Top-seeded Indiana routs Tennessee Tech
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sydney Parrish scored 19 points and had eight rebounds to lead the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers past Tennessee Tech 7747 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
All-american center Mackenzie Holmes cheered on her Indiana teammates from the bench while resting a sore knee. Grace Berger had 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks and Lilly Meister added seven points and three blocks in her first career start.
Indiana (28-3) faces the winner of Saturday’s second game between eighth-seeded Oklahoma State and ninth-seeded Miami.
Maaliya Owens had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead Tennessee Tech (23-10), which had won its previous eight games.
Tennessee 95, Saint Louis 50: Jordan Horston scored 21 points and Rickea Jackson added 18 as fourth-seeded Tennessee remained perfect when opening the NCAA Tournament on its home court.
The Lady Vols (24-11) improved to 25-0 in first-round games on their home court to reach Monday night’s second-round where they will play either No. 5 seed Iowa State or 12thseeded Toledo. Tennessee improved to 6-2 all-time as a No. 4 seed.
The first NCAA Tournament appearance ended quickly for Saint Louis (17-18). The Billikens snapped the six-game winning streak that helped them win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament after starting the season 6-16.
Miami 62, Oklahoma State 61: Haley Cavinder scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and made what proved to be the decisive free throw with 8.9 seconds left to pull off a 17point second half rally that gave ninthseeded Miami a victory over eighthseeded Oklahoma State.
The comeback was tied for the fifthlargest comeback in tourney history.
But it wasn’t over until Naomie Alnatas’ 10-footer rolled off the rim at the buzzer following a 5-second call on the Hurricanes.
Miami (20-12) will play top-seeded Indiana on its home court Monday night with a ticket to the Sweet 16 at stake.
Uconn 95, Vermont 52: Aaliyah Edwards scored 28 points, Dorka Juhasz added a double-double and No. 2 seed Uconn routed 15th seed Vermont, giving the Huskies a 29th straight win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Juhasz scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, the Hungarian’s 13th double-double this season for the seventh-ranked Huskies.
Caroline Ducharme added 12 points, helping Connecticut (30-5) to its 26th, 30-win season during Geno Auriemma’s 38 years as coach.
Florida Gulf Coast 74, Washington State 63: Maddie Antenucci’s 3-pointer bounced four times before going through the net as part of her gamechanging spree from beyond the arc that sent 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a win over No. 5-seed Washington State.
Sha Carter scored 24 points and Tishara Moorehouse had 16 for the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament champion Golden Eagles (33-3).