NCAA women’s tournament: Stanford advances to Elite Eight

Erica McCall had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Karlie Samuelson scored 15 points and Stanford outlasted Texas for a 77-66 win on Friday night to reach the Lexington (Ky.) Regional final.

The second game this season between the schools ended with another Cardinal win despite the team shooting 42% and committing 14 turnovers. But second-seeded Stanford (31-5) made eight of 14 in the third quarter and held Texas (25-9) to 33% to grab a 54-49 lead entering the fourth and eventually extending it to double digits by making seven of eight free throws.

The Cardinal also outrebounded the third-seeded Longhorns 41-35 to earn their second straight Elite Eight appearance, and will face top-seeded Notre Dame in Sunday’s regional final.

Notre Dame 99, Ohio State 76: Arike Ogunbowale had a career-high 32 points, Lindsay Allen added 16 and the Irish (33-3) easily beat the Buckeyes (28-7) in the other Sweet 16 game in Lexington.

Playing five days after losing star forward Brianna Turner to a season-ending left knee injury, the top-seeded Irish (33-3) posted their third-highest output this season while also scoring the most points against the Buckeyes. Ogunbowale seemed almost unstoppable in making 11 of 22 from the field to top her previous high by two points.

“It’s evident that we don’t have Bri in the paint, so it’s spaced out a little bit more,” said Ogunbowale.

Baylor 99, Louisville 63: Nina Davis scored 21 points to help the top-seeded Bears (33-3) defeat the Cardinals (28-7) in the Oklahoma City Regional.

Beatrice Mompremier and Alexis Prince each scored 14 points for Baylor , which never trailed. The Bears led by 18 at one point in the first half and were up 43-31 at the break. Baylor continued to roll and led 72-45 at the end of the third quarter.

Mississippi State 75, Washington 64: Teaira McCowan scored 20 of her career-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, and the Bulldogs (32-4) defeated the Huskies (29-6) in Oklahoma City to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time.

McCowan, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center who entered the game averaging just over eight points per game, made nine of 10 field goals in the final 10 minutes. She scored 11 points in the first 2:33 of the fourth quarter to turn a two-point deficit into a seven-point lead for the second-seeded Bulldogs.

Plum scored 29 points and Chantel Osahor added 17 points and 11 rebounds in their final games for third-seeded Washington.