Notre Dame cruises to opening round win
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and teammate Jessica Shepard had a doubledouble as No. 1 seed Notre Dame beat 16th-seed Bethune-Cookman 92-50 on Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ogunbowale hit 8-of-15 shots while adding three steals for the Fighting Irish (31-3), who never trailed in the Chicago Regional game.
Shepard, who had her 15th double-double of the season by halftime, finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, her 55th doubledouble in a career that started at Nebraska in 2015.
No. 2 STANFORD 79, No. 15 UC DAVIS 54
STANFORD, Calif. — Alanna Smith scored the first nine Stanford points of the third quarter on the way to 21, and her Cardinal came out shooting from the get go to beat Northern California neighbor UC Davis.
Kiana Williams added 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting with three 3-pointers and dished out five assists while Smith went 9 of 14 from the floor with three 3s. Stanford (29-4) shot 49.2 percent against the overmatched Aggies (25-7), who were riding a 16-game winning streak into the program’s second NCAA berth.
No. 3 IOWA STATE 97, No. 14 NEW MEXICO STATE 61
AMES, Iowa — Bridget Carleton led four players in double figures with 23 points and Iowa State routed New Mexico State for its first NCAA Tournament win since 2013.
Alexa Middleton had 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Cyclones (26-8), who were one-anddone in their last three trips to the Big Dance. On Monday they’ll face 11th-seeded Missouri State — which stunned DePaul 89-78 earlier Saturday — in search of the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in nine years.
No. 11 MISSOURI STATE 89, No. 6 DEPAUL 78
AMES, Iowa — Alexa Willard and Danielle Gitzen each scored 20 points and Missouri State stunned DePaul, snapping the Blue Demon’s five-game winning streak in opening-round NCAA Tournament games.
Freshman Elle Ruffridge had a career-high 15 points for the surprisingly stout Lady Bears (24-9).
Missouri State used its superior size in racing out to a 42-33 lead by halftime, and Gitzen’s 3 early in the third quarter pushed the Bears’ lead to 55-40.
No. 7 BYU 73, No. 10 AUBURN 64
STANFORD, Calif. — Brenna Chase had 19 points, seven assists and three blocked shots, and BYU used an impressive third quarter to run away from Auburn.
Shaylee Gonzales scored 17 points and Caitlyn Alldredge added 14 as the West Coast Conference champion Cougars (26-6) overcame Auburn’s in-your-face, pressure-at-every-chance defense by playing its own stellar D.
No. 9 MICHIGAN STATE 88, No. 8 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 87
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Shay Colley’s driving layup with 7.6 seconds left lifted Michigan State to a victory over Central Michigan.
The Chippewas had one final chance, but Micaela Kelly’s off-balance, hurried 15-footer at the buzzer was off the mark. Central Michigan had taken an 8786 lead on Presley Hudson’s 3-pointer with 20.3 seconds remaining.
ALBANY REGION No. 3 MARYLAND 73, No. 14 RADFORD 51
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Taylor Mikesell scored 16 points, Kaila Charles had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Maryland used a relentless defensive effort to overpower Radford.
Stephanie Jones added 12 points and Shakira Austin tallied 11 for the Terrapins (29-4), who advanced to the second round for the 15th time in 15 tries under coach Brenda Frese.
No. 4 OREGON STATE 80, No. 13 BOISE STATE 75, OT
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Mikayla Pivec had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Oregon State withstood a major scare from Boise State for an overtime victory.
Aleah Goodman added 20 points for the Beavers (25-7), who advance to face fifth-seeded Gonzaga (29-4) on Monday. The Bulldogs defeated No. 12 Little Rock in the early game, 68-51.
Marta Hermida had 22 points for the Broncos (285), vying to become the first No. 13 seed to beat a No. 4 since Marist topped Georgia in 2012.
Destiny Slocom’s layup gave the Beavers a 72-68 advantage in overtime and put the home crowd at Gill Coliseum on its feet. Slocom added another layup before Rachel Bowers’ jumper for the Broncos cut the deficit to 74-70.
No. 5 GONZAGA 68, No. 12 LITTLE ROCK 51
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Katie Campbell had 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and Gonzaga downed Little Rock.
Zykera Rice added 18 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs (29-4), who advance to play the winner of Saturday’s later game between No. 13 seed Boise State and host Oregon State, the fourth seed.
No. 6 UCLA 89, No. 11 TENNESSEE 77
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — UCLA put a rapid end to Tennessee’s 38th consecutive appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament, blunting a second-half comeback bid and using an impressive performance by Michaela Onyenwere to secure an opening-round victory.
After squeezing into the tournament with an atlarge bid, the No. 11 seeded Lady Volunteers erased a 17-point deficit before losing in the first round for only the second time in school history. The only other time it happened was in 2009 against Ball State.
GREENSBORO REGION No. 1 BAYLOR 95, No. 16 ABILENE CHRISTIAN 38
WACO, Texas — Kalani Brown had 17 points and 11 rebounds while playing only 18 minutes and Baylor overwhelmed women’s NCAA Tournament firsttimer Abilene Christian.
Brown, a 6-foot-7 senior center, had 10 of her points as Baylor (32-1) scored the game’s first 20 points.
The perennial Big 12 champion Lady Bears, the No. 1 overall seed in the 64team field, won their 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament game on their home court since 2011.
No. 3 N.C. STATE 63, No. 14 MAINE 51
RALEIGH, N.C. — Kiara Leslie scored 20 points and North Carolina State beat Maine.
Freshman Elissa Cunane added 16 points in her first tournament game and Kai Crutchfield had 14 points to help the third-seeded Wolfpack (27-5) advance to the second round of the Greensboro Regional. They will face sixth-seeded Kentucky (25-7) on Monday.
No. 6 KENTUCKY 82, No. 11 PRINCETON 77
RALEIGH, N.C. — Taylor Murray scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, and Kentucky beat Princeton.
Maci Morris added 19 points, freshman Rhyne Howard had 15 and Tatyana Wyatt finished with 12 to help the Wildcats (25-7) 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 11th-seeded Tigers.
WACO, Texas — Kristine Anigwe extended her season-long streak of doubledoubles with 18 points and 22 rebounds as California rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half to beat North Carolina.
Anigwe scored all but two of her points after halftime for the Golden Bears (2012). The 6-foot-4 senior center is the only player, men or women, with a doubledouble in every game this season, and she also broke the Pac-12 single-season rebounding record.
PORTLAND REGION No. 3 SYRACUSE 70, No. 14 FORDHAM 49
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia just missed a triple-double with 21 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Orange past Fordham.
Gabrielle Cooper had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting for the Orange (25-8) and forward Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi had 10 points. Mangakahia also had five steals.
The Orange, who will face South Dakota State in a second-round game Monday, held Fordham (25-9) to 29 percent shooting. Syracuse hit at a 43 percent clip but at a blistering 64 percent from beyond the arc, going 9 of 14.
No. 6 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 76, No. 11 QUINNIPIAC 65
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Macy Miller scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead South Dakota State over Quinnipiac.
The victory was the 17th straight for the Jackrabbits (27-6).