Jordan Lee hit for 19 points and Madison Booker added 14 points and 12 rebounds as No. 1 Texas dispatched No. 16 Missouri State 87-45 on Friday afternoon in an NCAA Tournament first-round Fort Worth 3 Region game in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (32-3), the Southeastern Conference tournament champion, advance to play No. 8 Oregon. Texas set the tone early on by scoring the game’s first 12 points and eventually leading 19-4 after the opening period. By halftime, the margin was 34 points as the Longhorns held Missouri State to just 12 points and 13.8% shooting (4 of 29) on its field goals in the first half.
Kyla Oldacre contributed 15 points off the bench for the Longhorns in the victory while Bryanna Preston scored 10. Texas shot 50% from the floor, forced 19 turnovers that it used to score 28 points, outrebounded the Lady Bears 49-27 and scored 50 of its points in the paint.
Missouri State (23-13), which beat Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday in a First Four game to earn a spot versus Texas, was led by Kaemyn Bekemeier’s 14 points. Maiesha Washington and Lainie Douglas had 11 points each while Douglas took eight rebounds.
No. 8 Oregon 70, No. 9 Virginia Tech 60
Katie Fiso scored 22 points as the Ducks dominated the first and third quarters to outlast the Hokies in Austin, Texas.
Fiso made 9 of 12 shots, adding four assists, three rebounds and two blocks for Oregon (23-12), which outscored Virginia Tech 22-11 in the first quarter and 20-11 in the third. The Ducks got 13 points from Mia Jacobs as well as 11 points and 11 rebounds from Ehis Etute. They made 48.2% of their shots and held a 34-16 edge in paint points.
Carys Baker paired 21 points with 14 boards for the Hokies (23-10). She made 8 of 15 field goals (53.3%) while the rest of the team was 13-of-51 shooting (25.5%). Leading scorer Carleigh Wenzel (15.3 points per game) scored nine on 2-of-12 shooting, including 0-for-5 from 3.
No. 2 Michigan 83, No. 15 Holy Cross 48
Mila Holloway drilled five 3-pointers on the way to 20 points and matched Olivia Olson with a game-high eight rebounds as the Wolverines cruised in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan (26-6) moved past a lopsided loss to Iowa in its Big Ten tournament semifinal on March 7, placing five players in double figures while leading by as many as 35 points.
Holloway, who added seven assists, hit a trey from the top of the key in the closing seconds of the first quarter to give the Wolverines a 27-6 advantage. Holy Cross (23-10) shot just 3 for 16 in the opening quarter and went 37% for the game. The Crusaders committed 20 turnovers as their winning streak ended at nine.
Kaitlyn Flanagan led Holy Cross with 11 points while Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly grabbed six rebounds.
Syla Swords scored 13 points for Michigan while Brooke Quarles Daniels and Olson chipped in 12 apiece. Te’Yala Delfosse was next with 10. The Wolverines will face North Carolina State in the second round Sunday.
No. 7 N.C. State 76, No. 10 Tennessee 61
Zamareya Jones had 30 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and a 10-of-13 performance from the free-throw line to lead N.C. State to a victory over Tennessee at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Khamil Pierre had a double-double (16 points and 12 rebounds) for N.C. State (21-10), while Talaysia Cooper finished with 24 points for Tennessee (16-14).
The Wolfpack made 10 of its first 14 shots, shooting 71.4% from the field, to take a 26-19 lead after the first quarter. N.C. State led for all but the first 49 seconds of the game.
Tennessee cut the lead to 48-46 with 3:03 left in the third quarter, but N.C. State scored the last six points of the quarter. The Wolfpack pulled away to a 66-52 lead with 6:13 left.
–Field Level Media
