Women’s Tournament capsules: Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas A&M headed to Spokane
Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the second-seeded Oregon Ducks advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 101-73 victory over No. 10 Minnesota in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday night in Eugene.
It was the 11th straight victory for the Ducks, who are headed to the round of 16 for the second straight season. Oregon will play Ohio State or Central Michigan in Spokane on Saturday. Last year Oregon went to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
Ionescu was just short of her second straight and 11th career triple-double. A sophomore, Ionescu holds the all-time NCAA record for triple doubles.
Fellow sophomore Ruthy Hebard finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks, who led by as many as 34 points. Ionescu went to the bench with 8:31 left in the game and Oregon up by 30.
With her fourth assist of the game, Ionescu broke the Pac-12 single season record of 278, set by Arizona’s Brenda Pantoja in the 1995-96 season.
Carlie Wagner led the Golden Gophers with 20 points. Oregon’s 101 points were the most Minnesota had given up all year.
The Ducks, who won both the Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles, were coming off an 88-45 first-round victory over No. 15 seed Seattle. Ionescu finished with 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in that game.
Minnesota beat No. 7 Green Bay 89-77 on Friday. Kenisha Bell had 24 of her 26 points in the second half as the Gophers rallied from 10 points down at halftime.
(1) Notre Dame 98, (9) Villanova 72: Jessica Shepard had her fourth straight double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Fighting Irish (31-3) past the Wildcats (23-9) in South Bend, Indiana.
Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young had 24 points each and Marina Mabrey added 15 for the Irish (31-3), who held the Wildcats to just 27 second-half points in winning their 25th straight game at Purcell Pavilion.
Jannah Tucker led Villanova with 19 points, Kelly Jekot added 16 and Adrianna Hahn had 11 for Villanova, which missed all five 3-pointers it took in the second half after hitting 10 of 15 in the first 20 minutes.
(4) Texas A&M 80, (5) DePaul 79: Freshman Chennedy Carter hit a 3 with 3.2 seconds left, capping a 37-point performance, to help the Aggies (26-9) rally from a 17-point second-half deficit and beat the Blue Demons (27-8) in College Station, Texas.
Carter had 32 of her points after halftime and the fourth-seeded Aggies pulled off another stunning second half comeback for the second consecutive year. It was the largest comeback ever in the second round of the tournament and the fourth largest ever.
Texas A&M will play Notre Dame in Spokane on Saturday.
Lexington Region
(6) Oregon State 66, (3) Tennessee 59: Tennessee lost for the first time at home in women’s NCAA Tournament history when Marie Gulich had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Beavers (26-7) over the Lady Vols (24-8) in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The third-seeded Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who led the team to eight national championships. It’s the second straight season that Tennessee lost in the second round of the NCAAs and will miss the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program’s 37-year tournament history.
(2) Baylor 80, (7) Michigan 58: Lauren Cox had 18 points with 16 rebounds, and the Lady Bears (33-1) are going to the Sweet 16 for the 10th year in a row after a win over the Wolverines (23-10) in Waco, Texas.
Baylor takes a 30-game winning streak into its Lexington Regional semifinal on Friday against Oregon State.
(1) Louisville 90, (8) Marquette 72: Myisha Hines-Allen had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Asia Durr scored 19 points and the Cardinals (34-2) quickly pounced on the Golden Eagles (24-10) on the way to victory in Louisville, Kentucky.
Allazia Blockton had a career-high 34 points for Marquette.
Louisville will play Stanford or Florida Gulf Coast on Friday.
Kansas City Region
(4) North Carolina State 74, (5) Maryland 60: Kiara Leslie had 21 points and 11 rebounds against her former team, and the Wolfpack (26-8) defeated the Terrapins (26-8) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Leslie, who spent three seasons at Maryland before graduating and transferring to N.C. State, finished one point shy of a career high.
Kalia Ealey and Chelsea Nelson added 12 points apiece while Akela Maize scored 11 to help the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (26-8) earn their first Sweet 16 appearance since the late Kay Yow led an inspirational run in 2007.
N.C. State will play the Oklahoma State-Mississippi State winner on Friday night.
Albany Region
(2) South Carolina 66, (10) Virginia 56: A’ja Wilson had 25 points and 11 rebounds in her to lead the Gamecocks (28-6) to their fifth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 with a victory over the Cavaliers (19-14) in Columbia, South Carolina.