Women’s NCAA Tournament roundup: Oregon State downs Boise State in overtime, sets up second-round showdown with Gonzaga

Mikayla Pivec had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and the fourth-seeded Oregon State Beavers withstood a major scare from No. 13 Boise State for an 80-75 overtime victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in Corvallis, Oregon.

Aleah Goodman added 20 points for the Beavers (25-7).

Marta Hermida had 22 points for the Broncos (28-5), vying to become the first No. 13 seed to beat a No. 4 since Marist topped Georgia in 2012.

Destiny Slocom’s layup gave the Beavers a 72-68 advantage in overtime and put the home crowd at Gill Coliseum on its feet. Slocom added another layup before Rachel Bowers’ jumper for the Broncos cut the deficit to 74-70.

Bowers made free throws to get Boise State within two but then missed a pair with 33 seconds left. The ball went out of bounds under Boise State’s basket and possession went to Oregon State after a lengthy review.

Pivec converted free throws on the other end, but Riley Lupfer made a 3-pointer to cut the Beavers’ lead to 76-75. Goodman’s free throws kept Oregon State in front, and Lupfer missed a 3 that would have tied it.

(3) Maryland 73, (14) Radford 51: Taylor Mikesell scored 16 points, Kaila Charles had 14 points and nine rebounds, and the Terrapins (29-4) used a relentless defensive effort to overpower the Highlanders (26-7) in College Park, Maryland.

Stephanie Jones added 12 points and Shakira Austin tallied 11 for the Terrapins, who advanced to the second round for the 15th time in 15 tries under coach Brenda Frese.

Mikesell, a freshman guard, made four 3-pointers to set the school single-season record of 94.

(6) UCLA 89, (11) Tennessee 77: UCLA put a rapid end to Tennessee’s 38th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as the Bruins (21-12) blunted a second-half comeback bid and using an impressive performance by Michaela Onyenwere to top the Lady Volunteers (19-13) in College Park, Maryland.

After squeezing into the tournament with an at-large bid, the Lady Volunteers erased a 17-point deficit before losing in the first round for only the second time in school history.

Tennessee is the lone program to compete in every NCAA Tournament since the event was first held for women in 1982.

Chicago Region

(1) Notre Dame 92, (16) Bethune-Cookman 50: Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and teammate Jessica Shepard had a double-double as the Fighting Irish (31-3) downed the Lady Wildcats (21-11) in South Bend, Indiana.

Ogunbowale hit 8-of-15 shots while adding three steals for the Fighting Irish, who never trailed.

(2) Stanford 79, (15) UC Davis 54: Alanna Smith scored the first nine Stanford points of the third quarter on the way to 21, and her Cardinal (29-4) came out shooting from the get go to beat the Northern California neighbor Aggies (25-7) in Stanford, California.

Kiana Williams added 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting with three 3-pointers and dished out five assists while Smith went 9 of 14 from the floor with three 3s. Stanford shot 49.2 percent against the overmatched Aggies, who were riding a 16-game winning streak into the program’s second NCAA berth.

(3) Iowa State 97, (14) New Mexico State 61: Bridget Carleton led four players in double figures with 23 points and the Cyclones (26-8) routed the Aggies (26-6) in Ames, Iowa, for their first NCAA Tournament win since 2013.

Alexa Middleton had 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Cyclones, who were one-and-done in their last three trips to the Big Dance.

(11) Missouri State 89, (6) DePaul 78: Alexa Willard and Danielle Gitzen each scored 20 points and the Lady Bears (24-9) stunned the Blue Demons (26-8), snapping the Blue Demons’ five-game winning streak in opening-round NCAA Tournament games.

Freshman Elle Ruffridge had a career-high 15 points for the surprisingly stout Lady Bears.

(7) BYU 73, (10) Auburn 64: Brenna Chase had 19 points, seven assists and three blocked shots, and the Cougars (26-6) used an impressive third quarter to run away from the Tigers (22-10) in Stanford, California.

Shaylee Gonzales scored 17 points and Caitlyn Alldredge added 14 as the West Coast Conference champion Cougars overcame Auburn’s in-your-face, pressure-at-every-chance defense by playing their own stellar D – getting four blocks from 6-foot-7 Sara Hamson.

The Cougars hit 7 of their first 10 shots out of halftime and used an 11-0 run in the third to take control, while Auburn continued to struggle shooting and missed eight in a row during a costly stretch.

(9) Michigan State 88, (8) Central Michigan 87: Shay Colley’s driving layup with 7.6 seconds left lifted the Spartans (21-11) over the Chippewas (25-8) in South Bend, Indiana.

The Chippewas had one final chance, but Micaela Kelly’s off-balance, hurried 15-footer at the buzzer was off the mark. Central Michigan had taken an 87-86 lead on Presley Hudson’s 3-pointer with 20.3 seconds remaining.

Greensboro Region

No. 1 Baylor 95, No. 16 Abilene Christian 38: Kalani Brown had 17 points and 11 rebounds while playing only 18 minutes and the Bears (32-1) overwhelmed the NCAA Tournament first-timer Wildcats (23-10) in Waco, Texas.

Brown, a 6-foot-7 senior center, had 10 of her points as Baylor scored the game’s first 20 points.

(3) N.C. State 63, (14) Maine 51: Kiara Leslie scored 20 points and the Wolfpack (25-7) beat the Black Bears (25-8) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Freshman Elissa Cunane added 16 points in her first tournament game and Kai Crutchfield had 14 points to help the Wolfpack advance.

(6) Kentucky 82, (11) Princeton 77: Taylor Murray scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, and the Wildcats (25-7) beat the Tigers (22-10).

Maci Morris added 19 points, freshman Rhyne Howard had 15 and Tatyana Wyatt finished with 12 for Kentucky.

(8) California 92, (9) North Carolina 72: Kristine Anigwe extended her season-long streak of double-doubles with 18 points and 22 rebounds as the Golden Bears (20-12) rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half to beat the Tar Heels (18-15) in Waco, Texas.

Anigwe scored all but two of her points after halftime for the Golden Bears. The 6-foot-4 senior center is the only player, men or women, with a double-double in every game this season, and she also broke the Pac-12 single-season rebounding record.

Portland Region

(3) Syracuse 70, (14) Fordham 49: Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia just missed a triple-double with 21 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Orange (25-8) past the Rams (25-9) in Syracuse, New York.

Gabrielle Cooper had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting for the Orange, and forward Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi had 10 points. Mangakahia also had five steals.

(6) South Dakota State 76, (11) Quinnipiac 65: Macy Miller scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Jackrabbits (27-6) over the Bobcats (26-7).

The victory was the 17th straight for the Jackrabbits.