LEXINGTON REGION
OREGON STATE 66, TENNESSEE 59
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Oregon State Coach Scott Rueck had insulated himself from much of the media coverage leading into the women's NCAA Tournament.
But struggling to sleep at 2 a.m. Sunday morning before Oregon State faced Tennessee in the second round, Rueck stumbled upon an ESPN preview article.
He noticed a nugget about the Lady Vols having never lost at home in the NCAA Tournament and thought, "How often in life do you have a chance to do something for the first time?"
After informing his team at shoot-around about their shot at history, the Beavers went out and added another chapter to their renaissance.
Senior Marie Gulich had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead sixth-seeded Oregon State to its third consecutive regional semifinal appearance with a 66-59 victory over third-seeded Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena.
"We had an opportunity to do something today that is really special and that is a first," Rueck said. "So when the clock was ticking down right at the very end and we knew we had it, I just couldn't hardly believe how far this team has come."
Rueck can say the same for his program. The one-time Pac-12 Conference doormat has become a perennial contender with expectations to make deep tournament runs and share the stage with tradition-rich Tennessee.
The Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home in NCAA play with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who led the team to eight national championships. It's the second consecutive season that Tennessee lost in the second round of the NCAAs and will miss the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program's 37-year tournament history.
Tennessee (24-8) and Oregon State (25-7) played an intense game befitting of two teams separated by only one spot in the AP poll entering the tournament.
The Lady Vols went on an 11-2 run in the first quarter, punctuated by a Jaime Nared three-pointer, to take a 17-7 lead. But OSU switched to a zone defense in the second quarter that slowed Tennessee's offense and began hitting shots on the other end to claw back.
The Beavers embarked on a 13-2 run to take their first lead on two free throws by Kat Tudor with 2:44 remaining in the half. Rennia Davis hit a deep three-pointer to send Tennessee into halftime with a 26-24 advantage.
The teams battled through a physical third quarter, with Oregon State attacking the basket and drawing fouls to end the quarter on an 11-2 run for a 44-39 advantage.
The Beavers gradually built their lead to as large as 13 points. Tennessee made a desperate attempt to rally in the final minutes, but Oregon State managed to keep the Lady Vols at bay and beat Tennessee for the first time in five attempts.
LOUISVILLE 90, MARQUETTE 72
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Myisha Hines-Allen had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Asia Durr scored 19 points and No. 1 seed Louisville quickly pounced on No. 8 seed Marquette on the way to a victory.
The Cardinals (34-2) advanced to their second consecutive Sweet 16 and will play 80 miles east in this weekend’s regional in Lexington, Ken.
Hines-Allen and Durr made sure of that right away by combining for 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting in the first half after the duo totaled just 13 points in a first-round rout of Boise State. Hines-Allen earned her 16th double-double this season.
Their offensive recovery keyed Louisville’s 70 percent shooting effort in the first half and 64 percent for the game. Sam Fuehring had 19 points and eight rebounds and Jazmine Jones 14 points as the Cardinals won their ninth in a row.
Defense again was a big factor for Louisville, which dominated the rebounding margin 42-26 and disrupted Marquette’s rhythm to set up chances on the other end.
Allazia Blockton had a career-high 34 points and Erika Davenport 11 for Marquette (24-10), which shot 41 percent.
BAYLOR 80, MICHIGAN 58
WACO, Texas — Lauren Cox had 18 points with 16 rebounds, and Baylor is going to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 10th year in a row after a victory over Michigan.
The Big 12 champion Lady Bears (33-1) finally put Michigan away by scoring 13 consecutive points in the third quarter. They led 57-41 on a driving layup by Kalani Brown that capped the 4 1/2-minute spurt.
Baylor, the No. 2 seed, takes a 30-game winning streak into its Lexington Regional semifinal game Friday against Oregon State, which beat the Lady Bears in the Elite Eight two years ago.
Hallie Thome had 22 points, her fourth consecutive 20-point game for Michigan (23-10). Katelynn Flaherty, Michigan’s career scoring leader, had 18 points on six three-pointers.
All five of Baylor starters scored in double figures, but Coach Kim Mulkey had played only six players before clearing the bench with 11.8 seconds left in the game.
KANSAS CITY REGION
Leslie lifts Wolfpack
RALEIGH, N.C. — Kiara Leslie had 21 points and 11 rebounds against her former team, and North Carolina State beat Maryland 74-60.
Leslie, who spent three seasons at Maryland before graduating and transferring to N.C. State, finished one point shy of a career high.
