South Carolina remains perfect
Zia Cooke scores 11 in 72-40 victory over Norfolk State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Zia Cooke scored 11 points as No. 1 South Carolina moved five wins away from a perfect season after opening the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 72-40 victory over No. 16 seed Norfolk State on Friday.
Aliyah Boston had seven points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Gamecocks (33-0), who won their 39th straight game dating back to last year’s NCAA title run and moved to 11-0 in first-round games under coach Dawn Staley. They’ll face No. 8 seed South Florida on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16 in the Greenville, South Carolina Regional.
This was a colossal mismatch from the tip like so many other games South Carolina’s been a part of this season.
Norfolk State’s tallest player is freshman forward Skye Robinson at 6-foot-2. South Carolina has seven players that tall or taller. The Spartans’ tallest player on the bench? Larry Vickers, the team’s 6-9 head coach, who walked onto the Spartans’ men’s team and eventually became a team captain.
Kierra Wheeler led Norfolk State with 13 points.
No. 8 South Florida 67, No. 9 Marquette 65, OT:
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 22 points and Elena Tsineke’s jumper with 31.2 seconds left in overtime put South Florida ahead for good in a win over Marquette.
No. 2 Maryland 93, No. 15 Holy Cross 61:
Abby Meyers scored 16 points and Diamond Miller added 13 points and eight rebounds as Maryland rolled to a victory over Holy Cross.
No. 7 Arizona 75, No. 10 West Virginia 62:
Cate Reese scored 25 points and Esmery Martinez hadd a double-double against her former team, helping Arizona to a victory over West Virginia.
No. 3 Notre Dame 82, No. 14 Southern Utah 56:
Forward Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and led Notre Dame to a win over Southern Utah. Guard Sonia Citron chipped in 14 points and a season-high six assists. Lauren Ebo had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Megan Jensen led Southern Utah (23-10) with 11 points. JJ Quinerly led West Virginia with 19 points.
No. 11 Mississippi State 81, No. 6 Creighton 66: Jerkaila Jordan scored 20 and led Mississippi State to a win against Creighton.
No. 3 LSU 73, No. 14 Hawaii 50:
Angel Reese had 34 points and 15 rebounds — her 29th double-double this season — and LSU defeated Hawaii.
No. 6 Michigan 71, No. 11 UNLV 59:
Emily Kiser had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Maddie Nolan added 18 points, and Michigan beat UNLV, snapping the Rebels’ 22-game winning streak. Leigha Brown scored 17 points for Michigan (23-9), which had lost three of its previous four games.
No. 1 Virginia Tech 58, No. 16 Chattanooga 33:
Georgia Amoore scored 22 points, Elizabeth Kitley added 12, and top-seeded Virginia Tech rolled to a victory over Chattanooga.
No. 2 Iowa 95, No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana 43:
Caitlin Clark had 26 points and 12 assists and Monika Czinano added 22 points as Iowa defeated Southeastern Louisiana.
No. 10 Georgia 66, No. 7 Florida State 54:
Diamond Battles scored 21 points and Audrey Warren added 11 points as Georgia defeated Florida State.