Maryland routs Alabama to reach women's Sweet 16
Terrapins entered tournament with nation's highest-scoring offence
Maryland and its offensive juggernaut are rolling fast and easy into the Sweet 16, getting 19 points from Angel Reese and overwhelming Alabama 100-64 on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Terrapins (27-2) came into the women's NCAA Tournament with the nation's highest-scoring offence and have yet to take their foot off the gas. The Terps are averaging 99 points in their two tournament wins after scoring 91.3 per game in the regular season.
Maryland hit the 100-point mark for the seventh time this season. The Terps also played aggressive, suffocating defence against the seventh-seeded Crimson Tide. Maryland harassed ballhandlers in the backcourt, smothered briefly open shooters and controlled the rebounding.
The Terps ran out to a 30-9 lead after the first quarter, shot 68 per cent over the first half and scored in every possible way. Mimi Collins scored her team's first nine points. Maryland made four consecutive three-pointers and Alabama looked bewildered just trying to find the ball.
By the second quarter, Maryland was pushing the ball inside for Reese, whose power moves and scoop layups in the post propelled a 24-point second quarter that built a 54-25 lead by halftime. Alabama paid for every mistake: Maryland turned 11 turnovers into 18 points in the first half.
Alabama finally showed some life to start the third quarter. Maryland missed its first two shots and consecutive three-pointers from the Crimson Tide cut the lead to 22.
That was enough for Maryland coach Brenda Frese, who won a national championship in 2006. After Frese called timeout, the ball pressure and quick ball movement returned and a 7-0 run with a three-pointer from Chloe Bibby had the lead back to 29 in a blur.
Missouri State headed to 2nd consecutive Sweet 16
Elle Ruffridge had a career-high 20 points with five three-pointers, Jasmine Franklin had a double-double and fifth-seeded Missouri State is going to its second consecutive Sweet 16 in the women's NCAA Tournament after knocking off Wright State 64-39 in matchup of mid-major teams.
The Lady Bears (23-2) pulled away in the second half when Ruffridge had 17 of her points. Franklin had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Ruffridge and Franklin are among nine current Lady Bears who were also part of the Sweet 16 team two years ago that lost to Stanford, the same team they will play in the Alamo Region semifinal Sunday.
Missouri State went ahead on two tiebreaking free throws by Brice Calip with 2 minutes left in the second quarter before Mya Bhinhar swished a three-pointer for a 24-19 halftime lead. Sydney Manning's three-pointer capped a 12-3 run to start the second half. That trio was also on the last Sweet 16 team.
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Angel Baker and Shamarre Hale each had 10 points for the 13th-seeded Raiders (19-8), who got outscored 40-20 after halftime. They had gotten their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in the opening round against Arkansas on Monday.
After opening this tournament with a 21-point win over UC Davis, another mid major, Missouri State now has to play the Cardinal, the No. 1 overall seed in this NCAA Tournament. Stanford beat the then-No. 11 seed Lady Bears in the Sweet 16 two years ago.
While there are a lot of returning players, the Lady Bears are getting to this Sweet 16 with a different coach. They were 26-4 last season in coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton's debut before the NCAA tourney was cancelled because of the pandemic.
Agugua-Hamilton succeeded Kellie Harper, who after coaching the 2019 Sweet 16 team was hired by Tennessee, her alma mater.
Wright State had tied the game at 19 when Emani Jefferson made a three-pointer that hit the rim, popped straight up and then fell through the net with 3:44 left in the half.
Familiar territory for Oregon
Sedona Prince scored 22 points, Nyara Sabally took over late and sixth-seeded Oregon beat No. 3 Georgia 57-50 to advance to its fourth straight Sweet 16.
Sabally scored six straight points — including a putback of her own missed shot — to break open a tie game and give the Ducks a 54-48 lead with less than a minute to go. She finished with 15 points, including 10 in the second half, and nine rebounds.
Oregon (15-8) is in the tournament for the 16th time overall, but this Ducks team came in less heralded than those led by Sabrina Ionescu, who missed out on her final chance at a national title last year because of the pandemic. Louisville or Northwestern awaits Oregon in the regional semifinals.
Jenna Staiti had 18 points and nine rebounds for Georgia (21-7), which was looking to reach its first Sweet 16 since 2013.
Louisville rallies from 18 down to beat Northwestern
Down big early, Kianna Smith and Louisville stayed calm. Then they put together one of the biggest comebacks in women's NCAA Tournament history.
Smith scored 16 points and the No. 2 seed Cardinals advanced to the Sweet 16 by rallying from 18 down to beat seventh-seeded Northwestern 62-53.
"We're tough. We got down early but we didn't give up," said Dana Evans, who added 14 points. "We didn't get rattled. We stayed together. We trusted the process."
The comeback was tied for the third-largest ever in the women's tournament, according to ESPN.
The Cardinals (25-3) got off to a rough start, trailing 25-7 late in the first quarter. It was the second straight game Louisville had a terrible start.
"Back-to-back ballgames now, going to change my pregame speech," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "Those two can't get much worse."
Louisville slowly started to chip away on offence thanks to stellar defence. After the opening 10 minutes, the Cardinals held Northwestern to 28 points the rest of the game.
Nixon's OT bank shot sends Texas A&M past Iowa State
Jordan Nixon banked in a short jump shot at the buzzer in overtime, giving her a career-high 35 points and lifting No. 2 Texas A&M to an 84-82 victory over seventh-seeded Iowa State.
Nixon scored seven of A&M's nine points in OT, pushing the Aggies (25-2) into the Sweet 16 for the third straight time. She also led the rally in the fourth quarter, scoring the last four points of regulation.
A three by Lexi Donarski put the Cyclones up by two with two minutes left in overtime, and Nixon tied it with a layup a few seconds later. Ciera Johnson blocked a layup by Ashley Joens with three seconds left before Nixon drove into the lane and threw up the game-winner.
The dramatic finish comes after the Aggies narrowly escaped an upset bid by No. 15 seed Troy in the first round. Texas A&M is chasing its second title in the 10th anniversary of its first one. It won its first SEC regular-season title this season and rose to as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 for the highest ranking in school history.
