BYU beats Rutgers for first upset of women’s NCAA Tournament
Paisley Johnson Harding and her BYU teammates were perhaps the last team to make the women’s NCAA Tournament field after a heart-breaking loss to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
They didn’t waste their good fortune as the 11thseeded Cougars (19-5) rallied behind Harding’s 28 points to beat sixth-seed and 21st-ranked Rutgers 69-66 on Monday to give the tournament its first upset after the higher seeds went 16-0 on Sunday. BYU will take on third-seeded and 11th-ranked Arizona, a 79-44 winner over Stony Brook, in a secondround Mercado Region game Wednesday.
“Coming into the NCAA Tournament we just wanted to prove ourselves, and to everyone, to the nation, that that we were going to fight and not let down and that we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament,” WCC player of the year Shaylee Gonzales said. “And we just showed that today.”
The Cougars were beaten in the WCC title game on a last-second shot by Gonzaga. They didn’t give that chance to the Scarlet Knights.
After Gonzales made the last of her six straight free throws with 13.4 seconds left and a five-point lead, Liz Martino hit a 3-pointer but Harding added another free throw and BYU had a foul to give to prevent Rutgers (14-5) from getting another shot off.
Harding scored eight straight points and Lauren Gustin the next four in a 12-0 run over 5 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter for a 57-54 lead while Rutgers was committing five turnovers. BYU held on from there, matching the one-woman offense of Ariella Guirantes, who scored 13 straight Rutgers points in the quarter.
“We all just came together as a team and told each other that we’re going to win this game, that we’re not letting up and that we needed to fight,” Gonzales said. “We came together as a team and we told ourselves the we needed to pick up our defense and then transition into offense. They weren’t doing very well transitionally so we knew that we needed to push it.”
Harding was 8-of-17 shooting with four 3-pointers and consistently provided a spark on offense and defense.
Gonzales, who was only 3-of-17 shooting, made 10 of 11 from the line and finished with 17. Gustin scored six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. BYU made nine 3s, including five in the third quarter to help them keep within distance after Rutgers went up by 12. BYU cut the lead to seven heading into the fourth quarter. ALABAMA 70, UNC 61 >> Jordan Lewis had a career-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to help seventhseeded Alabama beat No. 10 seed North Carolina 80-71 on Monday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
“The world saw today why Jordan Lewis is the best point guard in the SEC,” Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. “She shares and cares and finds ways to impact us in so many different categories.”
It was a triumphant return to the NCAAs for the Crimson Tide (17-9), who were playing their first game in the tournament since 1999. The Crimson Tide made eight straight trips to the NCAAs from 1992-99 that included a run to the Final Four in 1994.
“When I came to Alabama I told coach we’d get back on the big stage,” Lewis said. “When you get a moment like this, you can’t miss an opportunity . ... Don’t miss a chance to be great. Today we couldn’t miss the opportunity.” INDIANA 63, VCU 32 >> Grace Berger scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half, Ali Patberg scored 12 of her 17 after halftime, and No. 4 seed Indiana held 13th-seeded VCU to 24.1% shooting in a 63-32 victory on Monday in the opening round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Indiana (19-5) faces the winner of Gonzaga-Belmont in the second round on Wednesday in the Mercado Region.
Berger scored all but nine of Indiana’s first-half points as both teams struggled from the floor, shooting below 34%. Mackenzie Holmes, Patberg and Berger each made a basket in the second quarter, that ended with each team scoring just six points.