The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Westbeld, Hidalgo lead Notre Dame into Sweet 16
Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and Hannah Hidalgo added 19 to help No. 2 seed Notre Dame beat seventh-seeded Mississippi 71-56 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Monday in South Bend, Ind.
Sonia Citron added 17 for the Fighting Irisih (28-6), who advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will play No. 3 seed Oregon State on Friday in the Albany Regional.
Kennedy Todd-williams and Madison Scott led Ole Miss with 15 points each.
Notre Dame hit Ole Miss with an intense attack from the opening tip, establishing an uptempo tone on offense and a relentless but controlled defense early.
Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said that although the Fighting Irish primarily use a six-player rotation, the plan was to play fastpaced and aggressive.
“We’re a pace team,” Ivey said. “We’re better in transition. We like to run. We like to play fast.” NORTH CAROLINA STATE 79, TENNESSEE 72 >> Aziaha James scored 22 points and the 3-seeded Wolfpack blew nearly all of a 20-point lead before hanging on to win the second-round game in Raleigh.
Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the NC State (29-6), which dominated the second quarter to build that huge margin before the Tennessee (20-13) surged to get as close as two points in the fourth quarter.
N.C. State did just enough to protect its lead, earning them a matchup with No. 2 seeded Stanford on Friday in Portland.
Late Sunday Portland Regional 3 BAYLOR 75, VIRGINIA TECH 72
>> Jada Walker scored 26 of her career-high 28 points in the second half as the Bears upset the host Hokies.
Fifth-seeded Baylor (26-7) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2021 and will face the winner of Monday’s late USC- Kansas game on Saturday in Portland.
Matilda Ekh paced fourthseeded Virginia Tech (25-8) with 19 points, while Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack each finished with 18. Strack was once again filling in for All-american Elizabeth Kitley, who tore her ACL in the regular season finale and watched from the sideline.
Portland Regional 4
STANFORD 87, IOWA STATE 81, OT >> Brooke Demetre hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in overtime and Kiki Iriafen scored 11 of her career-high 41 points in OT, as the No. 2-seeded Cardinal secured a place in the Portland Regional with a thrilling secondround win late Saturday night on its home court.
Stanford (30-5) will face the winner of Monday’s late NC State-tennessee game on Friday in Portland
Addy Brown knocked down a 3 from the top of the arc with 31 seconds left in OT to put Iowa State ahead, only for Demetre, a sophomore from Mater Dei High, to answer from nearly the same spot moments later — and six of her eight total points came on timely 3s.
She also made two free throws with 11.7 seconds left to help seal it.
Iriafen converted a three-point play with 3:41 left in overtime after drawing the fifth foul on star Iowa State freshman Audi Crooks and also contributed 16 rebounds and three blocks. Talana Lepolo added a 3 in the extra period and Iriafen had a go-ahead baseline jumper with 1:59 to go before scoring again the next time down.
The Cyclones’ Emily Ryan hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:45 to play, another 3 in overtime and tying free throws with 1:03 left in OT to finish with 36 points in her gutsy, spectacular finale.
TEXAS 65, ALABAMA 54 >> Aaliyah Moore matched her career best with 21 points, had 10 rebounds and made a timely defensive play in the fourth quarter as the topseeded Longhorns won in Austin.
Freshman Madison Booker also scored 21 for Texas (32-4), which will face the winner of Monday’s late Utah-gonzaga game on Friday in Portland.