STORRS, Conn. — Paige Bueckers tied her season high with 32 points, freshman Ashlynn Shade added 19 and No. 3 seed UConn held off Syracuse 72-64 on Monday night 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 as Syracuse came back from a 12-point first half deficit to pull within two with just under two minutes left. But the Orange missed four 3-point attempts down the stretch and UConn scored seven of the game’s final eight points.
Aaliyah Edwards of Kingston, Ont. finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for UConn.
Sophie Burrows scored a career-high 18 points and Georgia Wooley had 13 of her 18 in the first half for the Orange.
UConn led by 11 points at halftime and Shade’s 3-pointer from the right corner, her fourth of the night, gave the Huskies a 53-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
But after UConn pushed that lead to 10 points, Husky point guard Nika Muhl, who had been guarding Fair, picked up three fouls in 30 seconds and fouled out of the game.
Coach Geno Auriemma had to be restrained by his assistants after she was called for her last, an offensive foul as she was bringing the ball up the court, with UConn up 63-55 and 5:17 left in the game.
After Shade extended the lead back to 10 with a jumper, Fair and Burrows hit back-to-back 3-pointers and an elbow jumper from Alyssa Latham made it 65-63 with 1:53 left.
But freshman KK Arnold made a clutch 3-pointer from the left wing with 28 seconds left, pushing the lead back to six and Syracuse missed four contested 3-pointers down the stretch.
(4) GONZAGA 77, (5) UTAH 66
SPOKANE, Wash. — Kayleigh Truong scored 21 points, Yvonne Ejim added 17 points and 13 rebounds, and fourth-seeded Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly a decade beating No. 5 seed Utah 77-66 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
The Zags used a barrage of 3-point shooting in the second and third quarters to overcome an early deficit and advanced to their first regional semifinal since 2015. Gonzaga (32-3) won its 36th consecutive game at home and will face top-seeded Texas in the Portland 4 Regional semifinal on Friday in Portland, Oregon.
Gonzaga received contributions from throughout the lineup. Truong and twin sister Kaylynne were on the mark from the perimeter as the Bulldogs hit 12 3-pointers in the first three quarters and led by as many as 21.
Kaylynne Truong added 14 points and Elisa Hollingsworth added 13. The Bulldogs finished 12 of 22 from beyond the 3-point line and took a victory lap through the crammed Kennel Club student section following the victory.
(2) NOTRE DAME 71, (7) MISSISSIPPI 56
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and Hannah Hidalgo added 19 to help No. 2 seed Notre Dame beat seventh-seeded Mississippi 71-56 on Monday in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Sonia Citron added 17 for the Fighting Iriih (28-6), who advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will play No. 3 seed Oregon State in the Albany Regional.
Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott led Ole Miss with 15 points each.
Notre Dame hit Ole Miss with an intense attack from the opening tip, establishing an up-tempo tone on offence and a relentless but controlled defense early.
The Fighting Irish bolted to a 21-9 lead after one quarter, harassing Ole Miss into 4-of-17 shooting in the first quarter while connecting on 6-of-12 shots.
Notre Dame expanded its lead to 19 points at 33-14 on a 3 by Westbeld from the top of the key with 5:10 left. The Fighting Irish led by 17 points, 43-26, at halftime. Ole Miss committed 13 turnovers and only hit 38% of its shots (11-of-29).
Notre Dame connected on 59% of its field-goal attempts (16-of-27) and turned the ball over only six times.
(3) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 79, (6) TENNESSEE 72
RALEIGH, NC — Aziaha James scored 22 points and No. 3 seed North Carolina State blew nearly all of a 20-point lead before holding off No. 6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Monday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament, sending the Wolfpack back to the Sweet 16.
Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the Wolfpack (29-6), who dominated the second quarter to build that huge margin before the Lady Vols (20-13) started creeping their way back.
Tennessee got as close as two points in the fourth, but N.C. 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.
James came up big in the critical moment amid the Lady Vols’ surge. First, the 5-foot-9 junior scored on a floater over the outstretched arms of 6-6 big Tamari Key. Then, after Baldwin blocked a shot from Rickea Jackson from behind, James curled around the left wing to catch and feed from Saniya Rivers and stick a huge 3-pointer for a 70-63 lead at the 2:48 mark.
Tennessee didn’t get it back to a one-possession game again.
(4) INDIANA 75, (5) OKLAHOMA 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Mackenzie Holmes scored 29 points, including six in a row, to give fourth-seeded Indiana a late lead Monday night as the Hoosiers rallied past fifth-seeded Oklahoma 75-68 in the second round of March Madness.
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, New York.
Indiana’s players celebrated by racing into the student section and up the steps at Assembly Hall as music blared and fans pumped their hands in the air,
Big 12 Player of the Year Skylar Vann led the Sooners (23-10) with 20 points and eight rebounds. Aubrey Joens had 16 points for Oklahoma, which walked off the floor dejectedly after a fourth consecutive second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament.
The more than 12,000 fans in Assembly Hall roared loudly in the final minutes — and after the final buzzer — as the Hoosiers seized control to avoid a repeat of last March’s shocking second-round loss to Miami.
But for much of the night, it looked like the Hoosiers might be staring at the sequel.
