Indiana opens March Madness with rout of Tennessee Tech
Sydney Parrish scored 19 points and had eight rebounds to lead the topseeded 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 eighthseeded Oklahoma State and ninth-seeded Miami.
Maaliya Owens had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead Tennessee Tech (2310), which had won its previous eight games.
After finishing the first quarter tied at 18, the Golden Eagles took a 2220 lead on Anna Walker’s layup with 6:53 to go.
Then the Hoosiers took their cue. Meister tied the score with a layup, Lexus Bargesser followed with back-to-back layups on fast breaks and when Berger made two free throws with 2:55 left in the first half, Indiana led 37-22.
Tennessee Tech never got within single digits again. TENNESSEE 95, SAINT LOUIS 50 >> Jordan Horston scored 21 points and Rickea Jackson added 18 as the fourthseeded Tennessee Lady Vols remained perfect when opening the NCAA Tournament on their home court, routing No. 13 seed Saint Louis 95-50 on Saturday.
The Lady Vols (24-11) improved to 25-0 in firstround games on their home court to reach Monday night’s second-round where they will play either No. 5 seed Iowa State or 12th-seeded Toledo. Tennessee improved to 6-2 alltime as a No. 4 seed.
Jordan Walker added 11 points and Tess Darby had 10 for the Lady Vols. They will try to advance to a second straight Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 region.
The first NCAA Tournament appearance ended quickly for Saint Louis (1718). The Billikens snapped the six-game winning streak that helped them win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament after starting the season 6-16.
Brooke Flowers led Saint Louis with 17 points, and Kyla McMakin, who followed coach Rebecca Tillett from Longwood as a transfer, added 11. Camree Clegg added 12 off the bench.
The Billikens led twice in the first couple minutes, the last on a McMakin jumper at 4-3. Walker tied it at 4 with a free throw, then finished a fast break with a layup putting the Lady Vols ahead to stay with 6:51 left. Darby added a 3, and Horston’s jumper capped an eight-point spurt for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols led by as much as 10 before McMakin bankd in a buzzerbeating 3 that pulled Saint Louis within 20-15 at end of the first quarter. Flowers hit two free throws to pull Saint Louis within 20-17 to start the second quarter.
Then Tennessee seized control and scored the final 21 points for a 48-24 lead at halftime. The Lady Vols scored the first eight of the third and led 6741 at the end of the quarter. They polished off the big win outscoring Saint Louis 28-9 in the fourth with coach Kellie Harper pulling her starters with 6:24 left.