Marquette overcomes upset-minded Rice in OT
Natisha Hiedeman scored 13 points, Allazia Blockton had 12 and fifth-seed Marquette overcame a ninepoint fourth quarter deficit to get a 58-54 win over No. 12 Rice in overtime in Friday’s first round game of the NCAA Tournament Chicago Regional in College Station, Texas.
The Golden Eagles (27-7), who are in the tournament for the third straight season, will play Texas A&M on Sunday.
Amani Wilborn made a jumper with 3 minutes left in overtime to put Marquette up 54-52 and extend its run to 11-0. Blockton extended the lead to 4 with a shot with just over a minute to go.
The Owls (28-4) ended a scoring drought of about seven minutes stretching back to the fourth quarter when Erica Ogwumike made a basket with 51 seconds left.
But Hiedeman made two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining to make it 58-54 and secure the victory.
The Owls had a nine-point lead after a jump shot by Ogwumike with about three minutes left in the fourth. Marquette then scored the next nine points to tie it at 52-all with a minute remaining. Blockton had a 3-pointer in that stretch and tied it with a jump shot after a turnover by Rice.
Mulkey missed two shots on one possession for the Owls after that but she blocked a 3-point attempt by Hiedeman on the other end to leave it tied.
Rice had a chance to win it in regulation, but Shani Rainey’s 3-pointer clanged off the rim sending the game to OT
The Owls, who were in the tournament for the first time since 2005, got 22 points from Ogwumike in the loss, which snapped a 21-game winning streak. The Owls got 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocks from Mulkey, the 6-foot-9 C-USA defensive player of the year.
Rice had a 3-point lead before a 6-2 run, with four points from Ogwumike, made it 48-41 with 4 minutes left.
The Owls led by 2 entering the fourth and pushed the lead to 40-35 when Ogwumike opened the quarter with a 3-pointer. Marquette scored the next four points, with layups from Danielle King and Natisha Hiedeman, to get within 40-39 with just less than eight minutes to go.
Rice scored the next four points, with a jump shot from Mulkey, to extend its advantage to 44-39 with about 5 ½minutes remaining. LOUISVILLE 69, ROBERT MORRIS 34: Asia Durr and Sam Fuehring each had 19 points, and top-seeded Louisville (30-3) scored 27 straight points in the first half to overwhelm 16th-seeded Robert Morris (2211) in Louisville, Kentucky. The Cardinals will face Michigan on Sunday.
MICHIGAN 84, KANSAS STATE 54: Naz Hillmon scored 17 points off the bench, Nicole Munger and Kayla Robbins each added 13 and eighthseeded Michigan (22-11) shot a season-high 56 percent to run away from No. 9 seed Kansas State (21-12) in Louisville, Kentucky.
BUFFALO 82, RUTGERS 71: Summer Hemphill scored 23 points and Cierra Dillard added 20 as 10th seeded Buffalo (24-9) upset seventh-seeded Rutgers (22-10) in Storrs, Connecticut. Stasha Carey had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Rutgers, which has been without head coach C. Vivian Stringer since late February because of an undisclosed medical issue.
UCONN 110, TOWSON 61: Napheesa Collier scored 23 points and second-seeded Uconn (32-2) started with a rout of 15th-seeded Towson (20-13) in Storr, Connecticut. Collier added 14 rebounds in putting up her fourth straight double-double and 21st this season. FLORIDA STATE 70, BUCKNELL 67: Kiah Gillespie had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and fifth-seeded Florida State (24-8) held on to beat No. 12 Bucknell (28-6) in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Seminoles will face fourth-seeded South Carolina on Sunday.
MISSOURI 77, DRAKE 76, OT: Jordan Roundtree hit a free throw after being fouled with 1.1 seconds left in overtime and seventh-seeded Missouri (2410) beat Drake (27-7) in Iowa City, Iowa. The Tigers will take on Iowa on Sunday.
IOWA 66, MERCER 61: Megan Gustafson scored 30 points with 16 rebounds and secondseeded Iowa (27-6) narrowly avoided an upset, holding off No. 15 Mercer (25-8) in Iowa City, Iowa. No 15 seed has ever won an NCAA Tournament game going 0-101 now. INDIANA 69, TEXAS 65: Jaelynn Penn had 24 points and Bendu Yeaney added 17 to help 10thseeded Indiana (21-12) surprise seventh-seeded Texas (23-10) in Eugene, Oregon.