Dawn stalEy GEts hEr 500th win, GamEcocks roll

SA N A NTONIO» South Carolina coach Dawn Staley got her 500th career victory when Aliyah Boston and the top-seeded Gamecocks beat Mercer 79-53 on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Staley is 328-102 in 13 seasons at South Carolina, after going 172-80 in eight seasons at Temple.

Boston had 20 points and 18 rebounds for South Carolina, which grabbed the lead for good when it closed the first half with a 16-5 run. Victaria Saxton also scored 20 points in the Hemisfair Region game at the Alamodome.

The Gamecocks will the Oregon State in the second round.

OREGON STATE 83, FLORIDA STATE 59.

SA N A NTONIO» Aleah Goodman had 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers, and eighth-seeded Oregon State beat ninth-seeded Florida State.

Taylor Jones added 18 points and eight rebounds for Oregon State.

GEORGIA TECH 54, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 52, OT.

SA N A NTONIO» Lorela Cubaj recovered from a scary fall to score 14 points, including the goahead free throws in overtime, and fifth-seeded Georgia Tech overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to beat 12th-seeded Stephen F. Austin.

The Yellow Jackets will face the West Virginia.

WEST VIRGINIA 77, LEHIGH 53.

SAN A NTONIO» Kysre Gondrezick scored 26 points and fourth-seeded West Virginia beat 13th-seeded Lehigh.

Kirsten Deans had 19 point, eight rebounds and five assists for West Virginia.

N.C. STATE 79, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 58.

SA NM A R COS, TEX A S » Jada Boyd scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and top-seeded North Carolina State overcame a slow start to beat 16th-seeded North Carolina.

N.C. State will face the South Florida-Washington State winner.

BAYLOR 101, JACKSON STATE 52.

SAN A NTONIO» Moon Ursin scored a career-high 24 points and second-seeded Baylor routed Jackson State.

All-American NaLyssa Smith added 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and had 10 rebounds for the Bears. They will face Virginia Tech on Tuesday.

VIRGINIA TECH 70, MARQUETTE 63. SA NM A RCOS, TEX A S » Elizabeth Kitley had 23 points and seventh-seeded Virginia Tech built a big lead and held off 10th-seeded Marquette.

TENNESSEE 87, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 62.

AUSTIN, TEX A S » Rennia Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds and No. 3 seed Tennessee used a dominant second half to beat 14th-seeded Middle Tennessee.

Tennessee will face Michigan in the second round.

MICHIGAN 87, FLORIDA GULF COAST 66.

SA N A NTONIO» Leigha Brown scored 28 points, including 17 straight for sixth-seeded Michigan, and the Wolverines beat 11th-seed Florida Gulf Coast.

KENTUCKY 71, IDAHO STATE 63.

SAN A NTONIO » Rhyne Howard and Chasity Patterson scored 14 points apiece and fourth-seeded Kentucky beat 13thseeded Idaho State. Blair Green added 10 points for the Wildcats. They will Iowa in the second round.

IOWA 87, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 72. SA N A NTONIO» Freshman Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer, had 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and fifth-seeded Iowa beat 12th-seeded Central Michigan.

SYRACUSE 72, SOUTH DAKOTA

STATE 55.

AUSTIN, TEX A S » Emily Engstler scored 18 points and made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and eight-seeded Syracuse pulled away to beat ninth-seeded South Dakota State. Syracuse will face the UConn.

UCONN 102, HIGH POINT 59.

SAN A NTONIO» UConn did just fine without coach Geno Auriemma, with Paige Bueckers scoring 24 points to lead the top-seeded Huskies to a win over High Point. Auriemma is recovering from the coronavirus and missed the opener and will miss the second-round game. Associate head coach Chris Dailey filled in for the Hall of Famer

OKLAHOMA STATE 84, WAKE FOREST 61.

SA N A NTONIO» Natasha Mack had 27 points and 15 rebounds in eighth-seeded Oklahoma State’s victory over ninth-seeded Wake Forest.

Oklahoma State will face the Stanford-Utah Valley winner.