NCAA Women’s Tournament first round roundup

Lexington Region

• Maci Morris made seven of eight free throws in the final 37 seconds, including two with 3.2 seconds remaining, to help fourthseeded Kentucky edge No. 13 Belmont, 73-70, in Lexington, Ky.

Wildcats seniors Makayla Epps and Evelyn Akhator did their parts to get Kentucky ahead with 52 combined points that were needed to hold off the determined Bruins. Belmont got within 69-68 on two Sally McCabe free throws with 13 seconds remaining.

• Kelsey Mitchell and Asia Doss each scored 15 points, Shayla Cooper grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and Ohio State withstood a late charge from Western Kentucky to win, 70-63, in Lexington, Ky.

The fifth-seeded Buckeyes began to take control just before halftime and followed with timely baskets to keep a safe cushion against the No. 12 seed Hilltoppers.

• Dominique Wilson scored 23 points and Miah Spencer added 13 to help No. 6-seed North Carolina State roll over cold-shooting No. 11 Auburn, 62-48, in Austin, Texas.

• Brooke McCarty scored 15 points in the first half and No. 3-seed Texas overwhelmed No. 14 Central Arkansas, 78-50, in Austin, Texas.

Joyner Holmes added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Longhorns.

• Ashley Morrisette scored 20 points, Dominique Oden added 13 and ninth-seeded Purdue beat No. 8 Green Bay, 74-62, in South Bend, Ind.

• Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale scored 15 points each to help topseed Notre Dame beat Robert Morris, 79-49 in South Bend, Ind.

The Irish (31-3), who have won 15 straight, improved to 28-5 in seven tournament appearances as a No. 1 seed.

Bridgeport Region

• Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 28 points, Brionna Jones had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Maryland beat Bucknell, 103-61, in College Park, Md. • Tynice Martin scored 26 points, Katrina Pardee made a pair of pivotal 3-pointers and West Virginia pulled away to a victory over 11th-seed Elon,

75-62 in College Park, Md. Coming off a stunning 7766 win over second-ranked Baylor in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament, West Virginia couldn’t shake Elon until the fourth quarter.

With the score 53-all, Lanay Montgomery hit a short jumper, Martin made two free throws and Pardee buried a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to make it 60-53.

Oklahoma City Region

• Blair Schaefer scored a career-high 21 points, Ameshya Williams added 15 and Mississippi State beat Troy, 110-69, in Starkville, Miss.

• Tanita Allen scored 25 points, Lauren Prochaska and Brooke Schulte each added 12 and DePaul beat Northern Iowa, 88-67, in Starkville, Miss.

Stockton Region

• Breanna Brown scored 12 points and secondseeded Oregon State held off feisty No. 15 seed Long Beach State in the final minute to eke out a 56-55 victory in Corvallis Ore.

Mikayla Pivec and Marie Gulich each added 10 points for Oregon State. The 49ers took over the lead on Jessica Gertz’s 3-pointer with 2:48 left, but Sydney Wiese hit two free throws to put Oregon State back in front 56-55 with 1:07 to go.

• Allisha Gray scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds to lead top-seeded South Carolina to an easy 90-50 win over No. 16 seed UNC Asheville in Columbia, S.C.

• Sierra Michaelis scored 16 points, including the game-winning basket with 0.6 seconds remaining, and No. 6 seed Missouri rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to beat No. 11 South Florida, 66-64, in Tallahassee, Fla.

• Marissa Janning had 15 of her 19 points in the first quarter and seventh-seeded Creighton built an early lead and went on to rout No. 10 seed Toledo, 76-49, in Corvallis, Ore.

Mikaela Boyd had 11 points for Toledo.

• Quinn Dornstauder scored 16 points to lead No. 8 seed Arizona State to a win over ninth-seeded Michigan State, 73-61 , in Columbia, S.C.

• Shakayla Thomas scored 23 points and third-seeded Florida State beat No. 14 Western Illinois, 87-66 in Tallahassee, Fla.