Kalia Ealey and Chelsea Nelson added 12 points apiece while Akela Maize scored 11 to help the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (26-8) earn their first Sweet 16 appearance since the late Kay Yow led an inspirational run in 2007.
N.C. State, which shot 45 percent and was 7 of 14 from three-point range, will play the Oklahoma State-Mississippi State winner on Friday night in the Kansas City Regional semifinals.
Brianna Fraser had 17 points for the fifth-seeded Terrapins (26-8), who were held to 37 percent shooting. Maryland’s offense, which averages 80 points, had trouble scoring against one of the nation’s stingiest defenses.
Leading scorer Kaila Charles, plagued all day by foul trouble, finished with four points — 14 fewer than her average — on 2-of-8 shooting before fouling out with 2:29 left. She had scored in double figures in 30 of her previous 33 games.
SPOKANE REGION
Aggies rally
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — As Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair saw Chennedy Carter driving down the court with the Aggies down by 2 and mere seconds remaining against DePaul on Sunday, he wanted to tell her not to attempt a three-pointer.
But something made the normally loquacious Blair stay quiet and he just let his freshman play.
Carter hit a three with 3.2 seconds left, capping a 37-point performance, to help Texas A&M rally from a 17-point second-half deficit for a 80-79 victory in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Carter, who set a school record for points in a tournament game, scored 32 after halftime and the fourth-seeded Aggies pulled off another stunning second half comeback for the second consecutive year. It was the largest comeback ever in the second round of the tournament and the fourth largest ever.
Texas A&M trailed by two when Carter’s long three from the top of the key gave the Aggies (26-9) the lead. Fifth-seed DePaul had a chance to win it after that but Jasmine Lumpkin stole the inbounds pass from Kelly Campbell to secure the victory and send the Aggies to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014.
NOTRE DAME 98, VILLANOVA 72
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With top-seed Notre Dame struggling to a halftime tie against Villanova in a second-round women’s NCAA Tournament game, a visibly angry Muffet McGraw had seen enough.
When the Irish returned from the locker room, enter Kathryn Westbeld, who sat out the first half with a left ankle sprain, and the Irish found their way to the regional semifinals for the ninth consecutive season with a victory over pesky Villanova.
Westbeld turned her ankle early in Notre Dame’s 99-81 first-round victory Friday against Cal State Fullerton and was listed by McGraw as a game-time decision. She was dressed for pregame warmups but clearly struggling, so Mc-Graw started Kristina Nelson and tried freshman Danielle Patterson before using sophomore walk-on Kaitlin Cole, whose offensive rebound and layup had tied the game at halftime, 45-45.
Using the juice provided by Westbeld’s return, the Irish started the third quarter with a 12-3 run and outscored the Wildcats (23-9) by a 28-8 margin for a commanding 73-53 after three quarters to move into Saturday’s regional semifinal at Spokane, Wash., against 14th-ranked Texas A&M.
OREGON 101, MINNESOTA 73
EUGENE, Ore. — Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds and the No. 2 seed Oregon Ducks advanced to the Sweet 16 with a victory over No. 10 Minnesota.
It was the 11th consecutive victory for the Ducks, who are headed to the round of 16 for the second consecutive season. Last year they went to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
Ionescu was just short of her second consecutive and 11th career triple-double. A sophomore, Ionescu holds the all-time NCAA record for triple doubles. Fellow sophomore Ruthy Hebard finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks, who led by as many as 34 points. Ionescu went to the bench with 8:31 left in the game and Oregon up by 30.
Carlie Wagner led the Golden Gophers with 20 points. Oregon’s 101 points were the most Minnesota had given up all year.
ALBANY REGION
SOUTH CAROLINA 66, VIRGINIA 56
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A’ja Wilson had 25 points and 11 rebounds in her last-ever college home game to lead South Carolina to its fifth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 with a victory over No. 10 seed Virginia.
Wilson, the three-time SEC player of the year, posted her 23rd double-double of the season and 53rd of her career for the Gamecocks (28-6).
The No. 2 seed Gamecocks needed every one of Wilson’s points to push past Virginia (19-14).
Up 30-25 at the half, South Carolina opened up a 12-point lead in the third period before the Cavaliers cut it to 46-40 with 10 minutes left. Virginia still trailed just 52-47 after Dominique Toussaint’s driving bucket with 6:39 to play.
That’s when Doniyah Cliney hit a high-arching three-pointer from the right corner and Wilson added two short jumpers to put the Gamecocks in front by double digits. Virginia could not respond.
Toussaint and J’Kyra Brown had 16 points each to lead Virginia.
Sports on 03/19/2018