No. 1 seed South Carolina began its pursuit of a third national championship in four seasons on Friday afternoon with a 108-48 rout of No. 16-seeded Tennessee Tech in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (31-3) allowed the game’s first two points, then proceeded to outscore the Ohio Valley Conference champion Eagles 33-10 for the remainder of the first quarter. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley used the mismatch to give nine players floor time through the opening 10 minutes, and seven of them made at least one field goal.
The Gamecock lead swelled to 33 points by halftime, with seven South Carolina scorers going into intermission having produced at least six points. Freshman Joyce Edwards, making her NCAA Tournament debut, scored 14 of her game-high 22 points before the break.
Tessa Johnson added another 11 points off the bench to go with six assists, and Chloe Kitts finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Taris Thornton led Tennessee Tech (26-6) with 13 points before fouling out.
With the win, South Carolina advances to face Indiana in the second round Sunday of the Birmingham Region 1. The Gamecocks look to become the first repeat national championship winner in the Women’s NCAA Tournament since Connecticut claimed four straight from 2013-16.
No. 9 Indiana 76, No. 8 Utah 68
Shea Ciezki scored nine of her 16 points in a pivotal third quarter to help lead ninth-seeded Indiana past eighth-seeded Utah in Friday’s first game in Columbia.
The Hoosiers (20-12) broke a 31-31 halftime stalemate with 27 third-quarter points, building a lead that reached as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter. Ciezki’s 3-of-3 shooting from the floor in the third period paced Indiana to a red-hot 10-of-12 performance as a team.
Five Hoosiers scored in double figures for the game, led by Yarden Garzon’s 17 points. Garzon hit two clutch free throws in the closing seconds to hold off a late Utah rally.
The Utes (22-9) battled back to pull within four points multiple times over the final three minutes. Gianna Kneepkens hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, part of her game-high 24 points, but Utah could get no closer down the stretch.
Chloe Moore-McNeil scored 12 points for Indiana and dished eight assists, while Lilly Meister shot 5-of-5 from the floor for 11 points off the bench.
No. 10 Oregon 77, No. 7 Vanderbilt 73 (OT)
After coughing up a 19-point lead in regulation, Birmingham Region 2 No. 10 seed Oregon recovered in overtime to outlast seventh-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday in Durham, North Carolina.
The Ducks (20-11) had multiple opportunities to put away the Commodores in regulation after Vanderbilt rallied with a 20-6 fourth-quarter run. The Ducks missed three free throws in the final 34 seconds, including a pair after Sofia Bell came away with a steal from Mikayla Blakes with 27 seconds remaining.
Following Bell’s missed foul shots Iyana Moore fed Leilani Kapinus inside for a game-tying layup with four seconds remaining.
Vanderbilt (22-11) and Oregon swapped the lead and tied for the first four minutes of overtime, until the Ducks closed on a 4-0 run — with all four points scored at the foul line.
Deja Kelly led Oregon with 20 points. Nani Falatea shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range en route to 17 points.
Blakes scored a game-high 26 points for Vanderbilt before fouling out.
No. 2 Duke 86, No. 15 Lehigh 25
Second-seeded Duke threatened the NCAA Tournament record for fewest points allowed in its rout of No. 15 Lehigh on Friday.
The Blue Devils (27-7) held the Patriot League champion Mountain Hawks to just two points on 1-of-12 shooting from the floor in the second quarter. Host Duke took a 33-10 lead into halftime and only continued to dominate from there.
Lehigh (27-7) was stuck on 19 points until midway through the fourth quarter, two shy of the tournament record low to which South Carolina held Howard in a 79-21 blowout in 2022.
The Mountain Hawks cleared that mark, but not by much. Duke held Lehigh to 9-of-46 shooting from the floor for the game while forcing 30 turnovers.
The Blue Devils posted more points off turnovers with 35 and second-chance points with 26 than Lehigh managed in total.
Oluchi Okananwa led Duke with 15 points. Delaney Thomas finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, and Toby Fournier added another 11 points. Nine Duke scorers overall finished with at least six points.
Ella Stemmer led Lehigh with eight points.
–Field Level Media
