Perturbed Mulkey gets Baylor’s attention quick

BAYLOR 78, FLORIDA STATE 58

DALLAS — Kim Mulkey was clearly frustrated when she called an early timeout after Baylor fell behind because of a quick flurry of turnovers.

“We were sloppy, so you just kind of call a timeout to change momentum and settle down,” said Mulkey, who by the end of that opening quarter had a huge smile on her face.

The Lady Bears had quite a response, and are on the way to the Elite Eight for the third consecutive year after a 78-58 victory over Florida State on Saturday.

“They were getting anything they wanted,” Nina Davis said. “We needed a timeout to regroup and remember why we were here and what was on the line. And after that, we were fine.”

Davis had her second consecutive 30-point game in the NCAA Women’s Tournament, and the Lady Bears (35-1) went ahead to stay with a 15-3 run in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the first quarter.

Alexis Jones added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for Baylor, the No. 1 seed in the Dallas Regional and with a 23-game winning streak. Khadijiah Cave had 10 rebounds when the junior got her most extensive action in two months after two freshman posts got into early foul trouble.

Leticia Romero had 11 points for fifth-seeded Florida State (25-8), which made consecutive Sweet 16 appearances for the first time in school history. Ivey Slaughter, Shakayla Thomas and Brittany Brown each had 10 points.

It was only the fifth time this season the Seminoles were held below 65 points. They had a season-low 49 points against UConn in mid-December and had scored 56 three other times.

“We got beat by a great team,” said Sue Semrau, who finished her 19th season as Florida State coach. “I think, too, that I’m proud of what this team was able to accomplish. I think we really had to find ourselves … We were able to put together a pretty good run down the stretch.”

Oregon State 83, Depaul 71

DALLAS — Jamie Weisner had career highs with 38 points and seven three-pointers and Oregon State advanced to its first women’s NCAA Tournament regional final with a victory over DePaul.

Weisner also had 10 rebounds for the Pac-12 champion Beavers (31-4), the No. 2 seed in the Dallas Regional. They will play top-seeded Baylor (36-1) on Monday night with a Final Four berth on the line.

Sydney Wiese added 13 points for Oregon State, including consecutive three-pointers in an early 90-second span when the Beavers went ahead to stay. Ruth Hamblin also scored 13 points.

DePaul (27-9) was in its fourth Sweet 16 under 30-year Coach Doug Bruno, but has never gotten farther in the tournament.

Jessica January had 20 points for DePaul, while Jacqui Grant had 15 and Mart’e Grays 14.

Grant scored her team’s first seven points as the Blue Demons jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead before Wiese hit consecutive threes and Deven Hunter — who finished with nine points and 12 rebounds — made a go-ahead layup.

Weisner then scored 11 consecutive points for Oregon State, including 3 threes for a 21-14 lead.

The senior guard, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and conference tourney MVP, finished 14 of 20 shooting overall and was 7-of-10 on threes. Her previous career highs had been 27 points and six three-pointers.

With a roster filled with seniors and juniors recruited by Coach Scott Rueck, the Beavers are in a regional final nearly six years after he had to conduct open tryouts to fill his first roster.

Oregon State has won 21 of its last 22 games and has already set a school record for victories this season. They won the Pac-12 Tournament and shared the regular-season title, after last season winning the crown outright to end Stanford’s run of 14 championships in a row.