NC State gets past Tennessee
Aziaha James scored 22 points and No. 3 seed North Carolina State blew nearly all of a 20-point lead before holding off No. 6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Monday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament, sending the Wolfpack back to the Sweet 16.
Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the host Wolfpack (29-6), who dominated the second quarter to build that huge margin before the Lady Vols (20-13) started creeping their way back.
Tennessee got as close as two points in the fourth, but N.C. State did just enough to protect its lead. That sent the Wolfpack on to a date with No. 2 seed Stanford in the Portland 4 Region.
The Cardinal edged seventh-seeded Iowa State 87-81 on Sunday night. Brooke Demetre hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in OT and Kiki Iriafen scored 11 of her career-high 41 points in the extra session to lift the hosts into the Sweet 16.
For N.C. State, James came up big in the critical moment amid the Lady Vols’ surge. First the 5-foot-9 junior scored on a floater over the outstreched arms of 6-6 post Tamari Key. Then, after Baldwin blocked a shot from Rickea Jackson from behind, James curled around the left wing to catch and feed from Saniya Rivers and stick a huge 3-pointer for a 70-63 lead at the 2:48 mark.
Tennessee didn’t get it back to a one-possession game again.
Jackson had 33 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Vols, who were trying for their third straight trip to the regional semifinals. And they flirted with tying the second-biggest comeback in women’s tournament history, fighting back to within a single bucket with about 4 minutes left.
Irish strong from start: Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and Hannah Hidalgo added 19 to help No. 2 seed Notre Dame beat seventh-seeded Mississippi 71-56 on Monday.
Sonia Citron added 17 for the Fighting Irish (28-6), who advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will play No. 3 seed Oregon State in the Albany Regional.
Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott led Ole Miss with 15 points each.
Notre Dame hit the Rebels with an intense attack from the opening tip, establishing an uptempo tone on offense and a relentless but controlled defense early.
Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said that although the Irish primarily use a six-player rotation, the plan was to play fast-paced and aggressive.
“We’re a pace team,” Ivey said. “We’re better in transition. We like to run. We like to play fast. So did Ole Miss. That was the goal. Get out and run, make them defend us.
The Fighting Irish bolted to a 21-9 lead after one quarter, using a sticky zone to harass Ole Miss into 4-of-17 shooting in the first quarter. Ole Miss finished the game hitting 39% (22-of-57).
“We came out with this mentality that we were going to go on a 10-0 run, and we were just going to stop them from the jump,” said Hidalgo, who also dished out four assists and had four steals. “We knew that we needed to hit them before they kind of hit us, because they’re a great team and they’re really athletic.”