Women’s NCAA roundup: South Carolina rolls to Sweet 16; Duke shocks Ohio State
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley had 20 points including four 3-pointers, Kamilla Cardoso had a double-double in her return from a one-game suspension and unbeaten South Carolina powered into its 10th straight Sweet 16 with an 88-41 victory over eighth-seeded North Carolina in the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
The top overall seed Gamecocks (34-0) needed everything they had to escape with single-digit wins the past two times they faced the Tar Heels (20-13). This time, South Carolina used a 15-0 first-quarter run to take control and get within four victories of a perfect championship season.
The Gamecocks will play either No. 4 seed Indiana or No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Friday in the Albany 1 Region.
Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 center from Brazil, sat out the tournament opener Friday after her ejection for fighting at the Southeastern Conference Tournament title game two weeks ago. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, her 14th double-double this season.
The Tar Heels tried to keep things close. But the Gamecocks, at full strength and playing like their potent selves, outscored North Carolina 43-11 during a 14-minute stretch in the first half and were up 56-19 at the break.
NO. 3 OREGON STATE 61, NO. 6 NEBRASKA 51
CORVALLIS, Oregon — Talia von Oelhoffen had 19 points and eight assists to help third-seeded Oregon State advanced to the Sweet 16 with a second-round victory over No. 6 Nebraska.
Raegan Beers added 10 points for the Beavers (26-7), who will cross the country to Albany to face the winner of Monday’s second-round game between second-seeded Notre Dame and No. 7 Ole Miss in South Bend.
Jaz Shelley had 10 points and seven assists for the Huskers (23-13), who have not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2013. She was the lone Nebraska player in double figures.
Alexis Markowski’s layup pulled the Huskers within 35-29 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Beavers responded with three straight 3-pointers to go up 44-29. Nebraska responded with a 6-0 run to get back within single digits.
Von Oelhoffen, who wore a sleeve on her arm with the word “heart” penned in magic marker, hit a 3-pointer that made it 49-35 for Oregon State with 3:46 left.
Natalie Potts’ layup got the Huskers as close at 59-51 in the final moments but ultimately Nebraska fell short.
NO. 3 LSU 83, NO. 11 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 56
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds and third-seeded LSU responded to a nine-point third-quarter deficit with a dominant finish to defeat upstart No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Flau’Jae Johnson scored 21 for the Tigers (30-5) and played central role in helping LSU surge to a comfortable second-half lead that ended the Blue Raiders’ 20-game winning streak.
The decisive victory came one day after LSU coach Kim Mulkey railed against the Washington Post — and threatened potential legal action — for what she described as an impending “hit piece” against her and promised that it would not derail her team’s preparation for NCAA Tournament games.
MTSU (30-5) led 41-32 and looked primed to widen the gap when Reese tripped over a fallen teammate on an attempted layup and crashed hard to the court, sending the Blue Raiders on a 5-on-4 fast break the other way.
But Jalynn Gregory’s open 3 bounced off the back rim to LSU guard Last-Tear Poa, who fired the ball down court, where Reese had just gotten to her feet and made an uncontested layup.
That play spawned a 10-0 run, fueled in part by Mikaylah Williams’ pull-up jumper in transition and her left corner 3, which put the Tigers back in front, 42-41.
NO. 5 COLORADO 63, NO. 4 KANSAS STATE 50
MANHATTAN, Kansas — Tameiya Sadler scored all 10 of her points in the second half to lead a balanced scoring attack and No. 5 seed Colorado beat four-seed Kansas State to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Buffaloes (24-9) will face the winner of Monday’s game between No. 1 seed Iowa and No. 8 seed West Virginia Saturday in Albany, N.Y.
This was the first home sellout for Kansas State since they hosted No. 1 UConn on Dec. 11, 2016.
Colorado, which had six players with nine or more points, used an 11-2 run in the third quarter to grab its largest lead of the game at 48-41. The Buffaloes outscored K-State 19-7 in the third quarter to take a 52-42 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats (26-8) had multiple chances to trim the deficit to three in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get the shots to fall.
NO. 7 DUKE 75, NO. 2 OHIO STATE 63
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Reigan Richardson scored 28 points and added seven rebounds as No. 7 seed Duke rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat No. 2 seed Ohio State and earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018.
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