Arizona beats Auburn 69-59 in First Four to be 11th seed

STORRS, Conn. — Freshman Jada Williams had 17 points, Helena Pueyo scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half and Arizona earned its fourth straight opening win in the NCAA Tournament with a 69-59 victory over Auburn on Thursday night in the First Four.

Arizona (18-15) will move into the bracket as the No. 11 seed and will face sixth-seeded Syracuse on Saturday. The Wildcats improved to 8-3 in NCAA Tournament games under coach Adia Barnes.

Auburn (20-12) was making its 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2019.

Arizona’s defense was the key to victory. The Wildcats entered ranked 22nd nationally in opponent turnovers, forcing 19.7 per game. Auburn’s 20th turnover came with 5:57 left in the third quarter before finishing with 23.

Auburn had 10 turnovers and just eight points in the first quarter before trailing 27-19 at the half after turning it over 17 times and shooting 32% from the field.

Arizona opened the second half on an 8-2 run, with 3-pointers from Esmery Martinez and Pueyo, to extend the lead to 35-21. The Wildcats led by 17 points, 40-23, before Auburn scored the next eight points to get within single digits.

Pueyo made Arizona’s fourth straight 3-pointer of the third quarter for a 47-33 lead.

Auburn got within five points four times in the final five minutes, but could not get closer. Pueyo had a nice drive and pass to Skylar Jones, who finished a layup while being fouled to give Arizona a 66-59 lead. Jones grabbed an offensive rebound on Arizona’s next possession and made a wide-open layup for a seven-point lead with 1:24 left.

HOLY CROSS 72, UT MARTIN 45

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Senior Cara McCormack set career highs with 23 points and seven 3-pointers, Bronagh Power-Cassidy added 15 points and Holy Cross secured its second NCAA Tournament win in program history, routing UT Martin 72-45 on Thursday night in the First Four.

Holy Cross (21-12) has won five straight games and seven of its last nine, including the Patriot League Tournament championship for the second straight season. The Crusaders, in their 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, will move on and face top-seeded Iowa on Saturday on ABC.

UT Martin (16-17) was coming off a loss in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game, but received an automatic bid due to Southern Indiana’s ineligibility. The Screaming Eagles are in the second year of the four-year reclassification to Division I and are ineligible to play in the tournament.

Holy Cross made 10 3-pointers in the first half — to tie its season high for an entire game. The Crusaders finished 12 of 32 from distance.

McCormack and Power-Cassidy combined to score 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting in the first half.