Ogunbowale, Shepard lead Irish past B-C
No. 1 Notre Dame 92, No. 16 Bethune-cookman 50: Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and teammate Jessica Shepard had a double-double as Notre Dame (31-3) began defense of its NCAA championship with a victory over Bethune-cookman (21-11) in the Chicago Regional at South Bend, Ind.
Ogunbowale hit 8-of-15 shots while adding four assists and three steals for the Fighting Irish, who never trailed. Notre Dame shot 54.5 percent (36 of 66) with 24 assists.
Shepard, who had her 15th doubledouble of the season by halftime, finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, her 55th double-double in a career that started at Nebraska in 2015.
Brianna Turner, a 6-foot-3 forward who sat out last season’s NCAA run with an ACL injury, just missed a doubledouble by one rebound, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, nine rebounds and five blocks. Jackie Young added 11 points. Sophomore reserve Mikayla Vaughn, who also sat out last season’s championship run with an ACL injury, had nine points and 11 rebounds for Notre Dame, which won the board battle 48-28.
Angel Golden had 25 points for coach Vanessa Blair-lewis’ Lady Wildcats, who won the Mid-eastern Athletic Conference tournament and were playing in their first NCAA Tournament ever.
The Irish used their 39th run of 10 points or better - 25-0, their longest spurt of the season - to take control of the game midway through the first quarter on way to a 51-19 halftime lead.
Bethune-cookman, which left 80degree temperatures behind in their Daytona Beach, Florida home, was cold for nearly nine minutes as Notre Dame increased a 29-12 first-quarter lead to 47-12 on Young’s drive to the basket with 3:15 left.
Mcgraw was able to rest her starters for much of the second quarter as Shepard scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds, Ogunbowale had 14 points and Turner had 11 points with four rebounds and four blocks.
Golden had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-11 from beyond the arc, to lead the Lady Wildcats. The last 3-pointer broke Notre Dame’s shutout effort with 2:49 to play in the second quarter.
The Irish then used a 9-0 run near the end of the third quarter, fueled by Ogunbowale, Shepard and reserve Mikayla Vaughn, to increase the lead to 40 points before settling for a 74-35 lead entering the final quarter.
GREENSBORO REGIONAL
No. 6 Kentucky 82, No. 11 Princeton 77: Taylor Murray scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, and Kentucky (25-7) beat Princeton (22-10) at Raleigh, N.C.
Maci Morris added 19 points, freshman Rhyne Howard had 15 and Tatyana Wyatt finished with 12 to help the Wildcats reach the second round of the Greensboro Region.
Kentucky, one of the nation’s leaders in turnover margin, turned Princeton’s 16 turnovers into 22 points and shot 50 percent but could never get comfortable against the Tigers.
Ivy League player of the year Bella Alarie finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for Princeton. Gabrielle Rush added 22 points with six 3-pointers, while Sydney Jordan scored a career-high 17 points.
PORTLAND REGIONAL
No. 6 South Dakota State 76, No. 11 Quinnipiac 65: Macy Miller scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead South Dakota State (27-6) to a win over Quinnipiac (26-7) at Syracuse, N.Y.
The victory was the 17th straight for the Jackrabbits.
Myah Selland chipped in with 14 points and nine boards for South Dakota State and Madison Guebert added 11 points. Jen Fay led Quinnipiac with 25 points and nine rebounds. Paula Strautmane had 15 points. The loss snapped the Bobcats’ 21-game winning streak.
ALBANY REGIONAL
No. 3 Maryland 73, No. 14 Radford 51: Taylor Mikesell scored 16 points, Kaila Charles had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Maryland (29-4) used a relentless defensive effort to overpower Radford (26-7) at College Park, Md.
Stephanie Jones added 12 points and Shakira Austin tallied 11 for the Terrapins, who advanced to the second round for the 15th time in 15 tries under coach Brenda Frese. Mikesell, a freshman guard, made four 3-pointers to set the school single-season record of 94. Jones made all six of her shots in the first half and Charles helped Maryland finish with a 46-40 rebounding advantage.
After yielding 90 points to Iowa in losing the Big Ten championship game, the Terrapins cranked up the defense against a Radford team that came in with an 18-game winning streak.