Abilene Christian in NCAAs for 1st time
Abilene Christian 69, Texas A&MCorpus Christi 68: Breanna Wright scored 16 points, including two free throws with seven seconds remaining, and Abilene Christian (22-9) held off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (17-15) in the championship game of the Southland Conference in Katy, Texas, earning the Wildcats their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Abilene Christian appeared to have the game in control after Wright buried a jumper for a 50-26 lead with seven minutes left in the third quarter. But the Islanders, who were also trying to punch a ticket to their first NCAA tourney, went on a 19-3 run to close out the quarter, trailing 53-45.
Dalesia Booth had a basket and a 3- point play as TAMCC scored the first seven points in the final quarter to pull within 53-52. Makayla Mabry answered with a 3-pointer to begin a 13-1 run and the Wildcats pushed their lead back to double digits 64-53 with 4:44 to play.
Missouri State 94, No. 21 Drake 79: Alexa Willard scored a career-high 30 points and second-seeded Missouri State (23-10) ended Drake’s 12-game winning streak with a victory over the Bulldogs (27-6) in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in Moline, Ill., for the Bears’ 15th NCAA Tournament berth. Sydney Manning added 14 points, Brice Calip 13 and Danielle Gitzen 12 for the Bears, whose last win over a ranked team was against No. 5 Duke in the 2001 Sweet 16. It is the 11th MVC tournament title for Missouri State, the most recent coming in 2016.
Bucknell 66, American 54: Kaitlyn Slagus scored 23 points to lead Bucknell (28-5) to its school record 28th win, the Patriot League tournament championship and its fourth NCAA Tournament berth with a win over American (22-10) in Lewisburg, Pa. Kyi English added 14 points and six assists and Ellie Mack had 11 points for the Bison, who are headed to the NCAAs for the second time in three seasons.
Robert Morris 65, Saint Francis (PA) 54: Nina Augustin hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points and Robert Morris (22-10) avenged last year’s Northeast Conference tournament championship game loss with a win over Saint Francis (Pa.) (16-17) in Moon Township, Pa., earning its sixth NCAA Tournament berth.
Radford 57, Campbell 45: Lydia Rivers scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Radford (26-6) beat Campbell (21-12) in Radford, Va., for a berth in the NCAA Tournament after winning Big South tournament for the first time since 1996.
Florida Gulf Coast 72, Liberty 49: Keri Jewett-Giles had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists and Florida Gulf Coast (28-4) cruised to its third straight Atlantic Sun tournament title and NCAA Tournament with a win over Liberty (16-7) in Fort Myers, Fla.
Princeton 66, Penn 54: Bella Alarie scored 25 points and Gabrielle Rush added 18 to help Princeton (22-9) beat rival Penn (23-6) and win the Ivy League Tournament in New Haven, Conn..