NCAA women’s tournament: Late three-pointer seals Texas A&M’s 78-76 win over Marquette

Chennedy Carter scored 30 points, Shambria Washington made the go-ahead three-pointer late and No. 4 Texas A&M got a 78-76 win over fifth-seed Marquette in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday at College Station, Texas.

Texas A&M (26-7) moves on to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year where it will meet the winner of Monday night’s game between Michigan State-Notre Dame in Chicago on March 30.

A jump shot by Allazia Blockton tied it with a minute left and Amani Wilborn made 1 of 2 free throws with 36 seconds remaining, but a lane violation by A&M gave her one more shot and she made it to put Marquette up 76-74.

Carter found Washington on A&M’s next possession and she made the three-pointer to put the Aggies up 77-76 with 23 seconds left.

Carter stole an inbounds pass from Danielle King after a timeout with five seconds left and she was fouled by King. The Golden Eagles had to foul two more times to get in the bonus, leaving just 0.9 seconds left when Carter made 1 of 2 free throws to secure the win.

ALBANY REGION

No. 1 Louisville 71, No. 8 Michigan 50

Asia Durr scored 24 points, including 12 in the first quarter to lead the Cardinal to the win at Louisville, Ky.

The Cardinals (31-3) started fast and stayed in gear on the way to earning their third consecutive Sweet 16 berth.

Durr got them going with two assists before adding the first of five three-pointers in the game and a 4-point play. She finished 9 of 23 from the field and 5 of 14 from long range.

Sign up for our daily sports newsletter »

Louisville’s defense also came up big, holding the taller Wolverines to just 23 percent shooting in the second half and 43 percent overall. The Cardinals scored 28 points off 22 turnovers, forcing 17 by halftime alone.

Jazmine Jones added 15 points while Sam Fuehring and Dana Evans each had 10. Kylee Shook had 10 rebounds and guard Arica Carter seven after missing two games with a left knee injury.

Akienreh Johnson had 12 points and Kayla Robbins 10 for Michigan (22-12).

No. 2 UConn 84, Buffalo 72

Napheesa Collier scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Huskies moved into the Sweet 16 for a 26th consecutive season with the win at Storrs, Conn. Katie Lou Samuelson and freshman Christyn Williams each added 17 points for Connecticut (33-2).

Cierra Dillard, the nation’s second leading scorer, had 29 points to lead Buffalo, which made a big run in the fourth quarter but could not overcome a 24-point second-half deficit. The Mid-American Conference champions finish the season 24-10.

Buffalo never led and trailed 73-49 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. But the scrappy Bulls would not go away. They outscored the Huskies 12-2 to open the fourth, cutting the lead to 75-67.

Their hopes of a comeback were dealt a blow in the middle of that run when Dillard went down after rolling her left ankle in a collision with Collier. She had to be helped to the locker room, but came back into the game less than two minutes later, scoring five more points while clearly hobbled.

Her layup with 1:11 to go made it 79-71, but UConn hit its foul shots at the end to close out the game.

PORTLAND REGION

No. 5 Arizona State 57, No. 4 Miami 55

Robbi Ryan’s free throws with 5.0 seconds put the Sun Devils ahead to stayin a second-round game at Coral Gables, Fla. Arizona State (22-10) was down by as many as eight in the second half, and survived a game where it shot 35 percent. Jamie Ruden came off the bench to score a team-best 10 for the Sun Devils.

Laura Cornelius scored 15 for Miami (25-9), which was looking for its first Sweet 16 berth since 1992. Mykea Gray added 13 for Miami and Beatrice Mompremier grabbed 22 rebounds for the Hurricanes — who have never won two games in the same NCAA Tournament.

Both teams saw late chances slip away.

Arizona State had two shots for the lead — one a three-pointer by Ryan, the other a putback try by Sophia Elenga — miss, and Miami grabbed the rebound of the second of those with 10.2 seconds remaining. But the Hurricanes turned it over on the inbounds pass, and Ryan wound up making a pair of free throws that proved to be the deciding points.

Miami’s last chance went to senior Emese Hof, who got a good look and had her final attempt from the right block bounce off the rim as time expired.

No. 1 Mississippi St. 85, No. 9 Clemson 61

Teaira McCowan had 30 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks to help the Bulldogs roll to a win in Starkville, Miss.

Anriel Howard added 21 points for Mississippi State (32-2), which has won 10 straight games in a streak that’s lasted more than a month. The Bulldogs were in control throughout Sunday night, jumping out to a 23-10 lead by the end of the first quarter.

McCowan made 14 of 17 shots, repeatedly getting good position close to the rim for easy buckets. Howard shot 6 of 12 from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds. Jordan Danberry added 18 points.

Clemson (20-13) briefly rallied in the third quarter, pulling within 59-46 on Danielle Edwards’ three-pointer late in the third quarter. But the Bulldogs scored the last three points of the third quarter and slowly rebuilt the big lead.

Edwards and Simone Westbrook both scored 14 points for Clemson.

No. 2 Oregon 91, No. 10 Indian 68

Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for her 18th career triple double and as the Ducks won in Eugene, Ore..

Ionescu is the NCAA’s career triple-double leader among men and women. She’s had eight this season alone. She reached it on Sunday with just over 2 minutes left when she corralled a rebound on her own missed shot.

With speculation that she may turn pro at the end of this season, it may have been Ionescu’s final career game at Matthew Knight Arena. But it certainly won’t be her last game in Oregon: With the win the Ducks (31-4) advanced to face the winner of Monday’s game between South Dakota State and Syracuse next weekend at Portland’s Moda Center.

Satou Sabally added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Ducks, who are headed to the round of 16 for the third straight season. Oregon led by as many as 23 points.

Ali Patberg had 16 points and Jaelynn Penn added 15 for the Hoosiers, who were hurt in the third quarter when Bendu Yeaney was injured and left the game.

GREENSBORO REGION

No. 2 Iowa 68, No. 7 Missouri 52

Megan Gustafson scored 24 points with 19 rebounds, Makenzie Meyer added 18 points and the Hawkeyes blew past the Tigers in Iowa City, Iowa.

Kathleen Doyle scored 15 points for the Hawkeyes (28-6), who put away the Tigers with a blistering 23-4 run in the second half. They’ll face either Kentucky or North Carolina State, who play each other on Monday, in the semifinals of the Greensboro Regional next week.

Tania Davis hit her first 3 of the game to open the fourth quarter, putting Iowa up 50-41, and Meyer’s corner 3 pushed the lead to 13. Gustafson’s jumper over two defenders made it 60-43 with 4:21 to go, capping a spurt that helped Iowa clinch its highest win total in 31 years.

Amber Smith scored 21 points for Missouri (24-11). The Tigers bowed out in the second round for the third time in four years after scoring just 23 points in the second half.

No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 Florida State 64

Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored 20 points, Alexis Jennings added 16 and the Gamecocks advanced to the Sweet 16 for the sixth straight season with the win at Charlotte, N.C.

Te’a Cooper added 13 points and Tyasha Harris had 11 for South Carolina, which won despite being outrebounded 50-33 and allowing Florida State to grab 27 offensive rebounds.

It’s the third time in the past five seasons the Gamecocks have eliminated the Seminoles from the NCAA Tournament, beating them in the Elite Eight in 2015 and 2017.

Nicki Ekhomu scored 19 points and Kiah Gilespie had 15 points and 18 rebounds for Florida State (24-9).