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Here’s Part 2 of our roundup of Friday’s action:
No. 10 seed Princeton Tigers over No. 7 seed NC State Wolfpack, 64-63
Princeton only needed a two to tie the game, but with time winding down Grace Stone had an open look at a three from the right corner and pulled the trigger. The trey went through at four seconds remaining and proved to be the thrilling game-winner for the Tigers against the preseason-No. 10 Wolfpack, who were unable to get a shot off on their final possession.
The Wolfpack were without leading scorer Diamond Johnson due to injury.
Stone tied teammate Kaitlyn Chen with a game-high 22 points. Stone got hers on a 5-of-12 effort from downtown and added five rebounds and four steals. Chen was good for seven boards and four assists. Julia Cunningham (14 points, eight helpers) and Ellie Mitchell (four points, 11 rebounds, five swipes, four blocks) were also key.
Princeton won this game by winning the turnover margin by 11.
No. 9 seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits over No. 8 seed USC Trojans, 62-57 (OT)
Destiny Littleton hit a three with seven seconds left in regulation to tie it for USC and Myah Selland missed a shot to win it for South Dakota State at the buzzer. The Jackrabbits bounced back in overtime to take the five-point win.
Selland finished with 29 points and nine rebounds, while teammate Paige Meyer added 16 points and Kallie Theisen had six points, 10 boards, three steals and two blocks. Rayah Marshall nearly had a triple-double in defeat with 17 points, 13 rebounds, three swipes and seven rejections. Littleton finished with 18 points and four assists.
The Jackrabbits attempted and made 13 more free throws and won points off turnovers 25-15.
No. 11 seed Mississippi State Bulldogs over No. 6 seed Creighton Bluejays, 81-66
Creighton’s tournament magic was nowhere to be found this year and perhaps its Jan. 4 loss to lowly Providence was a sign of its vulnerability.
The Bulldogs won the first 25-16 and the third 18-8 to create their advantage. JerKaila Jordan (20 points, four steals), Jessika Carter (14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) and Anastasia Hayes (12 points, seven assists) starred for the winners.
Creighton’s tournament hero from a year ago, Lauren Jensen, led the Bluejays with 22 points to go along with five helpers and two swipes. She was a solid 4-of-11 from distance and Emma Ronsiek (21 points) was 3-of-6, but Morgan Maly was 0-of-8.
Mississippi State won field goal percentage 49.1 to 37.3 and 3-point percentage 57.9 (11-of-19) to 26.5. The Bulldogs also attempted 12 more free throws and made 11 more with a great 18-of-20 performance at the stripe.
No. 8 seed Ole Miss Rebels over No. 9 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs, 71-48
The Rebels dominated the middle two quarters en route to an impressive win over the Bulldogs. Ole Miss received balanced scoring with 10 players scoring at least three points, five scoring at least eight and Snudda Collins leading the way with 15. Madison Scott added a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Yvonne Ejim posted 19 points, eight boards and two steals in defeat.
The Rebels held Gonzaga to 29.3 percent shooting from the field and 1-of-17 shooting from three. They also outrebounded the Bulldogs 51-36, won second-chance points 21-9 and only turned the ball over eight times.
No. 2 seed Utah Utes over No. 15 seed Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, 103-77
Alissa Pili neared a triple-double for the Utes with 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. She did all that in just 26 minutes. Jenna Johnson added 20 points, five helpers and two steals to the winning cause, while Gianna Kneepkens was good for 17 points and nine boards.
Utah posted 27 points in each quarter except the second, when it had 22. Gardner-Webb matched the Utes with 27 points in the third. Jhessyka Williams managed 20 points and four swipes in defeat, while Ki’Ari Cain added 14 points and six helpers and Alasia Smith had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Utes shot a blistering 58.7 percent from the field, including a 7-of-16 effort from downtown. They were 22-of-28 from the stripe and won points in the paint 60-26.
No. 3 seed LSU Tigers over No. 14 seed Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine, 73-50
Angel Reese showed up in a big way in her first NCAA Tournament game in an LSU uniform with 34 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Flau’jae Johnson added 10 points, six boards and five assists, while Alexis Morris (six points, four swipes) didn’t have to contribute much.
LSU won the first 18-7 and the fourth 25-17. Both Kallin Spiller and Daejah Phillips had 13 points for the Rainbow Wahine.
The Tigers won despite going 1-of-14 from beyond the arc and giving up seven treys. They won the turnover margin by 11, points in the paint 44-16 and second-chance points 17-8.
No. 1 seed Virginia Tech Hokies over No. 16 seed Chattanooga Mocs, 58-33
None other than Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore led the way in this one. Kitley had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Amoore dropped a game-high 22 points. The Hokies won the first 18-8, the second 13-8 and the fourth 16-6. The third was even at 11 apiece. Raven Thompson was Chattanooga’s top performer with 10 points, eight boards and two steals.
VA Tech won field goal percentage 47.9 to 28.6 and the Mocs were just 1-of-5 at the free throw line. The Hokies won the battle on the glass 38-22. Both teams turned the ball over 15 times.
No. 1 seed Stanford Cardinal over No. 16 seed Sacred Heart Pioneers, 92-49
Playing without Cameron Brink due to a non-COVID illness, Stanford used balanced scoring to defeat the Pioneers. It had 10 players find the scoring column, with seven scoring at least nine points and Haley Jones leading the way with 17 to go along with six rebounds. Fran Belibi was also key with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The Cardinal led by just five after one before winning the second 22-8, the third 28-11 and the fourth 19-12.
Sacred Heart was led by Ny’Ceara Pryor’s 12 points.
Stanford won field goal percentage 49.3 to 30.5 and won despite a 12-of-21 effort at the free throw line. It dominated rebounds 57-28 and only turned the ball over seven times.