Great Danes: Albany, seeded 12th, rallies to upset Florida for its first NCAA victory.
Imani Tate scored 28 points and Tiana- Jo Carter’s putback with eight seconds left helped seal No. 12 Albany’s upset of No. 5 Florida, 61- 59, Friday in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament at Syracuse, N. Y.
It was the first tournament win for the Great Danes ( 28- 4), who were making their f ifth appearance. Albany overcame a 17- point deficit and played most of the game without its top scorer, Shereesha Richards, who was in foul trouble. Richards f inished with 14 points in 22 minutes, and fouled out with 6: 18 left. The Gators ( 22- 9) unraveled down the stretch in being outscored 19- 7 over the f inal quarter.
Albany faces Syracuse in the second round Sunday. The winner advances to the Sioux Falls Regional.
No. 4 Syracuse 73, No. 13 Army 56: Alexis Peterson scored 24 points to help the host Orange ( 26- 7) coast to a win over the Black Knights ( 29- 3). Kelsey Minato, Army’s all- time leading scorer, f inished with 10 points.
No. 1 South Carolina 77, No. 16 Jacksonville 41: Alaina Coates had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Gamecocks ( 32- 1) skated by the Dolphins ( 22- 11) at Columbia, S. C. South Carolina will next plays Kansas State.
No. 9 Kansas State 56, No. 8 George Washington 51: Megan Daines scored 11 of her 14 points in the second half including the go- ahead foul shot as the Wildcats ( 19- 12) used a 14- 5 third- quarter burst to rally past the Colonials ( 26- 7) at Columbia.
No. 3 Ohio State 88, No. 14 Buffalo 69: Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points to help the host Buckeyes ( 25- 7) rout the Bulls ( 20- 14) at Columbus. Ohio State next plays West Virginia.
No. 6 West Virginia 74, No. 11 Princeton 65: Bria Holmes scored 26 points as the Mountaineers ( 25- 9) beat the Tigers ( 23- 6) at Columbus. Annie Tarakchian paced Princeton ( 23- 6) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
No. 7 Tennessee 59, No. 10 Wisconsin Green Bay 53: Te’a Cooper scored 15 points, Diamond DeShields added 14 and the Lady Vols ( 20- 13) pulled away in the f inal six minutes to beat the Phoenix ( 28- 5) at Tempe, Ariz. The Lady Vols used a 10- 0 run to take control in the f inal minutes after trailing much of the game. Green Bay ( 28- 5) went 6: 07 without scoring after taking a 49- 48 lead with 6: 11 left. Tennessee advanced to Sunday’s second round against the winner of No. 2 Arizona State.
No. 2 Arizona State 74, No. 15 New Mexico State 52: The Sun Devils ( 26- 6) shot 54% overall and made seven of 15 from three- point range to run away from the Aggies ( 26- 5) at Tempe.
Dallas Regional
No. 10 St. Bonaventure 65, Oklahoma State 54: Katie Healy scored 23 points, including seven straight points after the Cowgirls cut the deficit to 47- 44, to lead the Bonnies ( 21- 10) to an upset of the Cowboys ( 24- 7) at Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State will host St. Bonaventure in the second round Sunday.
No. 2 Oregon State 73, Troy 31: Ruth Hamblin had 18 points, 18 rebounds and f ive blocks as the Beavers ( 29- 4) dominated early and cruised to a win over the Trojans ( 2013) at Corvallis.
No. 3 Louisville 87, No. 14 Central Arkansas 60: Myisha Hines- Allen scored 25 points to help the Cardinals ( 26- 7) overcome a slow start with a 17- 0 second quarter run that put away the Sugar Bears ( 28- 4) at Louisville, Ky. The loss ended a nine- game winning streak for Central Arkansas ( 28- 4). Louisville next plays DePaul on Sunday.
No. 6 DePaul 97, No. 11 James Madison 67: The Blue Demons ( 26- 8) made 11 threepoint f ield goals to rout the Dukes ( 27- 6) at Louisville. Jessica January led with 18 points on seven- for- 11 shooting. Jacqui Grant added 15 points and nine rebounds. The Blue Demons shot 52% from beyond the arc ( 11 for 21) and 54% from the field ( 37 of 69).
No. 1 Baylor 89, No. 16 Idaho 59: Alexis Jones scored 23 points in her f irst NCAA tournament game with the host Bears ( 34- 1), who routed the Vandals ( 24- 10) and will play Auburn on Sunday at Waco, Texas.
No. 9 Auburn 58, No. 8 St. John’s 57: Freshman guard Janiah McKay scored a career- high 24 points and the Tigers ( 20- 12) forced 25 turnovers to slip by the Red Storm ( 23- 10) at Waco.
Bridgeport Regional
No. 4 Michigan State 74, No. 13 Belmont 60: Aerial Powers made nine of 12 shots and scored 27 points, Jasmine Hines added 24 points and the Spartans ( 25- 8) pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Belmont ( 24- 9) at Starkville, Miss. Michigan State next takes on Mississippi State.
No. 5 Mississippi State 60, No. 12 Chattanooga 50: The host Bulldogs ( 27- 7) scored the next seven points after the Mocs ( 24- 8) pulled to within 49- 46 midway through the fourth quarter and won at Starkville.