The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oregon St. edges 15th seed
Kentucky, Ohio St. survive, will meet in second round.
Breanna Brown scored 12 points and second-seeded Oregon State held off No. 15 seed Long Beach State in the final minute to eke out a 56-55 victory Friday in the first round of the Stockton Region.
Mikayla Pivec and Marie Gulich each added 10 points for host Oregon State (304), which was also seeded second last season when it made the Final Four.
Raven Benton had 17 points Long Beach State (23-11), which was trying to become the first 15 seed to ever win a game in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The 49ers took the lead on Jessica Gertz’s 3-pointer with 2:48 left, but Sydney Wiese hit two free throws to put Oregon State back in front 56-55 with 1:07 to go.
Benton missed a long jumper with five seconds left and Anna Kim’s 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the backboard, ending the upset bid.
South Carolina 90, UNC Asheville 50: Allisha Gray had 22 points and had 12 rebounds as top-seeded South Carolina (28-6) cruised at home without Alania Coates, who is out for the season with an ankle injury. Khalia Webb led Asheville (19-15) with 12 points.
Missouri 66, South Florida 64: At Tallahassee, Fla., Sierra Michaelis scored 16 points, including the game-winning lay-up with 0.6 of second remaining, and No. 6 seed Missouri (22-10) rallied from a 38-25 halftime deficit to beat No. 11 South Florida (24-9). Missouri led 64-61 before Kitija Laska tied it with a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left.
Okla. City Region
DePaul 88, Northern Iowa 67: At Starkville, Miss., Tanita Allen scored 25 points and Lauren Prochaska and Brooke Schulte each added 12 for seventh-seeded DePaul (27-7), which advanced to play Mississippi State. Northern Iowa (24-9) got 21 points from Madison Weekly.
Mississippi State 110, Troy 69: Blair Schaefer scored a career-high 21 points for the second-seeded Bulldogs (30-4) at home. Star guard Victoria Vivians came off the bench for the first time in her three-year career, getting 13 points in 16 minutes. The 15th-seeded Trojans (2211) shot 31.3 percent.
Lexington Region
Ohio State 70, Western Kentucky 63: Kelsey Mitchell and Asia Doss each scored 15 points, and Shayla Cooper grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds for the fifthseeded Buckeyes (27-6), who advanced to play host Kentucky. Ohio State stretched a seven-point halftime advantage to 64-48 with 4:38 remaining before WKU (277) used a 15-5 run to make it a two-possession game.
Kendall Noble had 19 points for the Hilltoppers (277), who had won 12 straight. WKU shot a season-low 29 percent from the field.
Kentucky 73, Belmont 70: Maci Morris made seven of eight free throws in the final 37 seconds, including two with 3.2 seconds remaining, to help fourth-seeded Kentucky (22-10) edge No. 13 Belmont (27-6), ending the Bruins’ school-record 21-game winning streak.
Makayla Epps scored 30 points and Evelyn Akhator 22 for the Wildcats. Darby Maggard was defended well and missed an off-balance 3 as the horn sounded.
North Carolina State 62, Auburn 48: At Austin, Texas, Dominique Wilson scored 23 points and Miah Spencer added 13 for No. 6 seed North Carolina State (23-8), which led by 23 at the end of the third quarter. The Wolfpack advanced to play host Texas. Auburn (17-15) shot 24.6 percent.
Texas 78, Central Arkansas 50: Brooke McCarty scored 15 for No. 3 seed Texas (23-8), which stormed to 24-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 48-20 by halftime. Maggie Proffitt scored 17 for No. 14 Central Arkansas (26-5).
Purdue 74, Green Bay 62: At South Bend, Ind., Ashley Morrisette scored 20 points for ninth-seeded Purdue. The Boilermakers (23-12), playing their first game since coach Sharon Versyp informed the team she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, made 63 percent of their shots in the first quarter while holding Green Bay (27-6) to 23 percent shooting to take control, 21-9. Mehryn Kraker led Green Bay with 23 points.
Bridgeport Region
West Virginia 75, Elon 62: At College Park, Md., Tynice Martin scored 26 points, and Katrina Pardee made a pair of pivotal 3-pointers as sixth-seeded West Virginia (24-10) shook No. 11 seed Elon (27-7) in the fourth quarter and advanced to play Maryland.
Maryland 103, Bucknell 61: Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 28 points as host Maryland (312), the third seed, topped 14th-seeded Bucknell (276) and earned its seventh consecutive trip to the second round.