Sixes are wild as UCLA and South Dakota State reach Sweet 16
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Michaela Onyenwere scored a career-high 30 points, Japreece Dean added 22 and UCLA squeezed past No. 3 seed Maryland 85-80 Monday night to earn its fourth consecutive berth in the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament.
Dean, the smallest player on the court, sank two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to make it 83-79, and the Bruins held on to beat the Terrapins on their own court.
No. 6 seed UCLA (22-12) will next face second-seeded UConn (33-2) on Friday in the semifinal round of the Albany Region.
Maryland led 76-74 before UCLA's Kennedy Burke grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a put-back. Teammate Lindsey Corsaro followed with a three-point play with 3:34 left.
Brianna Fraser answered with a layup for the Terrapins to make it 79-78 with 3:16 remaining, and neither team scored again until Burke hit a jumper with 1:03 to go.
Kaila Charles led Maryland (29-5) with 23 points.
No. 4 OREGON STATE 76, No. 5 GONZAGA 70
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Mikayla Pivec had 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and Oregon State withstood Gonzaga.
The Beavers (26-7) will travel across country to Albany to face top-seeded Louisville, which defeated No. 8 Michigan 71-50 on Sunday.
Destiny Slocum, Taya Corosdale and Maddie Washington and Aleah Washington added 12 points apiece for Oregon State, which is headed to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season.
Zykera Rice finished with 20 points for Gonzaga (29-5). Chandler Smith added 13.
CHICAGO REGION
No. 1 NOTRE DAME 91, No. 9 MICHIGAN STATE 63
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and two teammates had double-doubles as Notre Dame ran away from Michigan State in the first half.
Jackie Young gave coach Muffet McGraw and the Purcell Pavilion crowd a scare when she fell hard to the floor just seconds before the end of the third quarter. She was ok and finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Fighting Irish, who are in the Sweet 16 for the 10th straight season. They will play No. 4-seed Texas A&M Saturday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Brianna Turner had 14 points and 11 rebounds in becoming Notre Dame's all-time leading rebounder, passing All-American Ruth Riley from the 2001 NCAA champions.
For the second straight game, Sidney Cooks came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Jenna Allen closed her Michigan State (21-12) career with 12 points.
No. 2 STANFORD 72, No. 7 BYU 63
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Alanna Smith had 23 points and 14 rebounds, helping Stanford overcome a slow start and advance to the Sweet 16 for a 12th straight year by holding off BYU.
Smith found her shooting stroke in the second half playing her final game at Maples Pavilion while Kiana Williams added 13 points for the Cardinal (30-4). Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer called on her team to relax in the second half and Stanford began clicking to win its season-best 11th straight game. The Cardinal move on to face 11th-seeded Missouri State on Saturday in the Chicago Regional semifinals.
The Cardinal pulled away using a 16-0 run in the third quarter as scrappy BYU (26-7) missed 10 straight shots during that decisive stretch. The Cougars went ahead 35-34 on a 3 by Shaylee Gonzales with 7:50 left in the quarter before the Cardinal took charge.
Gonzales scored 32 points for the West Coast Conference champion Cougars.
No. 11 MISSOURI STATE 69, No. 3 IOWA STATE 60
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Alexa Willard scored 17 points to help Missouri State stun Iowa State, becoming the only double-digit seed to reach this year's Sweet 16.
Abby Hipp had 11 points and Danielle Gitzen scored 10 for the Lady Bears (25-9), who will compete in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal for the first time since the Jackie Stiles-led team in 2001. They'll face either Stanford or BYU in Chicago after becoming the ninth team in 10 years to reach the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed.
Iowa State (26-9) played much of the fourth quarter within a possession of the lead, only to let Missouri State answer time and time again. Sydney Manning extended the Lady Bears' lead to 60-54 on a 3, her only field goal of the game, and Willard followed with a jumper.
Gitzen answered an empty Cyclones possession with two free throws, and Bridget Carleton threw the ball away at the 1:07 mark with Iowa State down 65-58. The Cyclones then inexplicably failed to foul Missouri State, allowing the Lady Bears to burn nearly 30 seconds off the clock.
Carleton had 31 points in her final game to lead Iowa State
PORTLAND REGION
No. 6 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 75, No. 3 SYRACUSE 64
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Madison Guebert scored 18 of her 20 points on 3-pointers, including two critical 3s in the fourth quarter, to lead South Dakota State to a win over Syracuse.
The victory sends the Jackrabbits (28-6) to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. They will face No. 2 Oregon on Friday in the regional semifinals in Portland, Oregon.
Guebert had 14 of her points in the second half. Myah Selland added 17 for South Dakota State, Macy Miller had 11, and Paiton Burckhard 10.
Tiana Mangakahia led Syracuse (25-9) with 18 points.
GREENSBORO REGION
No. 1 BAYLOR 102, No. 8 CALIFORNIA 63
WACO, Texas (AP) — Juicy Landrum scored 20 points with four 3-pointers and Baylor advanced to the women's NCAA Sweet 16 for the 11th season in a row with a win over California.
The Big 12 champion Lady Bears (33-1) were trailing late in the first quarter before a 25-2 run turned their third NCAA meeting in six seasons against Cal into yet another lopsided victory. They have a 25-game winning streak.
Chloe Jackson, the first graduate transfer to play for Baylor, scored eight of her 18 points in that big run and finished eight-of-12 shooting.
Cal (20-13) led 16-14 after All-Pac-12 center Kristine Anigwe made a jumper, her only made field goal of the first half, with 1:14 left in the first quarter. Baylor then scored 15 points in a row to start the bigger game-turning spurt.
Anigwe finished with 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting and five rebounds. It was the first time the 6-foot-4 senior didn't have a double-double — she had been the only player, men or women, with a double-double in every game this season until then.
No. 3 N.C. STATE 72, No. 6 KENTUCKY 57
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Kiara Leslie had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and North Carolina State pulled away to beat Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman Elissa Cunane added 13 points and 15 rebounds, DD Rogers had 11 points and 11 boards, and the third-seeded Wolfpack (28-5) dominated the glass while earning their second straight trip to the Sweet 16.
N.C. State — which had a 50-31 rebounding advantage — will play second-seeded Iowa (28-6) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Greensboro Region.
Freshman Rhyne Howard scored 21 points and Maci Morris had 18 for the sixth-seeded Wildcats (25-8).
