Oregon St. crashes Tennessee’s house party
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee lost for the first time at home in Women’s NCAA Tournament history when Marie Gulich had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead sixth-seeded Oregon State to a 6659 victory Sunday.
The third-seeded Lady Vols (24-8) had been 57-0 at home with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who led the team to eight national championships. It is the second consecutive season that Tennessee lost in the second round of the NCAAs and will miss the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program’s 37-year Tournament history.
The Beavers (26-7) advanced to the regional semifinals for the third consecutive year.
Mikayla Pivec of Oregon State finished with 19 points and seven rebounds to offset her nine turnovers.
Senior Mercedes Russell finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds in the final game of her Lady Vols career.
LOUISVILLE 90, MARQUETTE 72
Myisha Hines-Allen had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Asia Durr scored 19 points as the topseeded Cardinals defeated the Golden Eagles at Louisville, Ky.
Louisville (34-2) made its second consecutive Sweet 16 and will play 80 miles east in next weekend’s regional at Lexington, Ky.
Hines-Allen and Durr made sure of that right away by combining for 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting in the first half after the duo totaled just 13 points in a firstround rout of Boise State.
NOTRE DAME 98, VILLANOVA 72
With the top-seeded Irish struggling to a halftime tie against the No. 9 Wildcats, a visibly angry Muffet McGraw had seen enough.
When her players returned from the locker room, enter Kathryn Westbeld, who sat out the first half with a left ankle sprain, and Notre Dame found its way to the regional semifinals for the ninth consecutive season with a victory at South Bend, Ind.
Jessica Shepard had her fourth consecutive double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Irish (31-3). Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young each had 24 points Notre Dame.
NORTH CAROLINA ST. 74 MARYLAND 60
Kiara Leslie had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the fourth-seeded Wolfpack’s victory at Raleigh, N.C., over her former team.
Leslie, who spent three seasons with the Terrapins before graduating and transferring to North Carolina State, finished one point shy of a career high.
Kalia Ealey and Chelsea Nelson each added 12 points apiece to help the Wolfpack (26-8) earn their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2007.
Brianna Fraser had 17 points for fifth-seeded Maryland (26-8).
OREGON 101, MINNESOTA 73
Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the second-seeded Ducks advanced to the Sweet 16 with a victory over the No. 10 Golden Gophers at Eugene, Ore.
It was the 11th consecutive victory for Oregon (32-4), which is headed to the round of 16 for the second consecutive season
Fellow sophomore Ruthy Hebard finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Oregon, which led by as many as 34 points.
SOUTH CAROLINA 66, VIRGINIA 56
A’ja Wilson had 25 points and 11 rebounds in her last college home game to lead the No. 2-seeded Gamecocks to their fifth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 with a victory over the 10th-seeded Cavaliers at Columbia, S.C.
Wilson, the three-time Southeastern Conference player of the year, posted her 23rd double-double of the season and 53rd of her career for the Gamecocks (28-6).