No. 2 Notre Dame beats Ole Miss to advance to Sweet 16

2 Notre Dame 71 7 Ole Miss 56

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and Hannah Hidalgo added 19 to help No. 2 seed Notre Dame beat seventh-seeded Mississippi 71-56 on Monday in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Sonia Citron added 17 for the Fighting Irish (28-6), who advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will play No. 3 seed Oregon State in the Albany Regional 1.

Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott led Ole Miss (249) with 15 points each.

Notre Dame hit Ole Miss with an intense attack from the opening tip, establishing an uptempo tone on offense and a relentless but controlled defense early.

INDIANA 70, OKLAHOMA 68

In Bloomington, Ind., Mackenzie Holmes scored 29 points, including six in a row, to give fourthseeded Indiana a late lead as the Hoosiers rallied past fifth-seeded Oklahoma.

Sydney Parrish added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Hoosiers (26-6), who advanced to their second Sweet 16 in three years and now face undefeated South Carolina in Albany, N.Y.

Indiana’s players celebrated by racing into the student section and up the steps at Assembly Hall as music blared and fans pumped their hands in the air,

ALBANY REGIONAL 2 UCLA 67, CREIGHTON 63

In Los Angeles, Kiki Rice scored 24 points, Lauren Betts had 20 points and 10 rebounds and second-seeded UCLA rallied in the second half for a victory over seventh-seeded Creighton.

The Bruins (27-6), who trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter, will face third-seeded LSU in an Albany 2 Regional semifinal Saturday afternoon. Top-seeded Iowa and fifth-seeded Colorado are in the other semi.

PORTLAND REGIONAL 3 UCONN 72, SYRACUSE 64

In Storrs, Conn., Paige Bueckers tied her season high with 32 points, freshman Ashlynn Shade added 19 and No. 3 seed UConn held off Syracuse to earn a 30th straight trip to the Sweet 16.

It was Bueckers’ fifth straight game with at least 25 points, and seventh in her last eight games.

Dyaisha Fair scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half as Syracuse came back from a 12-point first half deficit to pull within two with just under two minutes left. But the Orange missed four 3-point attempts down the stretch and UConn scored seven of the game’s final eight points.

SOUTHERN CAL 73, KANSAS 55

In Los Angeles, JuJu Watkins had 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and top-seeded Southern California led all the way in defeating Kansas.

McKenzie Forbes hit a careerhigh six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Trojans (28-5), who will face fifth-seeded Baylor (26-7) in the Portland Region 3 in Oregon on Saturday.

USC last went this deep when it reached the Elite Eight in 1994, 10 years after the school won the second of its back-to-back national championships.

PORTLAND REGIONAL 4 GONZAGA 77, UTAH 66

In Spokane, Wash., Kayleigh Truong scored 21 points, Yvonne Ejim added 17 points and 13 rebounds, and fourth-seeded Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly a decade by beating No. 5 seed Utah.

The Zags used a barrage of 3-point shooting in the second and third quarters to overcome an early deficit and advanced to their first regional semifinal since 2015. Gonzaga (32-3) won its 36th consecutive game at home and will face top-seeded Texas in the Portland 4 Regional semifinal on Friday in Portland, Ore.

NC STATE 79, TENNESSEE 72

In Raleigh, N.C., Aziaha James scored 22 points and the Wolfpack blew nearly all of a 20-point lead before holding off the Volunteers, sending them back to the Sweet 16.

Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the Wolfpack (29-6), who dominated the second quarter to build that huge margin before the Lady Vols (20-13) started creeping their way back.

Tennessee got as close as two points in the fourth, but N.C. State did just enough to protect its lead.