Clark scores 32 as Iowa survives
Caitlin Clark scored 32 points and No. 1 seed Iowa survived one of its worst offensive performances of the season to beat No. 8 seed West Virginia 64-54 on Monday night in the second round.
The Hawkeyes (31-4) advanced to play No. 5 seed Colorado in Saturday’s Albany 2 Regional semifinal.
Sydney Affolter’s threepoint play with 2:03 to play, the Hawkeyes’ lone field goal of the fourth quarter, gave Iowa a 55-52 lead. Clark and Hannah Stuelke closed the game with nine free throws to clinch the win.
As time ran out on the final home game of her career, Clark, who became the NCAA’S Division I alltime scoring leader this season, circled the court, making a heart-shaped symbol with her hands as the sellout crowd cheered.
JJ Quinerly led West Virginia (25-8) with 15 points. Kyah Watson had 13 points and Jayla Hemingway had 10 points.
NOTRE DAME 71,
MISSISSIPPI 56
Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and Hannah Hidalgo added 19 to help No. 2 seed Notre Dame beat seventh-seeded Mississippi.
Sonia Citron added 17 for the Fighting Irish (28-6), who advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will play No. 3 seed Oregon State in the Albany Regional 1.
Kennedy Todd-williams and Madison Scott led Ole
Miss (24-9) with 15 points each.
INDIANA 70, OKLAHOMA 68
Mackenzie Holmes scored 29 points, including six in a row, to give fourthseeded Indiana a late lead as the Hoosiers rallied past fifth-seeded Oklahoma.
Sydney Parrish added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Hoosiers (26-6), who advanced to their second Sweet 16 in three years and now face undefeated South Carolina in Albany, N.Y.
Big 12 Player of the Year Skylar Vann led the Sooners (23-10) with 20 points and eight rebounds.
UCONN 72, SYRACUSE 64
Paige Bueckers tied her season high with 32 points, freshman Ashlynn Shade added 19 and No. 3 seed Uconn held off Syracuse to earn a 30th straight trip to the Sweet 16.
It was Bueckers’ fifth straight game with at least 25 points, and seventh in her last eight games.
Dyaisha Fair scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half for Syracuse.
NC STATE 79, TENNESSEE 72
Aziaha James scored 22 points and the Wolfpack blew nearly all of a 20-point lead before holding off the Volunteers.
Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the Wolfpack (29-6), who dominated the second quarter to build that huge margin before the Lady Vols (2013) started creeping their way back.
Tennessee got as close as two points in the fourth, but NC State did just enough to protect its lead. That sent the Wolfpack on to a date with No. 2 seed Stanford in the Portland 4 Region.
UCLA 67, CREIGHTON 63
Kiki Rice scored 24 points, Lauren Betts had 20 points and 10 rebounds and second-seeded UCLA rallied in the second half for a 67-63 victory over seventh-seeded Creighton.
The Bruins (27-6), who trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter, will face third-seeded LSU in an Albany 2 Regional semifinal Saturday afternoon.
Lauren Jensen scored 20 points for the Bluejays.