BYU BEATS RUTGERS FOR FIRST UPSET
Paisley Johnson Harding and her BYU teammates were perhaps the last team to make the women’s NCAA Tournament field after a heartbreaking loss to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
BYU 69, Rutgers 66
They didn’t waste their good fortune as the 11thseeded Cougars (19-5) rallied behind Harding’s 28 points to beat sixth-seed and 21st-ranked Rutgers (14-5) 69-66 on Monday to give the tournament its first upset after the higher seeds went 16-0 on Sunday. BYU will take on third-seeded and 11th-ranked Arizona, a 79-44 winner over Stony Brook, in a second-round Mercado Region game Wednesday.
“Coming into the NCAA Tournament we just wanted to prove ourselves, and to everyone, to the nation, that that we were going to fight and not let down and that we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament,” WCC player of the year Shaylee Gonzales said. “And we just showed that today.”
The Cougars were beaten in the WCC title game on a last-second shot by Gonzaga. They didn’t give that chance to the Scarlet Knights.
After Gonzales made the last of her six straight free throws with 13.4 seconds left and a five-point lead, Liz Martino hit a 3-pointer but Harding added another free throw and BYU had a foul to give to prevent Rutgers (14-5) from getting another shot off.
Harding scored eight
straight points and Lauren Gustin the next four in a 12-0 run over 51⁄2 minutes of the fourth quarter for a 57-54 lead while Rutgers was committing five turnovers. BYU held on from there, matching the one-woman offense of Arella Guirantes, who scored 13 straight Rutgers points in the quarter.
“We all just came together as a team and told each other that we’re going to win this game, that we’re not letting up and that we needed to
fight,” Gonzales said. “We came together as a team and we told ourselves that we needed to pick up our defense and then transition into offense. They weren’t doing very well transitionally so we knew that we needed to push it.”
Harding was 8-of-17 shooting with four 3-pointers and consistently provided a spark on offense and defense.
“She was guarding their best player, who was probably one of the best players in the country,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “And I think that motivated her and if you know Paisley, she’s very competitive. She’s been waiting for this opportunity.”
No. 2 Texas A&M 84, No. 15 Troy 80: Jordan Nixon scored nine points over the final six minutes, and the Aggies (24-2) escaped an upset bid by Troy (22-6).
No. 3 Arizona 79, No. 14 Stony Brook 44: Aari McDonald scored 20 points and Trinity Baptiste had 18, sending Arizona (17-5) to the runaway win over the Seawolves (15-6).
No. 4 Indiana 63, No. 13 VCU 32: Grace Berger scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half, and the Hoosiers (19-5) held VCU (16-11) to 22.8 percent shooting.
No. 12 Belmont 64, No. 5 Gonzaga 59: Belmont freshman Destinee Wells had 25 points and seven assists, and the Bruins (21-5) earned their first victory ever in the women’s NCAA Tournament, ousting Gonzaga (23-4).
No. 7 Iowa State 79, No. 10 Michigan State 75: Ashley Joens scored 33 points, powering Iowa State (17-10) to the win over the Spartans (15-9).
Alamo Region No. 2 Louisville 74, No. 15 Marist:
Freshman Hailey Van Lith scored 17 points and Dana Evans added 15, helping Louisville (24-3) overcome some early jitters against Marist (18-4).
No. 3 Georgia 67, No. 14 Drexel 53: Jenna Staiti scored each of her 19 points in the second half, helping Georgia (21-6) overcome a slow start against the Dragons (14-9).
No. 13 Wright St. 66, No. 4 Arkansas 62: Angel Baker made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 29.1 seconds left, and Wright State (19-7) beat the Razorbacks (19-9) in the biggest upset so far in the first round.
No. 5 Missouri State 70, No. 12 UC Davis 51: Brice Calip had 18 points and Missouri State (22-2) grabbed control with a huge thirdquarter run to beat UC Davis (13-3).
No. 6 Oregon 67, No. 11 South Dakota 47: Erin Boley scored 22 points and 23rdranked Oregon (14-8) closed out the first round with a sleeper, downing South Dakota (19-6).
No. 7 Northwestern 62, No. 10 UCF 51: Lindsey Pulliam scored 25 points to lead the Wildcats (16-8) to the school’s first women’s NCAA Tournament victory in 28 years, beating the Knights (16-5).
Hemisfair Region
No. 2 Maryland 98, No. 15 Mount St. Mary’s 45: Ashley Owusu had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, helping the Terrapins (25-2) to the victory over Mount St. Mary’s (17-7).
No. 3 UCLA 69, No. 14 Wyoming 48: Michaela Onyenwere scored 25 points and UCLA (17-5) was never threatened en route to a victory over Wyoming (14-10).
No. 6 Texas 81, No. 11 Bradley 62: Charli Collier had 23 points and 15 rebounds, sending Texas (19-9) to the win over Bradley (17-12).
No. 7 Alabama 80, No. 10 North Carolina 71: Jordan Lewis had 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, helping Alabama (17-9) to the victory over the Tar Heels (13-11).