Middle Tennessee denies Monarchs a double bye
ODU enters conference tourney on a 2-game skid
With a double bye into the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament at stake, the host Middle Tennessee State women’s basketball team stifled Old Dominion 62-44 Saturday.
It was the 400th career victory for MTSU coach Rick Insell, whose team is 13-0 at home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and has won six of its past seven overall. Courtney Whitson had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Raiders.
The Monarchs (22-8, 12-6) shot just 26.8% (15 of 56) from the field and will enter the tournament on a two-game slide, having lost 65-62 to Louisiana Tech in their home finale.
Brianna Jackson had 13 points and four rebounds for ODU, while Mariah Adams had nine points. Iggy Allen, usually a reliable scorer, had just five points and shot 1 for 11. ODU went scoreless for the game’s first 8
minutes and never caught up, though the Monarchs narrowed the gap to 11-10. An 8-0 surge put MTSU ahead 19-10.
“We were so anxious that we were mishandling the ball, not taking what was obviously there, and it had us in a broken state of rhythm,” ODU coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said on the radio.
Charlotte beat Southern Mississippi 70-49 Saturday to claim the East Division’s top seed, while MTSU is second and ODU third. Louisiana Tech gained the No. 1 West seed.
ODU will play its tourney opener Wednesday against an opponent to be determined.
More region/state
Elon 49, William & Mary 45:
After trailing 26-11 at halftime in a regular-season finale at Kaplan Arena, the Tribe (10-18, 5-12 Colonial Athletic Association) pulled even but fell to the Phoenix (16-11, 8-9) for the second time this week.
Riley Casey scored 12 points and Sydney Wagner netted 11 for the Tribe.
Kate Sramac, one of three seniors honored, twice hit fourth-quarter field goals to pull W&M into a tie, the second time at 45 with 2:11 to go. But Brie Perpignan’s layup put Elon ahead 47-45 at the 1:05 mark.
W&M will be the No. 7 seed
in the conference tournament in Philadelphia and will face second-seeded Delaware at 5 p.m. Friday.
Dayton 59, VCU 48: Despite Taya Robinson’s 25 points, the Rams (15-11) lost an Atlantic 10 semifinal to the top-seeded Flyers (25-4) in Wilmington, Delaware.
Top 10
No. 1 South Carolina 61, Mississippi 51:
Aliyah Boston extended her double-double streak to 23 games with 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Gamecocks (29-1) earned a Southeastern Conference semifinal victory in Nashville, Tennessee.
No. 7 Connecticut 84, Georgetown 38: Sophomore star Paige Bueckers came off the bench to score 16 points for UConn in a Big East quarterfinal in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Last season’s National Player of the Year, who suffered a tibia plateau fracture and torn meniscus in her left knee on Dec. 5,
played 18 minutes in her third game back.
No. 9 Texas 65, Oklahoma 50: Senior Lauren Ebo scored a career-best 17 points and Rori Harmon added 13 along with four steals to help Texas extend its winning streak to eight games in the final regular-season game ever at the 45-year-old Frank Erwin Center.
Texas (23-6, 13-5 Big 12) finished the regular season with those eight straight wins after losing three in a row, including two to No. 5 Baylor. Lexy Keys and Lauren Fields scored 10 apiece to lead OSU (8-19, 3-15), which is on a five-game skid.
Notable
No. 14 Indiana 70, No. 13 Ohio State 62:
George Mason transfer Nicole Cardano-Hillary led a balanced attack with 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a Big Ten semifinal in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers are trying to become the first team to win four games for the title.