The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Baylor wins by record 89
UConn’s victory streak hits 108 with 61-point margin.
Kalani Brown scored 21 points and top-seeded Baylor overwhelmed much smaller Texas Southern 119-30 on Saturday night in the most lopsided women’s NCAA Tournament game.
The host Lady Bears (31-3) were ahead 22-0 after Alexis Jones, on her first shot in her first game since Feb. 20, hit a 3-pointer. She returned from a knee injury.
The 89-point margin broke the previous record 74-point win by Tennessee over North Carolina A&T (111-37) in 1994.
Baylor’s 119 points were the most scored in regulation of a women’s NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the previous record 116. Ohio State scored 116 in a 1998 game, and UConn matched it twice, including earlier Saturday. Texas Southern (2310) made the tournament for the first time.
Tennessee 66, Dayton 57: At Louisville, Ky., Diamond DeShields scored 24 points, and the fifth-seeded Lady Vols (20-11) shot 52 percent in the second half after the game was tied at 29. DeShields and Mercedes Russell scored 23 of Tennessee’s 37 points in the second half as the Vols advanced to play Louisville. The 12th-seeded Flyers (22-10) had rallied from an 18-4 deficit.
Louisville 82, Chattanooga 62: Asia Durr scored 27 for fourth-seeded Louisville (28-7) at home. Myisha Hines-Allen added 16 points. Lakelyn Bouldin scored 16 for the Mocs (21-11).
Oklahoma 75, Gonzaga 62: At Seattle, Vionise PierreLouis had 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots for No. 6 seed Oklahoma (23-9). Laura Stockton led Gonzaga (26-7) with 14 points.
Bridgeport Region
Connecticut 116, Albany 55: Napheesa Collier and Kia Nurse each scored 24 points as top-seeded UConn (33-0) extended its records with its 108th straight win and 25th straight in the tournament. Gabby Williams added 20 points for the host Huskies, who are going for their fifth consecutive NCAA title and next play Syracuse in a rematch of last season’s championship game. Senior guard Imani Tate scored 19 for Albany (21-12).
This was the 13th time since 1997 that UConn’s first-round margin of victory has exceeded the number of points put up by its opponent, but Tate said she didn’t feel the Huskies were running up the score.
“You want to send a message to the rest of the tournament and they did what they had to do,” Tate said. “They played hard for 40 minutes.”
Syracuse 85, Iowa State 65: Brittney Sykes scored 28 and Alexis Peterson 25 for the eighth-seeded Orange (22-10), who opened a 33-8 first-quarter lead. Gabby Cooper added a season-high 24 points, all from 3-point range. Seanna Johnson had 21 for Iowa State (18-13).
Oregon 71, Temple 70: At Durham, N.C., Ruthy Hebard hit a jumper with 5.5 seconds remaining, winning it for the 10th-seeded Ducks (21-13). Hebard finished with 23 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 16. The game had three lead changes in the final 30 seconds. Alliya Butts scored 28 points and Feyonda Fitzgerald 16 for the seventh-seeded Owls (24-8). Fitzgerald’s jumper made it 70-69 with 14.3 seconds remaining.
Lexington Region
Stanford 72, New Mexico State 64: At Manhattan, Kan., Alanna Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Karlie Samuelson hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points for No. 2 seed Stanford (29-5). Playing nearly 1,800 miles from home because of a scheduling conflict at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal trailed the 15th-seeded Aggies (24-7) by as many as nine early on and didn’t lead until midway through the third quarter. Stanford will play Kansas State next.
Kansas State 67, Drake 54: Breanna Lewis had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Wildcats (23-10) at home. Lizzy Wendell scored 17 for 10th-seeded Drake (28-5), which had the nation’s second-longest current win streak at 22 games.
Stockton Region
Quinnipiac 68, Marquette 65: At Coral Gables, Fla., Jennifer Fay scored 20 points and Paula Strautmane scored seven of her 15 points in the fourth quarter for the 12th-seeded Bobcats (28-6), who advanced to play Miami. The Bobcats opened on an 18-4 run and were up 52-33 midway through the third quarter before fifth-seeded Marquette (25-8) roared back and got as close as two.
Miami 62, Florida Gulf Coast 60: Keyona Hayes scored 16 points, including the go-ahead basket inside with 1.5 seconds remaining for fourth-seeded Miami (248), which wasted a 13-point lead. Taylor Gradinjan’s 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left tied the game at 60 for No. 13 FGCU (26-9).