Women's March Madness Roundup: Freshman Crooks scores 40, Iowa State downs Maryland

STANFORD, Calif. — Freshman Audi Crooks scored a career-high 40 points on 18-for-20 shooting in her sensational NCAA Tournament debut, and No. 7-seed Iowa State hit all the big shots in the second half to rally from 20 points down and beat 10th-seeded Maryland 93-86 on Friday night.

The 20-point comeback marked the second-largest all-time in an NCAA Tournament game trailing only Texas A&M overcoming a 21-point deficit to beat Penn in 2017.

Emily Ryan knocked down a key 3-pointer with 6:06 remaining and finished with 18 points while dishing out 14 assists as Iowa State kept pounding the ball inside to the ever-reliable Crooks — even when it led to a handful of late turnovers.

Crooks, the program’s first freshman to earn AP All-America honors with her honorable mention selection this week, came in leading the team averaging 18.9 points and 7.7 rebounds and became the 16th player to score 40 or more this season. She had 12 rebounds against Maryland.

Allie Kubek knocked down all five of her 3-pointers in the first half and finished with seven from long range on the way to a season-best 29 points, and it looked like Maryland might run away from the Cyclones.

Instead, it's Iowa State (21-11) advancing to play Sunday for a spot in the Portland Regional, its opponent to be either No. 2 seed Stanford or 15th-seeded Norfolk State with those teams playing Friday’s late game at Maples Pavilion.

Kelsey Joens hit a tying 3-pointer with 3:20 left in the third quarter as Iowa State used a 10-0 run to get back in the game and Crooks’ three-point play at the 2:50 mark put the Cyclones ahead 62-61 before she scored again the next time down.

Kubek's hot hand from 3-point range got Maryland (19-14) going early from the perimeter and the Terrapins had to make things tough on 6-foot-3 Iowa State freshman star Crooks in the low post as she came in shooting an NCAA-best 58.4% from the floor.

Maryland made nine 3s in the first half, its most in any half this season — and the 11 total 3s were the Terrapins' high.

(3) LSU 70, (14) RICE 60

BATON ROUGE, La. — Angel Reese had 10 points and 19 rebounds, and third-seeded LSU overcame a feisty performance by No. 14 seed Rice for a 70-60 victory on Friday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Aneesah Morrow added 15 points, while Flau'Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams each scored 14 for the defending national champion Tigers (29-5), who had a hard time putting away the Owls (19-15), in no small part because they committed a season-high 24 turnovers.

Rice surprisingly got into the NCAA Tournament by winning four straight in the American Athletic tournament after having lost their last five regular season games. And they didn't make anything easy on LSU, which didn't lead by more than 11 all game and was up by just six after Maya Bokunewicz's left side 3 and Sussy Ngulefac's layup made it 62-56 with 1:56 left.

Destiny Jackson scored 15 and Malia Fisher had 13 points and three steals for Rice. Ngulefac and Emily Klaczek each scored 10 points.

LSU never trailed and there were just two ties early in the second quarter, but LSU's lead was just three at halftime after Klaczek's 3 pulled Rice to 30-27. The Tigers' lead was down to a single point on three occasions in the third quarter.

(5) COLORADO 86, (12) DRAKE 72

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Aaronette Vonleh had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead fifth-seeded Colorado to an 86-72 victory over 12th-seed Drake in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

The Buffaloes will face fourth-seeded Kansas State in the second round Sunday.

Colorado (23-9) also got 16 points from Jaylyn Sherrod and Kindyll Wetta, and Maddie Nolan had 12. The Buffs held a 39-18 advantage on the boards.

Drake (29-6) got 24 points from Katie Dinnebier. Courtney Becker added 14 and Taylor McAulay had 13.

The Buffaloes opened the third quarter with a 14-3 run to grab a 60-44 lead midway through the quarter. Drake had a chance to cut the deficit to single digits, but Anna Miller missed two free throws trailing 60-49. The Buffs scored the next seven points to open their largest lead of the game to that point. They led 71-53 at the end of the third quarter. Colorado held Dinnebier scoreless in the third quarter.

