Behind Siegrist, No. 11 Villanova knocks off BYU
ANN ARBOR, MICH. » Maddy Siegrist scored 25 points and 11th-seeded Villanova rallied to beat No. 6 seed BYU 61-57 on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Kaitlyn Oriehl added 10 points and Lucy Olsen had nine for the Wildcats, who finished second in the Big East.
The Wildcats will face the winner of third-seeded Michigan and No. 14 seed American on Monday.
Paisley Harding scored 21 points for BYU with Teagan Graham adding 11. Shaylee Gonzales was held to eight points, missing 11 of her 14 shots.
The Cougars got out to a quick start, going up 13-2 halfway through the first quarter, but the Wildcats found their rhythm after a timeout, drawing within one possession with just under a minute left in the first quarter. From there, it was a battle of the motion offenses, with neither team managing to pull away.
Ultimately, Olsen was the difference-maker for the Wildcats. The Big East All-Freshman guard looked poised and comfortable leading the floor for Villanova, and in the end, it was her sharp passing and ability to find Siegrist’s steady hands inside that finally allowed the Wildcats to hold onto their lead.
INDIANA 88, CHARLOTTE 51 » Mackenzie Holmes scored 19 points to lead Indiana to an 85-51 victory over Charlotte on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Serving as hosts for the first time in the women’s tournament, the thirdseeded Hoosiers (23-8) used a 22-2 run across a nearly six-minute first-half stretch to blow the game open. Aleksa Gulbe scored the final five in the spurt to make it 33-13 with 6:44 remaining in the half.
The lead never dipped below 20 in the second half as Holmes scored 15 of her points after halftime.
The 6-foot-3 junior forward and second-team AllBig Ten selection made 9-of15 shots to help IU shoot 54.7%, the 10th time this season it shot better than 50%. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
The Hoosiers enjoyed a balanced attack, as four scored in double figures. Grace Berger added 18. The
All-Big Ten senior guard who plans to return for a fifth season, made 7-of13 shots and added six rebounds and assists. She also became the program’s 13th player to eclipse 1,500 career points.
Gulbe finished with 15 points and Nicole CardanoHillary had 11 points and five assists.
Octavia Jett-Wilson’s 19 points led the 49ers (22-9), who shot 37%.
Indiana advances to the second round and will host the winner of KentuckyPrinceton on Monday. KANSAS STATE 50, WASHINGTON STATE 40 » Washington State put Ayoka Lee at the top of its scouting report.
It was apparent early on in the No. 8 Cougars’ clash with No. 9 Kansas State that the emphasis was on making things difficult for the 6-foot-6 center.
But even after making just one field goal in the first half, and her Wildcats trailing at intermission, Lee never lost focus.
“That was definitely just a struggle in the first half,” Lee said. “Things just opened up more as we continued to play together. This was kind of a grindthrough-it game. We kept working hard.”
Lee finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds as Kansas State overcame a frustrating defensive scheme from Washington State and won 50-40 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
A second-team AP AllAmerica selection, Lee rallied in the second half to lead the Wildcats (20-11) to their first tournament victory since 2017. Brylee Glenn added 14 points for Kansas State.
Washington State (19-11) was powered by Charlisse Leger-Walker’s 20 points on offense. Ula Motuga grabbed 14 rebounds and scored five points.
Defensively, the Cougars used a total-team effort in an attempt to stifle Lee and disrupt Kansas State. Early on, it worked. Washington State led by as many as nine points in the first half and held Lee to just six points in the first 20 minutes.
“We struggled getting the ball to Lee, and she struggled finishing early in this game,” Wildcats coach Jeff Mittie said. “But we kept our focus. When shots weren’t falling, we dug deep today.”