the rim twice before falling through the net.
Seattle Region 3
Connecticut 95, Vermont 52: Aaliyah Edwards scored 28 points to lead the secondseeded Huskies (30-5) to an easy victory at Storrs, Conn., against the 15th-seeded Catamounts (25-7). Connecticut raced off to a 27-12 lead after one quarter and pulled away from there.
Ohio State 77, James Madison 66: Cotie McMahon scored 17 points to lead the third-seeded Buckeyes (26-7) past the 12th-seeded Dukes (26-8) at Columbus, Ohio.
Tennessee 95, Saint Louis 50: The fourth-seeded Vols (24-11) got 27 points from Jordan Horston in routing the Billikens (17-18) at Knoxville, Tenn.
Toledo 80, Iowa State 73: Quinesha Lockett had 24 points and 13 rebounds as the 12th-seeded Rockets (28
-4) knocked out the fifthseeded Cyclones (22-9) at Knoxville, Tenn. Ashley Joens scored 23 with 13 rebounds to lead Iowa State.
North Carolina 61, St. John’s 59: Deja Kelly made the go-ahead 3-pointer with two seconds left to lift the sixth-seeded Tar Heels (2210) past the 11th-seeded Red Storm (23-9) at Columbus, Ohio North Carolina trailed for the first time in the game when Danielle Patterson sank a 3-pointer for St. John’s with 6:39 to play.
Baylor 78, Alabama 74: Brittany Davis scored 33 points for the 10th-seeded Crimson Tide (20-11), but the seventh-seeded Bears (2012) used a balanced scoring attack led by Ja’Mee Asberry’s 26 and three others in double figures. Alabama took a one-point lead in the final minute, but Baylor made five free throws to win at Storrs, Conn.
Seattle Region 4
Louisville 83, Drake 81: Hailey Van Lith’s two free throws with 13 seconds to play gave the fifth-seeded Cardinals (24-11) an insurmountable lead against the 12thseeded Bulldogs (22-10) at Des Moines, Iowa.
Colorado 82, Middle Tennessee 60: Frida Formann scored 21 points and the sixth-seeded Buffaloes (248) unleashed a torrent of 13 3-pointers to beat the 11th-seeded Blue Raiders (28-5).