Drake didn't get closer than 13 points in the final quarter.

(8) ALABAMA 82, (9) FLORIDA STATE 74

AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman Essence Cody had season highs with 20 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 8 seed Alabama defeated No. 9 Florida State 82-74 on Friday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Working inside, the 6-foot-4 Cody more than doubled her average of eight points a game. She also blocked four shots.

Cody made a layup on a pick-and-roll to give Alabama (24-9) a 74-69 lead with 2:33 left.

O'Mariah Gordon quickly countered with a 3-pointer for Florida State (23-11), but Aaliyah Nye — who finished with 18 points — made a 3 of her own for Alabama with 1:21 remaining.

Alabama, which shot 5 of 6 from the foul line in the final 44 seconds, will face No. 1 seed Texas on Sunday.

Ta’Niya Latson led Florida State (23-11) with 25 points and five assists. Makayla Timpson had 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Alabama played without its third-leading scorer, Jessica Timmons, a starting guard who had a season-ending knee injury during the Southeastern Conference Tournament. She averaged 11.2 points a game. Karly Weathers, her replacement, had 18 points and five assists.

Latson and Timpson scored nine each in the fourth quarter, leading a comeback after Florida State trailed by 12 at the end of the third.

(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 91, (16) PRESBYTERIAN 39

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Chloe Kitts tied her career high with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting as No. 1 overall seed South Carolina easily overcame the absence of starters Kamilla Cardoso and Bree Hall to beat No. 16 seed Presbyterian 91-39 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Gamecocks (33-0) moved five wins away from the 10th perfect championship season by overwhelming the Blue Hose (21-15) of the Big South Conference for a second time this season. Next comes another rematch against No. 8 seed North Carolina on Sunday. The Tar Heels gave up almost all of a 16-point lead before holding on to defeat No. 9 seed Michigan State earlier Friday.

Kitts also had a game-high 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double this season. Te-Hina Paopao had 18 points and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 17 for South Carolina, which moved to 12-0 in NCAA openers under coach Dawn Staley.

South Carolina played without Cardoso, its leading scorer, while she served a one-game suspension for her ejection for fighting last time out at the SEC Tournament finals on March 10. Hall, who started the previous 32 games, came out in street clothes on the bench. A team spokeswoman texted that Hall was out for “precautionary reasons.”

The 6-foot-7 Cardoso, tossed in the SEC finals for shoving LSU's Flau'jae Johnson to the ground late in the Gamecocks 79-72 victory, is expected to be back against the Tar Heels.

(5) BAYLOR 80, (12) VANDERBILT 63

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Bella Fontleroy scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lift fifth-seeded Baylor to an 80-63 victory over No. 12 Vanderbilt in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Fontleroy hit 6 of 12, including four 3-pointers, for the Bears (25-7), who broke open a close game at halftime with a dominating third quarter in winning for the seventh time in their past eight games.

Sarah Andrews added 13 points, and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 11 for Baylor.

Iyana Moore led the Commodores (23-10) with 15 points, but made just 3 of 14 from the floor.

Baylor, making its 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, led 41-34 at halftime, but shot 61.1% (11 of 18) and outscored the Commodores 28-15 in the third quarter. The Bears held Vanderbilt to just one field goal in the final 6:32 of the quarter.

A 3-pointer by Jana Van Gytenbeek and a layup by Littlepage-Buggs on the Bears’ final two possessions of the quarter push the lead to 69-49. Baylor would go on to lead by as many as 25 in pulling away.

(4) KANSAS STATE 78, (13) PORTLAND 65

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Gabby Gregory had 22 points and Ayoka Lee scored 21 to lead Kansas State to a 78-65 win over Portland in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats built a big first-half lead and then kept the No. 13 seed Pilots at an arm’s reach the rest of the game. They led 40-28 at halftime.

K-State will face the winner of the Colorado vs. Drake game on Sunday in the second round.

