Irish women take ACC title again
Indiana men finish 17-0 at Assembly Hall
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Madison Cable never lost a conference tournament game while playing for Notre Dame. The sharpshooting senior wants to find out what it’s like to conquer an even bigger bracket.
The second-ranked Fighting Irish won their third straight Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title by beating No. 17 Syracuse 68-57 on Sunday.
Cable, the tournament MVP, scored 18 points with six 3-pointers and Brianna Turner had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kathryn Westbeld added 10 for the topseeded Fighting Irish (31-1).
They never trailed and overcame a late 6 ½ -minute scoring drought to extend their winning streak to 24.
In earning its fourth straight conference tournament title, Notre Dame became the first ACC team to three-peat since North Carolina in 2006-08.
“I don’t think that many people have done that,” Cable said of winning four straight conference tournaments. “But I think this year we’re kind of looking to take a step further and maybe win the next tournament.”
Alexis Peterson had 19 points and Briana Day added 17 for third-seeded Syracuse (25-7), which had its 11-game winning streak snapped.
The Orange were playing in a league title game for the third time and were denied their first conference title since they won the Big East in 1985.
Syracuse forced the Irish to miss 10 consecutive shots and pulled within 65-53 on Cornelia Fondren’s jumper with 4 ½ minutes to play. But the Orange missed their next four attempts, while Lindsay Allen hit a free throw and Turner scored on a key putback with less than 90 seconds left to give Notre Dame a 68-53 lead.
No. 1 UCONN 82, TULANE 35: In Uncasville, Conn., Katie Lou Samuelson scored 17 points and Morgan Tuck added 15 to help the Huskies (31-0) rout the Green Wave (21-11) for their 68th consecutive victory.
No. 3 SOUTH CAROLINA 66, No. 16 MISSISSIPPI STATE 52: In Jacksonville, Fla., A’ja Wilson had 19 points and 13 rebounds, her 12th double-double of the season, and the Gamecocks (311) beat the Bulldogs (26-7) to win the SEC Tournament for the second straight year.
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OKLAHOMANo. 4 BAYLOR57: 84, No.
In Oklahoma City, Alexis Jones had 19 points and 11 assists to help the Lady Bears (32-1) defeat the Sooners (21-10) in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
MICHIGANNo. 5 MARYLANDSTATE 44: 60, No. 19
In Indianapolis, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 19 points and the Terrapins (30-3) beat the Spartans (24-8) for their second consecutive Big Ten tournament title.
No. 6 TEXAS 67, No. 22 WEST VIRGINIA 51: In Oklahoma City, Celina Rodrigo scored 12 points to help the Longhorns (28-3) defeat the Mountaineers (24-9) in a Big 12 semifinal.
No. 8 OREGON STATE 69, No. 12 UCLA 57: In Seattle, Ruth Hamblin scored 23 points and had 20 rebounds as the Beavers (28-4) beat the Bruins (24-8) to win the Pac-12 tournament championship.
No. 18 DEPAUL 76, BUTLER
49: In Chicago, Megan Podkowa scored 14 points, Jessica January had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists and the Blue Demons (25-7) beat the ninthseeded Bulldogs (10-21) in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.
No. 20 SOUTH FLORIDA 64,
TEMPLE 46: In Uncasville, Conn., Courtney Williams scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half, Shalethia Stringfield finished with 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds and the Bulls (23-8) beat the Owls (20-1)).
Men
No. 12 INDIANA 80, No. 14 MARYLAND 62: In Bloomington, Ind., Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell had 17 points in his final home game while Troy Williams matched his career high with 23 points to lead the Hoosiers (25-6, 15-3) past the Terrapins (24-7, 12-6).
With the win, the Big Ten champion finished 17-0 at home and completed their first perfect season at Assembly Hall since 2006-07.
After falling into an early eight-point deficit, they tied the score at 18, took control with a 14-3 run and closed the first half on a 9-0 spurt to take a 41-28 lead.
Maryland couldn’t get closer than nine points in the second half.
It was a fitting finale for Ferrell, the school’s career assists leader. He scored 11 points in the first half and dazzled fans with his magician-like ball-handling. During the final minutes, chants
of “Yo-gi, Fer-rell” reverberated throughout the arena.
Williams was every bit as good in the second half as Ferrell was in the first. Williams scored 10 of Indiana’s first 12 points in the second half and helped extend the lead to 55-39 with 15:01 left.
Maryland closed to 64-55 on Jaylen Brantley’s 3-pointer with 6:51 left, but the Hoosiers responded with an 8-2 spurt and closed it out at the free throw line.
No. 15 PURDUE 91, WISCON
SIN 80: In West Lafayette, Ind., freshman Caleb Swanigan scored 27 points and sophomore P.J. Thompson had 22, leading the Boilermakers (24-7, 12-6) against the Badgers (20-11, 12-6).
CINCINNATI 61, No. 24 SMU
54: In Cincinnati, point guard Troy Caupain scored 14 points despite missing all of his shots from beyond the arc, and the Bearcats (22-9, 12-6 American) overcame poor shooting to beat the Mustangs (25-5, 13-5).
It was a final disappointment for SMU, which is banned from postseason play because of NCAA rules violations.
ATLANTIC SUN: In Fort Myers, Fla., Antravious Simmons scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Zach Johnson blocked a potential game-tying shot with four seconds remaining and Florida Gulf Coast won the Atlantic Sun Conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by beating Stetson 80-78 in overtime Sunday night.
MVC: In St. Louis, Wes Washpun’s jumper from the top of the key bounced high off the back of the rim and fell in at the buzzer and the Panthers (22-12) survived after squandering a 17-point lead, beating the Purple Aces (25-9) 56-54 in the Missouri Valley Conference title game.
BIG SOUTH: In Buies Creek, N.C., freshman Dwayne Sutton had season highs of 25 points and 18 rebounds to help UNC Asheville (22-11) beat Winthrop (23-9) 77-68 in the championship game of the Big South Tournament, earning the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2012.
ALFORD: UCLA starting guard Bryce Alford is recovering after being hit in the jaw late in the Bruins’ loss to Oregon State. Alford is the Bruins’ second-leading scorer at 16.3 points per game.
The Bruins (15-16, 6-12 Pac-12) lost to the Beavers 86-82 for their fourth straight defeat. They are seeded 10th and will play No. 7 seed Southern California on Wednesday in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.