Again, they ran into a lower-seeded team that appeared athletic and more physical. Again, they struggled to get open shots or to stay in front of the Sooners on defense.
This time, though, they fought back and surged ahead thanks largely to Holmes, Indiana’s career scoring leader and a two-time All-American, despite the offense having a sub-par night. The nation’s top field goal and 3-point shooting team. Indiana was just 38.8% from the field and 18.8 percent from beyond the arc in a back-and-forth game that wasn’t settled in the waning minutes.
The Hoosiers finally tied the score on Holmes’ layup to open the fourth. She inadvertently hit Vann with an elbow in the nose on the play. From that point, the teams were within one possession of each other until Holmes scored six straight, including a layup with 1:18 left to give the Hoosiers a 66-64 lead.
An Oklahoma turnover on the ensuing possession led to a 10-footer from Yarden Garzon, Holmes came up with a steal and the Hoosiers closed it out at the free-throw line.
(1) IOWA 64, (8) WEST VIRGINIA 54
IOWA CITY, Iowa — 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 a women’s NCAA Tournament second-round game.
The Hawkeyes (31-4) advanced to play No. 5 seed Colorado in Saturday’s Albany 2 Regional semifinal.
Sydney Affolter’s three-point 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 all-time scoring leader this season, circled the court, making a heart-shaped symbol with her hands as the sellout crowd cheered.
Iowa came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 92.8 points per game, but the Hawkeyes were held to their lowest single-game point total this season. Iowa shot just 36.4% from the field.
Affolter had 13 points, while Stuelke added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Iowa seemed to have control of the game after an 8-0 run over the final 1:25 of the third quarter gave the Hawkeyes a 48-38 lead. But West Virginia opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run to tie the game with 5:18 to play, setting up the final minutes.
It was clear from the start that this was going to be a game of defence. Iowa led just 26-24 at halftime, with both teams going through scoring droughts.
The Hawkeyes led 26-19 before going the last 4:50 of the half without a point, shooting 27.3 percent in the second quarter. West Virginia went almost five minutes late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter without a point, and didn’t score for the final 2:11 of the half. The two teams combined for just nine field goals in the second quarter.
JJ Quinerly led West Virginia (25-8) with 15 points. Kyah Watson had 13 points and Jayla Hemingway had 10 points.
(2) UCLA 67, (7) CREIGHTON 63
LOS ANGELES — 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 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
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. Top-seeded Iowa and fifth-seeded Colorado are in the other semi.
Lauren Jensen scored 20 points and Morgan Maly added 18 for the Bluejays (26-6).
Creighton led 44-34 early in the second half before UCLA fought back. The Bruins got back into the game with a 20-7 run that included 11 points by Rice.
The game was tied at 56-all after three quarters before the Bruins scored seven straight to start the fourth as part of a 9-2 run.
UCLA struggled with Creighton’s off ball screens and transition game during the first half, as the Bluejays were able to get many easy baskets. Creighton was 13 of 22 from the field in the first half but only 9 of 28 in the third and fourth quarters.
Creighton led 20-19 at the end of the first quarter and then dominated the second quarter. The Bluejays scored the first eight points in the period and were 10 of 16 from the field as it went into halftime with a 42-34 lead. Emma Ronsiek led Creighton with 11 of her 14 points coming in the quarter.
(1) USC 73, (8) KANSAS 55
LOS ANGELES — JuJu Watkins had 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and top-seeded Southern California led all the way in defeating Kansas 73-55 on Monday night to reach the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
McKenzie Forbes hit a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Trojans (28-5), who will face fifth-seeded Baylor (26-7) in the Portland Region 3 in Oregon on Saturday.
USC last went this deep when it reached the Elite Eight in 1994, 10 years after the school won the second of its back-to-back national championships.
Freshman S’Mya Nichols scored 22 points to lead the Jayhawks (20-13). Taiyanna Jackson had 10 points and 18 rebounds. Kansas fell to 0-6 all-time when facing a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
After Kansas got within one in the third, the Trojans took over with a 17-2 run that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth. Watkins had nine points and Kayla Padilla hit a 3-pointer in the spurt that extended USC’s lead to 64-48.
USC’s Clarice Akunwafo, who at 6-foot-6 equaled Jackson’s height, disrupted the Kansas center by blocking shots and even did a little scoring down the stretch.
The Jayhawks outscored USC 22-20 in the third, scoring nine in a row to close to 47-46. Watkins closed the quarter by hitting a 3-pointer and making a pair of free throws before picking up her third foul. Forbes stole the ball and Akunwafo got fouled, making 1 of 2 to keep the Trojans ahead 53-46.
Kansas rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime against Michigan in the first round but was completely taken out of it in the fourth by the Trojans.
Watkins scored the Trojans’ first seven points with the crowd chanting “USC! USC!” They ran off 12 straight points over the end of the first and start of the second quarter, capped by Watkins’ 3-pointer that extended USC’s lead to 24-9.
The Trojans forced 12 Kansas turnovers that led to 16 points for them in the first half, which ended with USC ahead 33-24. The Jayhawks made just one 3-pointer in the half. They started the game shooting 3 of 14 from the floor.
Among the USC supporters were Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller, former NBA player John Wall, former USC quarterback Matt Leinert and football coach Lincoln Riley.