Iowa topples ’Cats, makes Sweet 16
SAN ANTONIO – Iowa freshman Caitlin Clark finished with 35 points after outscoring Kentucky (18-9) on her own in the first half, and the fifth-seeded Hawkeyes (20-9) advanced to the women’s NCAA Sweet 16 with a 86-72 victory Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Hawkeyes scored the game’s first 11 points and led throughout to advance past the second round for only the third time in their 14 NCAA appearances during coach Lisa Bluder’s 21 seasons. They went to the Elite Eight in the last tourney two years ago before losing to eventual champion Baylor.
Two-time AP All-American guard Rhyne Howard finished with 28 points to lead the Wildcats.
After fourth-seeded Kentucky finally got its first basket of the game, Clark passed ahead to Monika Czinano for a breakaway layup. Surrounded by defenders later in the first half, Clark whipped a cross-court pass to McKenna Warnock wide open on the left wing for a 3-pointer that made it 44-20.
NC State 79, South Florida 67: Jakia Brown-Turner scored 19 points and topseeded North Carolina State (22-2) shrugged off a challenge from No. 8 South Florida (19-4) with a big third quarter in San Antonio, advancing to the Sweet 16.
USF led by a point early in the third quarter before N.C. State used two big runs to pull away and take a 12-point lead into the fourth.
The Bulls pulled within eight points with 31⁄2 minutes to go. But the Wolfpack scored the next five points, capped by a 3 from Brown-Turner that made it 73-60 with 90 seconds to go.
Elena Tsineke had 22 points to lead the Bulls, who were in the tournament for the seventh time.
Michigan 70, Tennessee 55: Leigha Brown scored 23 points and Naz Hillmon added 19 to lead No. 6 seed Michigan (16-5) to its first Sweet 16 appearance with a win over third-seeded Tennessee (17-8) in San Antonio.
The Wolverines had been 0-5 in the second round before pulling off the victory over the Lady Vols.
Tennessee trailed by 15 heading into the fourth quarter and was able to cut its deficit to 54-44 with under 5 minutes left before a 3-pointer by Danielle Rauch and a steal and layup by Brown restored the 15-point cushion.
Georgia Tech 73, West Virginia 56:
Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 22 points, Lorela Cubaj had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 5 seed Georgia Tech (17-8) used a big third quarter to beat No. 4 West Virginia (22-7) in San Antonio.
The Yellow Jackets needed a secondhalf rally in the opening round against Stephen F. Austin – the fourth-largest comeback in tournament history – but had this game well in control with a 17point lead over the Mountaineers to start the fourth.
Lahtinen was 9 of 16 from the field and struck for 17 points in the first half to dig the Yellow Jackets out of an early hole.
Esmery Martinez scored 13 points to lead West Virginia.
Baylor 90, Virginia Tech 48: Moon Ursin and DiJonai Carrington both had 21 points as reigning women’s national champion Baylor advanced to its 12th consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 with a victory over Virginia Tech in San Antonio.
Queen Egbo had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, along with seven blocked shots for the Lady Bears (27-2).
Georgia Amoore had 18 points with four 3-pointers to lead Virginia Tech (1510).
South Carolina 59, Oregon State 42: Aliyah Boston scored 19 points and top seed South Carolina dominated after a close first quarter to beat eighth-seeded Oregon State, advancing to its seventh straight Sweet 16 in San Antonio.
The Gamecocks (24-4) led by a point after one quarter but had built a 12-point lead by halftime and were up 53-29 by the start of the fourth.
Taylor Jones scored 13 points for Oregon State (12-8), which ended a streak of four straight Sweet 16 appearances.
Stanford 73, Oklahoma St. 62: Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford unleashed another barrage of 3-pointers as the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament booked yet another trip to the Sweet 16 with a win over No. 8 Oklahoma State in San Antonio.
The Cardinal made 13 3-pointers after making 15 in their first-round win. All of those against Oklahoma State came in the first three quarters as Stanford built the lead as high as 20.
Stanford made the Sweet 16 for the 27th time in pursuit of its first national title since 1992.
The Cardinal (27-2) had four players score in double figures and all five starters made at least one 3-pointer as the Cowgirls struggled to cover every shooter.
Neferatali Notoa scored 14 for Oklahoma State (19-9).
UConn 83, Syracuse 47: Paige Bueckers scored 20 points and Aaliyah Edwards added 19 to help No. 1 seed UConn beat eighth-seeded Syracuse in San Antonio and advance to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Once again the Huskies were missing coach Geno Auriemma, who is recovering from COVID-19. Chris Dailey filled in for the Hall of Fame coach, who celebrated his 67th birthday on Tuesday and could potentially rejoin the team this weekend for its next game.
The Huskies (26-1) got off to a slow start, a bit flummoxed by Syracuse’s zone defense.
With the game tied 8-8, Christyn Williams banked in a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and then Bueckers scored off a steal to give the Huskies a five-point lead. They led 19-14 after one quarter and slowly pulled away from the Orange (15-9) to a 15-point halftime lead.