DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Taliah Scott scored 15 points and Baylor rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, making 11 of 14 free throws down the stretch, to beat Nebraska 67-62 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
After leading 19-11 after the first quarter, the sixth-seeded Bears (25-8) went cold and were down 50-41 with 9:33 to play in their March Madness opener. Baylor then turned up the full-court press and forced six turnovers by Nebraska in the final quarter.
The turning point came on a jump ball with the game tied at 53 with 3:48 to play. Baylor coach Nicki Collen appealed for officials to review the play for a flagrant foul on Nebraska junior forward Jessica Petrie.
Baylor won the appeal, and Scott made two free throws to give Baylor the lead for good. Petrie, who had 10 points for the Cornhuskers, fouled out on the next play.
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 13 points. Jana Van Gytenbeek added 12, including two critical 3-pointers in the second half.
NO. 3 DUKE 81, NO. 14 COLL. OF CHARLESTON
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Toby Fournier scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Duke maintained its momentum by opening the first round of March Madness with a victory over the College of Charleston.
Jordan Wood had 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and Delaney Thomas had 19 points and nine rebounds for the third-seeded Blue Devils (25-8), who are hosting the first and second rounds of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Since a 3-6 start, Duke is on a 22-2 run that includes their second ACC Tournament championship in a row.
But coach Kara Lawson still was frustrated, becoming animated with her players during a four-quarter timeout despite a comfortable margin. She noted that 20 Duke turnovers led to 22 points by Charleston, which also scored 12 second-chance points and made 22 free throws.
“Those are areas that we need those numbers to come down,” Lawson said. “I wake up intense. I’m always at the next level. There’s an urgency about me. It’s March. You want to win. You want to play well. No matter what the score is, there’s a standard by which we play. If we don’t play that, then it’s my job to get them to that level.”
Fournier, a 6-2 sophomore forward who was a third-team All America selection, was a force inside on offense and defense. During one second-quarter sequence, she sandwiched a nifty reverse lay-in and fast-break layup around a block of Tyja Beans.
NO. 5 MISSISSIPPI 81, NO. 12 GONZAGA 66
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Latasha Lattimore led a balanced offense with 15 points as Mississippi overpowered Gonzaga.
Cotie McMahon scored 13 points and Sira Thienou had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Mississippi, who will face the winner of the matchup between Minnesota and Green Bay on Sunday.
Denim DeShields added 11 points and four assists for the No. 5-seed Rebels (24-11), who were ranked 19th in the most recent AP poll and are playing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament.
Allie Turner led Gonzaga, champions of the West Coast Conference Tournament, with 27 points. Jaiden Haile had 11 points and eight rebounds and Lauren Whittaker added eight points and 13 rebounds.
After falling behind by as much as 13 in the first quarter, No. 12-seed Gonzaga (24-10) got a three-point play by Haile and a driving layup by Turner to cut the deficit to 25-19 midway through the second.
But Ole Miss responded with a 14-4 run that started with consecutive second-chance buckets by Lattimore in the low post. McMahon capped the run with a 3-pointer to send the Rebels into the locker room leading 39-23.
FORT WORTH 1 REGIONAL
NO. 5 MARYLAND 99, NO. 12 MURRAY ST. 67
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Redshirt freshman Kyndal Walker scored a career-high 20 points and she had plenty of help from Maryland teammates as the Terrapins defeated Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Mir McLean scored 19 points and Addi Mack added 18 points, while Yarden Garzon had 12 points and Saylor Poffenbarger added 10 points for fifth-seeded Maryland, which hammered the Racers on the boards.
The Terrapins (24-8), who matched their highest point total in a regulation game this season with the aid of 50% shooting from the field, will meet the North Carolina-Western Illinois winner in Sunday’s second round.
Halli Poock poured in 27 points and Haven Ford and Keslyn Secrist each scored 17 points for No. 12 seed Murray State (31-4), which finished with a school-record win total even though its 15-game winning streak ended.
Maryland’s 24 offensive rebounds were more than Murray State’s overall rebounding total in what finished as a 51-21 gap on the boards.
FORT WORTH 3 REGIONAL
NO. 8 OREGON 70, NO. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 60
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Katie Fiso scored 22 points and Oregon used a dominant third quarter to pull away from Virginia Tech for a win to open the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Ehis Etute added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 8-seed Ducks (23-12) who took control of the game with an 18-0 run in the third and advance to the second round of the tournament for the second consecutive season. They earned a matchup with the winner of Friday’s game between No. 1 Texas (31-3) and No. 16 Missouri State (23-12).
Mia Jacobs added 13 points for Oregon, Carys Baker scored 21 to lead the No. 9-seed Hokies (23-10), who shot under 30 percent over the first three quarters.
Fiso and Oregon started the game by making nine of their first 11 shots and led 22-11 by the end of the first quarter. The Hokies went more than six minutes without a field goal, and leading scorer Carleigh Wenzel went to the bench with two early fouls.
Wenzel stayed out the entire second quarter, but Virginia Tech rallied to within 32-29 before Oregon closed the half with a 3-pointer by Jacobs.
Etute scored seven points in the Ducks’ big run in the third and Fiso hit a step-back 3-pointer when she was left at the top of the arc. Oregon stretched the lead as high as 22 in the quarter.
SACRAMENTO 4 REGIONAL
NO. 3 TCU 86, NO. 14 UC SAN DIEGO 40
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Olivia Miles had her 12th career triple-double with 12 points and career highs of 16 rebounds and 14 assists as TCU beat UC San Diego in a first-round NCAA Tournament game, giving the Horned Frogs their 43rd consecutive win at home.
Miles has the assists on the first four baskets for the Frogs as they went ahead to stay, going up 11-2 in the first 2:02 of the game. They scored the final 19 points of the game to make the final score the largest margin.
“You saw within the first four minutes of the game the pep, the pop she played with. I mean she was in attack mode,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “When Olivia’s like that, our team feeds off it and we’re at a whole different level.”
Taylor Bigby added a career-high 27 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven 3-pointers for TCU (30-5), which also got double-doubles from Clara Silva (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Marta Suarez (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Miles became only the third player with multiple triple-doubles in women’s NCAA Tournament games, with her other coming while at Notre Dame in 2022. She came out of the game right after her 3-pointer with 4:50 left for a 74-40 lead. Her 14 assists set TCU’s single-game record, matching her best set at Notre Dame.
NO. 6 WASHINGTON 72, NO. 11 S. DAKOTA ST. 54
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Avery Howell had 30 points and nine rebounds to lead Washington to its first women’s NCAA Tournament victory since 2017, beating South Dakota State.
South Dakota State jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first five minutes, but the game was tied at 15 when Howell made a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the first quarter. Howell made another 3 only 55 seconds into the second quarter to break that tie and put Washington (22-10) ahead to stay.
Howell, the transfer from Southern Cal who as a freshman last season was part of the Trojans’ run to the Elite Eight, finished with seven 3s.
“That allowed me to have some experience and just feel really comfortable in these type of high-pressure situations,” Howell said, referring to her previous NCAA tourney. “That just allows me to hopefully be a calming presence on the court and just be there for my teammates and for my coaches in any way that I can.”
Brooklyn Meyer had 29 points and seven rebounds for South Dakota State (27-7), which had its 10-game winning streak snapped. Emilee Fox had 14 points.
Brynn McGaughy added 14 points in 18 minutes for the sixth-seeded Huskies, whose last NCAA tourney win came on their way to the Sweet 16 nine years ago. They lost a First Four game to Columbia last season in what had been their only other appearance since then.
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