Serena Sundell added 16 points for Kansas State (26-7).

Portland (21-13) was led by Maisie Burnham, who had 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pilots also got 12 points from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher.

The game became chippy in the second half as there were 10 fouls called before the midway point of the third quarter. There were 15 total fouls called in the third quarter.

Lee, who finished with nine rebounds, had 11 points in the third quarter as the Wildcats maintained their 12-point lead.

K-State shot 26 of 51 from the field, including 7 of 16 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats, however, only made 65.5 per cent of their free throws.

Portland shot 44 per cent for the game.

(2) OHIO STATE 80, (15) MAINE 57

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jacy Sheldon had 19 points and three other Ohio State players scored in double figures as the Buckeyes ran away from Maine 80-57 in an opening game of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The bigger and faster Buckeyes swarmed Maine with a stifling press, forcing 22 turnovers. Second-seeded Ohio State advances to play the winner of the Richmond-Duke on Sunday.

Cotie McMahon scored 13 for Ohio State, and Celeste Taylor and Taylor Thierry each added 12. Sheldon scored her 2,000th career point with a layup late in the first half.

Anne Simon led Maine with 25 points and Olivia Rockwood had 15.

Maine came out firing with Rockwood hitting 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions early on. The Black Bears were up by one with 3:25 left in the first quarter but would never lead again. The Buckeyes had an 11-2 run to finish the first quarter and outscored Maine 21-8 in the second to lead 43-24 at the break. Maine could get no closer than 17 points in the second half.

(7) DUKE 72, (10) RICHMOND 61

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Reigan Richardson scored 25 points and had seven rebounds as Duke rallied in the second half to overtake Richmond 72-61 in a first-round women's NCAA Tournament game Friday.

No. 7 seed Duke (21-11) advances to play Ohio State on Sunday, following the Buckeyes’ 80-57 rout of Maine in a first-round contest earlier in the day..

The Blue Devils battled back from a nine-point deficit at halftime, going ahead 42-41 with 4:42 left in the third quarter and never relinquishing the lead again.

Ashlon Jackson added 14 points and Kennedy Brown had 10 for Duke.

Grace Townsend led Richmond (29-6) with 18 points, Addie Budnik had 17 and Maggie Doogan added 15.

Richmond hit 8 of 10 3-point tries in the first half, with Budnik going 4 for 5 and Maggie Doogan hitting 3 of 4. The Spiders shot 58 per cent in the half and led Duke 37-28 at the break. But they cooled off in the second half, hitting just 2 of 8 from 3-point range.

(11) MTSU 71, (6) LOUISVILLE 69

BATON ROUGE, La. — Savannah Wheeler scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half, and No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee overcame an 18-point, second-quarter deficit to defeat sixth-seeded Louisville 71-69 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Jalynn Gregory scored 24 for MTSU (30-4), which won its 20th straight game and has not lost since falling to Grand Canyon on Dec. 30. The Blue Raiders matched the third-largest comeback in the opening rounds in tournament history.

Center Anastasiia Boldyreva had 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Blue Raiders, who advanced to the second round of the tournament for the fifth time and first since 2007.

MTSU will play Sunday against the winner of Friday's game between No. 3 seed LSU and 14th-seeded Rice.

(8) NORTH CAROLINA 59, (9) MICHIGAN STATE 56

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Deja Kelly took away two big things after No. 8 seed North Carolina held off a late run by No. 9 seed Michigan State to start the NCAA Tournament with a victory for a third straight season.

“First, I need to make my damn free throws, so start with that,” Kelly said as the Tar Heels survived in a 59-56 victory Friday. “But I think a lot of maturity showed.”

Kelly hit two of four foul shots in the last five seconds and pulled down a critical rebound. Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 17 rebounds, no board bigger than collecting Kelly's final foul line miss with 3.2 seconds left as the Tar Heels ran out the clock.

Michigan State, down by 16 early and still trailing 54-42 with 3:22 to play, used a 14-3 run to get within a point after Theryn Hallock's 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left.

