SAN ANTONIO REGIONAL
Tulsa upsets N.C. State
Megan Moody made sure Tulsa’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament wasn’t a one-game affair.
The senior scored 20 points and the Golden Hurricane (26-5) converted seven free throws in the final minute to hold off North Carolina State 71-61 in a near-empty arena on Saturday night in Rosemont, Ill.
Tulsa will play DePaul in the second round of the San Antonio Regional on Monday.
Moody shot 8 for 15 from the floor, including 2 for 2 on 3-pointers, and grabbed eight rebounds. Tandem Mays and Emily Jaskowiak scored 17 apiece, and Mays had seven assists.
Jillian Robbins, the Conference USA player of the year, had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Tiffany Stansbury scored 11 for the Wolfpack (19-12), a first-round loser for the third straight year.
Also at Rosemont, Ill.
(4) DePaul (26-6) 68
(13) Liberty (25-6) 43
Khara Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading the Blue Demons to a victory over the Flames.
Coach Doug Bruno’s Blue Demons advance to a Monday game against Tulsa.
Liberty lost this season’s leading scorer and rebounder, Megan Frazee, to a knee injury in January.
The 6-foot-2 Smith is the daughter of former NBA player Ken Norman.
At Denver
(3) Stanford (24-7) 72
(14) S.E. Missouri St. (22-9) 45
Candice Wiggins popped out for 3-pointers, pulled up for jumpers and weaved through the lane for layups.
The Redhawks didn’t have an answer for the Pac-10’s player of the year and now the Cardinal are headed to the second round of the tournament – again.
Wiggins picked apart Southeast Missouri State’s defense for 21 points and Stanford dominated the lane at both ends.
Though sloppy at times – 17 turnovers – Stanford played like a third seed should against a 14, putting the game away early and resting its starters down the stretch to move on to Monday’s second round against Florida State.
(7) BYU (26-5) 67
(10) Iowa (17-12) 62
Ambrosia Anderson scored 20 points and BYU used its post play early to open up the perimeter as the Cougars won their first NCAA tournament game in four years with a victory over the Hawkeyes.
The seventh-seeded Cougars will play No. 2 seed Oklahoma on Monday in the second round.
Megan Skouby led Iowa with 19 points.
(2) Oklahoma (30-4) 78
(15) Pepperdine (14-17) 66
Freshman Courtney Paris had her way inside for 27 points and 11 rebounds, and the Sooners overcame a sluggish start en route to a victory over the Waves.
Britney Brown added 11 points and six assists, and Oklahoma reached 30 wins for the second time in school history to move on to Monday’s second round.
The Sooners made the first perfect run (16-0) through the Big 12 in the conference’s 10-year history and tied a school record with a 17-game winning streak to end the regular season.
Pepperdine opened the season 1-6 before winning eight of its final 10 games, including three straight for a surprising win in the West Coast Conference tournament to become the fourth team to qualify for the NCAA tournament with a losing record.
(6) Florida State (20-9) 80
(11) Louisiana Tech (26-5) 71
Holly Johnson scored 25 points, Alicia Gladden added 20 and the Seminoles used two big first-half runs to beat the Lady Techsters.
Louisiana Tech (26-5), the 11th seed, was led by Tamika Kursh’s 12 points and had its 12-game winning streak snapped.
The Lady Techsters, with 899 wins in school history, lost in the first round for the second straight year and will have to wait until next season to join Tennessee as the only women’s programs with 900 victories. The two teams are the only schools to appear in all 25 NCAA tournaments.
At Nashville, Tenn.
(1) LSU (28-3) 72
(16) Florida Atlantic (20-11) 48
Having the nation’s top scorer sure makes starting the NCAA tournament much easier.
Seimone Augustus, looking to cap her fabulous career with the national title that has eluded the Tigers in their last two trips to the Final Four, nearly outscored tournament newcomer Florida Atlantic all by herself Saturday.
Augustus scored 22 points in 27 minutes, then cheered her teammates from the bench as top-seeded LSU routed the Owls.
LSU will play No. 9 seed Washington in the second round Monday night.
ALBUQUERQUE REGIONAL
At Tucson, Ariz.
(11) New Mexico (22-9) 83
(6) Florida (21-9) 59
Florida traveled all the way from the swamp to the desert only to get blown out by New Mexico’s best night of basketball this season.
Jana Francis scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and the 11th-seeded Lobos got off to a strong start in a romp over the fifth-seeded Gators.
Katie Montgomery matched her career best with 21 points, 14 in the first half when she made four of five 3-pointers to help the Lobos to an overwhelming 48-24 lead at the break.
If New Mexico can knock off defending NCAA champion Baylor in the second round on Monday night, the Lobos will advance to the regional semifinals to be played on their home court in Albuquerque.
(5) Utah (25-6) 76
(12) Middle Tennessee (20-11) 71
Shona Thorburn brought Utah back from the brink of a first-round upset.
The junior guard scored eight of her 21 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes and the fifth-seeded Utes rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat the Blue Raiders.
Kim Smith, a four-time Mountain West Conference player of the year, struggled most of the game but scored five as Utah outscored the Blue Raiders 15-4 over the final 4:13.
Chrissy Givens had 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds but missed 3 of 4 free throws in the final 4 minutes for Middle Tennessee.
(3) Baylor (25-6) 74
(14) Northern Arizona (22-11) 56
Baylor is off to a ragged but winning start in defense of its NCAA title.
The Lady Bears bolted to a 23-point first-half lead then sputtered the rest of the way in a victory over the Lumberjacks.
Sophia Young scored 23 points, 16 in the first half, and grabbed 10 rebounds for Baylor.
BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL
At Rosemont, Ill.
(4) Michigan State (23-9) 65
(13) Wis.-Milwaukee (22-9) 46
Liz Shimek took over in the second half and Michigan State took off.
Shimek scored 17 of her 27 points in the final 20 minutes as the Spartans shook off a sluggish first half and pulled away from the Panthers.
Fourth-seeded Michigan State, which lost in the national championship game a year ago to Baylor, will face Kentucky on Monday.
(5) Kentucky (22-8) 69
(12) Chattanooga (27-4) 59
Sarah Elliott dominated and Kentucky ended the nation’s longest winning streak.
Elliott scored a season-high 22 points to help the fifth-seeded Wildcats end the Lady Mocs’ 26-game winning streak.
Kentucky is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999.
Elliott reached the 20-point mark for the third time in four games and grabbed 11 rebounds for Kentucky.
CLEVELAND REGIONAL
At Nashville, Tenn.
(1) North Carolina (30-1) 75
(16) UC Riverside (16-15) 51
The top-seeded and top-ranked Tar Heels only turned on their fun-and-run game in spurts and that was more than enough for a victory over the Highlanders.
Rashanda McCants scored 15 points, Latta added 14, Erlana Larkins 13 and LaToya Pringle 11 as the Tar Heels scored the first bucket and never looked back
(8) Vanderbilt (21-10) 76
(9) Louisville (19-10) 64
Caroline Williams hit six 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead the Commodores past the Cardinals.
The eighth-seeded Commodores will play No. 1 North Carolina on Monday. North Carolina defeated Vanderbilt 87-67 earlier this season.