Iowa holds off Mercer in women's tournament
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Megan Gustafson scored 30 points with 16 rebounds and second- seeded Iowa narrowly avoided a monumental upset, holding off No. 15 Mercer 66- 61 on Friday for its first NCAA Tournament win in four years.
No 15 seed has ever won an NCAA Tournament game going 0-101 now.
Makenzie Meyer added 16 for the Hawkeyes (27-6), who survived the opening round at home despite committing 24 turnovers.
Hannah Stewart hit three consecutive baskets after Iowa got down by two with 4: 19 to go, putting the Hawkeyes ahead 64- 61. Stewart missed a jumper with 21 seconds left, but the ball knocked off a Mercer player.
Iowa's Tania Davis then missed two free throws, but the Hawkeyes were bailed out of the ensuing scrum by the possession arrow.
Kathleen Doyle finally sealed it for Iowa with two free throws with 8.9 second to go.
SOUTH CAROLINA 74,
BELMONT 52: Te'a Cooper scored 13 points, Alexis Jennings added 12 points and nine rebounds, and South Carolina shook off a sluggish start to pull away from seed Belmont. Tyasha Harris chipped in with 12 points and six assists and Doniyah Cliney added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting for the Gamecocks, who
won in their first game since getting upset by Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. FLORIDA STATE 70, BUCKNELL 67: Kiah Gillespie had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Florida State held on to beat Bucknell. Nicki Ekhomu, Nausia Woolfork and Valencia Myers each had 15 points for the Seminoles (24-8), who advanced to play fourthseeded South Carolina on Sunday. MISSOURI 77, No. 10 DRAKE
76, OT: Jordan Roundtree hit a free throw after being fouled with 1.1 seconds left in overtime and Missouri beat Drake. Sophie Cunningham scored 21 points and Cierra Porter had 18 for the Tigers (24-10), who can advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001 with a win over second-seeded and host Iowa on Sunday.
Albany Region
LOUISVILLE 69, ROBERT
MORRIS 34: Asia Durr and Sam Fuehring each had 19 points, and Louisville scored 27 straight points in the first half to overwhelm Robert Morris. UCONN 110, TOWSON 61: Napheesa Collier scored 23 points and UConn, in the unusual position of being a No. 2 seed, got off to its usual NCAA Tournament start with a rout of Towson. MICHIGAN 84, KANSAS STATE
54: Naz Hillmon scored 17 points off the bench, Nicole Munger and Kayla Robbins each added 13 and Michigan shot a season-high 56 percent to run away from Kansas State. BUFFALO 82, RUTGERS 71: Summer Hemphill scored 23 points and Cierra Dillard added 20 as Buffalo upset Rutgers. Hanna Hall and Autumn Jones each added 12 points for the Bulls (24-9), who will be looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for a second straight season.
Chicago Region
MARQUETTE 58, RICE 54, OT: Natisha Hiedeman scored 13 points, Allazia Blockton had 12 and Marquette overcame a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to get a win over Rice. TEXAS A&M 84, WRIGHT
STATE 61: Chennedy Carter scored 27 points in her return from injury, with 14 coming in Texas A&M's huge first quarter, to help the No. 4 Aggies cruise to a win over No. 13 Wright State.
Portland Region
CLEMSON 79, SOUTH DAKOTA
66: Simone Westbrook scored 27 points, Danielle Edwards added 25 and Clemson pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat South Dakota. ARIZONA STATE 60, UCF 45: Courtney Ekmark scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, and Arizona State beat UCF. INDIANA 69, TEXAS 65: Jaelynn Penn had 24 points and Bendu Yeaney added 17 to help Indiana surprise Texas.