North Carolina could have crumbled, Kelly said, but they held on.

“The way we stayed strong and calm showed a sign of maturity,” said Kelly, who finished 3 of 10 from the foul line. “We didn't let it rattle us.”

Maria Gakdeng also had a double-double for North Carolina with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

(4) VIRGINIA TECH 92, (13) MARSHALL 49

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Matilda Ekh scored 21 points to lead No. 13 Virginia Tech to a 92-49 victory over Marshall in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Hokies won without star center Elizabeth Kitley, who is out for the tournament with a torn ACL.

Ekh connected on 6 of 9 from the floor and hit five 3-pointers for the Hokies (25-7), who set a school record by winning their 26th consecutive game at Cassell Coliseum.

Starting in place of Kitley, Clara Strack had 17 points and Carleigh Wenzel added 13 for Virginia Tech, which never trailed.

Abby Beeman scored 12 points for Marshall (26-7), which saw its 10-game winning streak snapped.

(1) TEXAS 82, (16) DREXEL 42

AUSTIN, Texas — Shaylee Gonzales scored 21 points, Taylor Jones added 18 and No. 1 seed Texas beat No. 16 Drexel 82-42 on Friday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Gonzales converted 5 of 6 3-point attempts while matching her season-high in scoring, and she made three steals. Jones hit 7 of 11 shots inside for the Longhorns, who have won 13 of their last 14 games.

Drexel (19-15) had only one starter taller than 6 feet — 6-2 Hedda Staatman. Texas (31-4), rotating four post players who are between 6-1 and 6-4 most of the game, outscored Drexel 44-18 in the paint and 22-6 on second-chance points thanks to a 26-10 edge in offensive rebounding.

“I don't think I've ever seen that type of size,” Drexel guard Grace O'Neill said. “Definitely a challenge. They did a great job on the boards.”

Texas' dominance inside eventually resulted in open 3-pointers for Gonzales. She made three in the third quarter without missing.

“I was wide open,” Gonzales said. “They didn't guard the wing very well. Obviously, we pass it inside, they collapse and double on the post players, and then the guards are open on the outside.”

Freshman Madison Booker had a season-best 14 assists, the most ever by a Longhorn in an NCAA Tournament game. DeYona Gaston had 11 points and 10 rebounds — eight on offense — in a game she considered missing because of illness. Guard Shay Holle had seven rebounds, four blocks, and three steals.

(5) BAYLOR 80, (12) VANDERBILT 63

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Bella Fontleroy scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lift fifth-seeded Baylor to an 80-63 victory over No. 12 Vanderbilt in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Fontleroy hit 6 of 12, including four 3-pointers, for the Bears (25-7), who broke open a close game at halftime with a dominating third quarter in winning for the seventh time in their past eight games.

Sarah Andrews added 13 points, and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 11 for Baylor.

“Our defense was good in particular in the first half,” Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. “I thought we did a really good job of making their execution tough. Just taking away passes, so they couldn’t smoothly get into things

“And that’s as well as we’ve shot. We were 9 for 21 from 3, and if you take away some of those at the end, I thought that created separation.”

Iyana Moore led the Commodores (23-10) with 15 points, but made just 3 of 14 from the floor.

(6) NEBRASKA 61, (11) TEXAS A&M 59

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Alexis Markowski had 16 points and six rebounds and sixth-seeded Nebraska won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2014 by barely holding off No. 11 Texas A&M 61-59 on Friday night.

Nebraska (23-22) will play third-seeded Oregon State on Sunday. The Beavers (25-7) overcame a slow start to defeat No. 14 Eastern Washington 73-51 in the earlier game Friday night. The winner Sunday heads to the Sweet Sixteen in Albany, New York.

Logan Nissley also had 16 points for Nebraska. Senior Jaz Shelley, who averaged 13.7 points and 5.6 assists this season, had five points while adding five rebounds and six assists.

Aicha Coulibaly had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Texas A&M (19-12), which finished fifth in the SEC and earned an at-large bid in this year’s women's tournament.