Oregon pulls another upset
Ducks beat Maryland, head to first regional final; UConn rolls
Sabrina Ionescu led five Oregon players in double figures with 21 points, and the tenth-seeded Ducks continued their improbable run through the NCAA Tournament with a 77-63 upset win over thirdseeded Maryland.
Fellow freshman Ruthy Hebard added 16 points for the Ducks (23-13), who beat second-seeded Duke in the second round and advance to the first regional final in program history.
Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough each had 16 points for Maryland, which finishes the season at 32-3.
The Maryland offense, which averages more than 90 points a game to lead the nation, was held to its lowest point total this season.
UConn 86, UCLA 71: Saniya Chong scored 16 points and came up with big plays on both ends of the court, and the top-seeded Huskies advanced to the Bridgeport Regional final.
It was the 110th straight victory for the No. 1 Huskies, who will face Oregon on Monday night.
South Carolina 100, Quinnipiac 58: Kaela Davis, A’ja Wilson and the top-seeded Gamecocks overpowered the 12th-seeded Bobcats from the opening tip, scoring the first 16 points and advancing to the Stockton Regional final with a convincing win Saturday.
Florida State 66, Oregon State 53: The third-seeded Seminoles erased a big deficit and ran right into the Stockton Regional final with a win over the second-seeded Beavers on Saturday.
Ivey Slaughter had a career-high nine steals, a school record in the NCAA Tournament. Florida State had 16 steals total, and Slaughter also contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
ACC Player of the Year Shakayla Thomas notched her third straight doubledouble with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Seminoles (28-6) used an 8-0 run to put the game away and will face top-seeded South Carolina (30-4) on Monday for a Final Four berth.
Baylor-Mississippi State: For one of the rare times in their careers, Mississippi State’s Teaira McCowan and Baylor’s Kalani Brown will be at eye level with an opponent.
Whichever 6-7 center gets the best of the matchup Sunday could vault their team into the Final Four.
McCowan got Brown’s attention by scoring 20 of her career-high 26 points in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ Sweet 16 victory over Washington on Friday.
“Big, strong, big in the post,” Brown said. “Got to block her out and do my work early or get punished. You can’t let her get deep. Just do my work early, run the floor hard.”
Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer inserted McCowan into the starting lineup in place of Chinwe Okorie at the start of the NCAA Tournament, and she has been dominant. Schaefer said he kept McCowan in a reserve role for most of the season because he wanted her to earn the Southeastern Conference’ s Sixth Woman of the Year this season. She earned the honor, and Schaefer said having that goal helped her develop.