RIVER WALK REGION
Baylor 101, Jackson State 52 – Moon Ursin scored a career height of 24 points and Baylor sent the second seeded Jackson State in San Antonio.
The American NaLyssa Smith added 18 points in the 8-of-9 shooting and had 10 rebounds for the bears (26-2). You will face Virginia Tech on Tuesday.
Keshuna Luckett led the 15th seeded Tigers (19-6) with 15 points.
Virginia Tech 70, Marquette 63 – Elizabeth Kitley had 23 points and Virginia Tech with the seventh seed built a big lead, holding Marquette with the tenth seed in San Marcos.
Kitley also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks for Virginia Tech (15-9).
Van Kleunen led Marquette (19-7) with 18 points.
Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee 62 – Rennia Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds and number 3 Tennessee took advantage of a dominant second half to beat Number 14 Middle Tennessee in Austin.
Rae Burrell scored 22 points and Jordan Walker had 9 points and 14 rebounds for Tennessee (17-7). The Vols outperformed the Blue Raiders (17-8), 56-21.
Tennessee meets Michigan in the second round.
Anastasia Hayes scored 26 points for Middle Tennessee.
Michigan 87, Florida Gulf Coast 66 – Leigha Brown scored 28 points, 17 in a row for Michigan with the sixth seed, and the Wolverines defeated the Florida Gulf Coast with the eleventh seed in San Antonio.
Big Ten Player of the Year, Naz Hillmon, finished the Wolverines with 14 points and 13 rebounds (15-5).
Kierstan Bell had 25 points for the Florida Gulf Coast (26-3). The Eagles have won 15 in a row.
Kentucky 71, Idaho State 63 – Rhyne Howard and Chasity Patterson each scored 14 points, and Kentucky in fourth place defeated Idaho state in 13th place in San Antonio.
Blair Green added 10 points for the Wildcats (18-8). You will play against Iowa in the second round.
Diaba Konate led the Big Sky Champion Bengals (22-4) with 16 points.
Iowa 87, Central Michigan 72 – Freshman Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer, had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and Iowa with the fifth seed defeated Central Michigan with the twelfth seed in San Antonio.
Monika Czinano also scored 23 points for Iowa (19-9).
Micaela Kelly had 23 points for Central Michigan (18-9).
UConn 102, High Point 59 – UConn got along well without trainer Geno Auriemma. Paige Bueckers scored 24 points and led the top huskies over High Point in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament in San Antonio.
Auriemma is recovering from the coronavirus and missed the opener. Assistant head coach Chris Dailey filled out the Hall of Famer, who will also miss the second round game against Syracuse on Tuesday.
Dailey is 11-0 for Auriemma during their time together at UConn (25-1). The Huskies also lacked assistant coach Shea Ralph, who left San Antonio after one of their relatives signed COVID-19.
It didn’t make much difference as the huskies drove behind their star newbie on their usual opening lap.
Bueckers, the third player to join the first-team All-America team as a freshman, had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in half as UConn led 53-29. She had one of the best debuts for UConn in the tournament, ending with 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Her 24 points exceeded the previous top rating of a 22-year-old novice from Katie Lou Samuelson.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 22 points.
It wasn’t all good news for the huskies. Freshman guard Nika Muhl stepped on Chyna McMichel’s foot and sprained her right ankle in the second quarter. She needed help from the seat and her ankle was badly wrapped.
While there weren’t many highs for the Panthers (22-7), who played in their first NCAA tournament, they took the lead 3-2 when the big south player of the year, Skyler Curran, scored a deep 3 out of just under 10 met feet behind the arch. UConn immediately replied with the next 8 dots and the router was switched on.
Curran led the Panthers with 14 points. The team was 9 for 34 on 3s.
Syracuse 72, South Dakota St., 55 – Emily Engstler scored 18 points and scored three 3-point points in the fourth quarter. Syracuse No. 8 withdrew from the US state of South Dakota No. 9 to win in Austin.
Syracuse led the fourth quarter at 50-48 before Englstler hit long-distance baskets for the orange and Syracuse slowly withdrew from there. Her third from a long distance did two jumps on the edge before breaking in to give Syracuse a 3:19 lead (66:52).
Engstler made four of Syracuse’s 12 3-handers. The Orange (15-8) had five players in the double digits in a methodical attack that brought in points from all over the place. Senior Guard Tania Mangakahia scored 11 with seven assists.
Paiton Burckhard scored 17 for South Dakota State (21-4).
ALAMO REGION
Oklahoma State 84, Wake Forest 61 – Natasha Mack had 27 points and 15 rebounds in the eighth Oklahoma State victory over the ninth Wake Forest in San Antonio.
Mack was 13 of 22 off the field for Oklahoma State (19-8). Ja’Mee Asberry added 18 points with four 3-pointers.
Christina Morra led Wake Forest (12-13) with 18 points.
The state of Oklahoma meets the winner of the Stanford-Utah Valley.
HEMISFAIR REGION
Georgia Tech 54, Stephen F. Austin – Lorela Cubaj recovered from a frightening fall and scored 14 points including overtime free throws. Fifth seeded Georgia Tech came back after a 17 point half-time deficit, turning 12 back-seed Stephen F. Austin in San Antonio.
The Yellow Jackets’ first win in the opening round since 2012 leads them to a matchup on Tuesday against the winner of fourth-seeded West Virginia and No. 13-seeded Lehigh.
Cubaj grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots for Georgia Tech. Lahtinen also scored 14 points and Kierra Fletcher added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Brittingham scored 16 points with 13 rebounds for the Ladyjacks (24-3), who had a winning streak of 19 games. Stephanie Visscher added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
South Carolina 79, Mercer 53 – South Carolina coach Dawn Staley celebrated her 500th career win when Aliyah Boston and the top-line Gamecocks defeated Mercer in the first round in San Antonio.
Staley is 328-102 in 13 seasons in South Carolina after playing 172-80 in eight seasons in Temple.
Boston had 20 points and 18 rebounds for South Carolina (23-4), which finally took the lead when it finished the first half with a 16-5 run. Victaria Saxton also scored 20 points in the Hemisfair Region game at the Alamodome.
The Gamecocks were national champions in 2017 when the Final Four was last played in Texas. They finished last season 32-1, spent the last 10 weeks in 1st place and Staley was AP coach of the year but got no chance to win another title as the NCAA tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
The Gamecocks play Oregon State in the second round.
Amoria Neal-Tysor had 15 points for Mercer (19-7).
Oregon State 83, Florida State 59 – Aleah Goodman had 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 0 turnovers, and the eighth Oregon State beat the ninth Florida State in San Antonio.
Taylor Jones added 18 points and eight rebounds for the State of Oregon (12-7).
Bianca Jackson had 17 points for Florida State (10-9).
