NCAA Women’s Tournament Wrapup

UCLA Bruins hang on to beat Creighton

LOS ANGELES>> Kiki Rice scored 24 points, Lauren Betts had 20 points and 10 rebounds and secondseeded UCLA rallied in the second half for a 6763 victory over seventhseeded Creighton in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Monday night.

The Bruins (27-6), who trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter, will face third-seeded LSU in an Albany 2 Regional semifinal Saturday afternoon. Top-seeded Iowa and fifth-seeded Colorado are in the other semi.

Lauren Jensen scored 20 points and Morgan Maly added 18 for the Bluejays (26-6).

Creighton led 44-34 early in the second half before UCLA fought back. The Bruins got back into the game with a 20-7 run that included 11 points by Rice.

The game was tied at 56-all after three quarters before the Bruins scored seven straight to start the fourth as part of a 9-2 run.

ALBANY REGIONAL 1

NO. 2 NOTRE DAME 71, NO. 7 MISSISSIPPI 56>> Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and Hannah Hidalgo added 19 to help Notre Dame beat Mississippi in South Bend, Ind.

Sonia Citron added 17 for the Fighting Irish (286), who advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will play No. 3 seed Oregon State in the Albany Regional 1.

Kennedy Todd-williams and Madison Scott led Ole Miss (24-9) with 15 points each.

NO. 4 INDIANA 70, NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 68>> Mackenzie Holmes scored 29 points, including six in a row, to give Indiana a late lead as the Hoosiers rallied past Oklahoma in Bloomington, Ind.

Sydney Parrish added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Hoosiers (26-6), who advanced to their second Sweet 16 in three years and now face undefeated South Carolina in Albany, New York.

Indiana’s players celebrated by racing into the student section and up the steps at Assembly Hall as music blared and fans pumped their hands in the air,

Big 12 Player of the Year Skylar Vann led the Sooners (23-10) with 20 points and eight rebounds.

PORTLAND REGIONAL 3

NO. 3 UCONN 72, NO. 6 SYRACUSE 64>> Paige Bueckers tied her season high with 32 points, freshman Ashlynn Shade added 19 and Uconn held off Syracuse in Storrs, Conn., to earn a 30th straight trip to the Sweet 16.

It was Bueckers’ fifth straight game with at least 25 points, and seventh in eight games.

Dyaisha Fair scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half as Syracuse came back from a 12-point first half deficit to pull within two with just under two minutes left. But the Orange missed four 3-point attempts down the stretch and Uconn scored seven of the game’s final eight points.

PORTLAND REGIONAL 4

NO. 3 NC STATE 79, NO. 6 TENNESSEE 72>> Aziaha James scored 22 points and the Wolfpack blew nearly all of a 20-point lead before holding off the Volunteers, sending them back to the Sweet 16.

Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the Wolfpack (29-6), who dominated the second quarter to build that huge margin before the Lady Vols (2013) 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.