» Women: No. 13-seed Wright State upsets No. 4 Arkansas.
Arkansas came to the NCAA Tournament armed with a seasoned lineup forged in a tough regular season that included wins over Uconn and Baylor.
Wright State came with scorer Angel Baker and an attitude that it was time to make history. Baker and the No. 13-seed Raiders did just that.
Baker’s 3-pointer with 29.1 seconds snatched the lead, and Jada Roberson’s two free throws with 8.1 seconds left sealed a 66-62 win over the No. 4 Razorbacks on Monday in the biggest upset of the first two days of the tournament.
The Raiders (19-7) pulled off the first win by a No. 13 over a No. 4 since 2012 and earned their first tournament win in school history. Coming into this year’s tournament, No. 13 seeds were just 9-104 all-time.
“It feels good man,” Baker said. “We made history for our program, for our university … Definitely feel like we were underestimated. A lot of teams fail to realize numbers don’t mean nothing though, so they probably look at it like an underdog. We stepped up to the challenge.”
Baker averaged 25 points in carrying Wright State to the Horizon League tournament championship and scorched the Razorbacks for 26. Her 3-pointer from the right wing was the fourth lead change in the final two minutes.
The win wasn’t sealed until Roberson stepped to the line and made her only two free throw attempts of the game.
Chelsea Dungee scored 27 points for Arkansas (19-9) and gave the Razorbacks the lead at 59-58. But she left in tears as the Raiders closed out the victory and celebrated wildly on their bench at the buzzer.
“They trusted themselves and each other,” Wright State coach Katrina Merriweather said. “We are a driving, rebounding, defending team.“
NO. 12 BELMONT 64 N0. 5 GONZAGA 59
Belmont freshman Destinee Wells scored 25 points and had seven assists in a turnover-free game as the younger and smaller Bruins held on for their first victory ever in the women’s NCAA Tournament, pulling off an upset over the Bulldogs.
The Bruins (21-5) sealed the game with 19 seconds left when Wells, on a drive with the shot clock winding down, passed inside to Madison Bartley. The fellow freshman had to rip the ball away from the defender, but made the layup while being fouled and added the free throw for a five-point lead.
Jill Townsend had 17 points for Gonzaga (23-4), which had cut a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to 57-55 on Abby O’connor’s 3-pointer with just over four minutes left. The Bulldogs never got closer.
NO. 11 BYU 69 NO. 6 RUTGERS 66
Paisley Johnson Harding scored 28 points and Cougars gave the women’s tourney its first upset.
After Sunday’s 16-0 start for the higher seeds, the Cougars (19-5) — believed to be the last team to make the field — came out Monday morning to knock off the Scarlet Knights (14-5) and advance to Wednesday’s second round against the winner of third-seed Arizona and 14-seed Stony Brook.
Harding scored eight straight points and Lauren Gustin the next four in a 12-0 run over 5½ minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 57-54 lead while Rutgers was committing five turnovers. BYU held on from there, matching the one-woman offense of Ariella Guirantes, who scored 13 straight Rutgers points in the quarter.
NO. 7 ALABAMA 80
NO. 10 NORTH CAROLINA 71
Jordan Lewis had 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, leading the Crimson Tide to victory.
It was a triumphant return to the NCAAS for Alabam, which was playing its first game in the tournament since 1999.
Hannah Barber had 14 points for Alabama (17-9), and Jasmine Walker finished with 13.
Stephanie Watts led North Carolina (13-11) with a season-high 29 points, hitting seven 3-pointers.
NO. 7 NORTHWESTERN 62 NO. 10 CENTRAL FLORIDA 51
Lindsey Pulliam scored 25 points to lead the Wildcats to the school’s first women’s NCAA Tournament victory in 28 years.
Northwestern (16-8) is in the tournament for the first time since 2015 and just the third time since 1993, when the Wildcats beat Georgia Tech before falling to Tennessee in the second round.
The Knights (16-5) sustained a huge blow midway through the second quarter when they lost second-leading scorer Diamond Battles to what appeared to be a right knee injury. Masseny Kaba led UCF with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
NO. 2 MARYLAND 98
NO. 15 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 45
Ashley Owusu had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, helping the Terrapins win.
Diamond Miller added 19 points for second-seeded Maryland (25-2). Chloe Bibby had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Michaela Harrison, Aryna Taylor and Bridget Birkhead each scored eight for Mount St. Mary’s (17-7).
NO. 3 GEORGIA 67 NO. 14 DREXEL 53
Jenna Staiti scored each of her 19 points in the second half, helping the Bulldogs overcome a slow start.
Que Morrison had 11 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high eight assists for Georgia (21-6).
Hannah Nihill led Drexel (14-9) with 22 points, going 2 of 7 from 3-point range. Keishana Washington, the Dragons’ secondleading scorer, was held to seven points on 2-of-12 shooting.
NO. 4 INDIANA 63 NO. 13 VCU 32
Grace Berger scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half, and the Hoosiers held the Rams to 22.8 percent shooting.
Ali Patberg had 17 points for Indiana (19-5), and Mackenzie Holmes finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.
Chloe Bloom and Sam Robinson each scored eight points for VCU (16-11).
NO. 3 ARIZONA 79 NO. 14 STONY BROOK 44
Aari Mcdonald scored 20 points, and Trinity Baptiste had 18, sending the Wildcats to the runaway win.
Cate Reese scored 16 points for the third-seeded Wildcats (17-5).
Asiah Dingle scored 14 points for the Seawolves (15-6), who shot 29 percent from the field and turned it over 25 times.