UCA's start prevents it from sticking around late

Central Arkansas forward Kierra Jordan (20) has her shot blocked by Texas forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau during the Sugar Bears’ 78-50 loss to the Longhorns on Friday in Austin, Texas.
Central Arkansas forward Kierra Jordan (20) has her shot blocked by Texas forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau during the Sugar Bears’ 78-50 loss to the Longhorns on Friday in Austin, Texas.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Central Arkansas needed a clean game to have any chance of beating powerhouse Texas in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament.

When the Sugar Bears did just about everything wrong in the first quarter, any shot of an upset was doomed.

A runaway 78-50 loss to No. 3 seed and home-standing Texas on Friday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center surprised UCA, which expected to compete with the taller, stronger and quicker Longhorns.

"Wow. That's not how we wanted to go out and perform today," UCA Coach Sandra Rushing said. "Texas -- they're big, they're fast, stronger. I just want people to know that nobody up here or anybody in the locker room is happy with our performance effort-wise.

"Maybe we were a little nervous. Maybe I didn't do a good job preparing them, but that does not define our season. I'm so proud of these young ladies and what they've accomplished."

UCA missed eight of its first nine shots in the first 4:30 and trailed 18-2. Two free throws by Texas' Jada Underwood with 0.8 seconds left in the first quarter put the Longhorns ahead 24-4 heading into the second quarter.

Texas outshot Central Arkansas 75 percent to 15.4 percent in the opening quarter and outrebounded the Sugar Bears 13-2.

UCA was stymied early when Brianna Mullins picked up her third foul at the 3:37 mark of the first quarter.

"Picking up those quick fouls at the beginning kind of had to do with how we dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter," said Mullins, who scored five points in 23 minutes. "Coach and me talked about that all season, me not getting in foul trouble. I think there was some bad mistakes that I took upon myself."

The Southland Conference champion was led by Maggie Proffitt's 17 points. Taylor Baudoin added 14 points for the Sugar Bears (26-5), all in the second half.

Brooke McCarty led a balanced Texas attack with 15 points, while Joyner Holmes added 12 points and Kelsey Lang scored 10 for the Longhorns (24-8). All 11 Texas players scored at least four points.

The Longhorns outshot the Sugar Bears 51.7 percent to 31.7 percent and had a 55-23 rebounding edge.

"I've said this from Day One about our team -- they ebb and flow with their attention," Texas Coach Karen Aston, a Bryant native, said. "Therefore, our leadership in the locker room before games, halftime, those types of things need to be really strong."

The Longhorns, who finished second in the Big 12, move on to face No. 6 seed North Carolina State, a 62-48 winner over No. 11 seed Auburn earlier Friday.

UCA showed more fight in the second quarter when it played the Longhorns to within eight points, but Texas still led 48-20 at halftime.

Both teams took 30 shots in the first half; Texas made 19 of its attempts (63.3 percent) while UCA made only 9 (30 percent). The Longhorns also owned a 27-8 rebounding advantage over the first 20 minutes.

The Sugar Bears outscored the Longhorns 23-14 in the third quarter to pull within 62-43, the closest it had been since the final minute of the first quarter. Texas shot just 33.3 percent in the quarter while committing six turnovers.

"We went in at halftime, and Coach was talking about how we weren't playing with a whole lot of effort and not attacking the way we should," Baudoin said. "In the third quarter, we came out and just started going at them, and things started to fall a little bit."

The Longhorns won the fourth quarter 16-7.

N.C. STATE 62, AUBURN 48

Dominique Wilson scored 23 points and Miah Spencer added 13 to help No. 6 seed North Carolina State roll over cold-shooting No. 11 Auburn.

The Tigers' high-pressure defense forced a turnover in the first eight seconds but the Wolfpack easily handled it the rest of the way.

N.C. State (23-8) led by 17 at halftime and pushed it as high as 23 by the end of the third quarter.

Auburn (17-15) came into the tournament after losing nine of its last 12 in the regular season.

KENTUCKY 73, BELMONT 70

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Maci Morris made seven of eight free throws in the final 37 seconds, including two with 3.2 seconds remaining, to help fourth-seeded Kentucky edge No. 13 Belmont.

Kentucky seniors Makayla Epps and Evelyn Akhator did their parts to get the Wildcats ahead with 52 combined points that were needed to hold off the Bruins. Belmont got within 69-68 on two Sally McCabe free throws with 13 seconds remaining.

Morris was already clicking at the line by then and sealed the victory with four more in the final seconds for 15 points and an edge that proved critical against Belmont's last chance to tie.

Darby Maggard was defended well and shot an off-balance three-pointer that missed as the horn sounded to end Belmont's school-record 21-game winning streak.

Epps scored 30 with a career-high 5 three-pointers while Akhator added 22.

OHIO STATE 70,

WESTERN KENTUCKY 63

Kelsey Mitchell and Asia Doss each scored 15 points, Shayla Cooper grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and Ohio State withstood a late charge from Western Kentucky.

The fifth-seeded Buckeyes (27-6) began to take control just before halftime and followed with timely baskets to keep a safe cushion against the No. 12 seed Hilltoppers. Ohio State eventually stretched a seven-point halftime advantage to 64-48 with 4:38 remaining before Western Kentucky used a 15-5 run to make it a two-possession game.

Doss' free throw with 18 seconds left sealed the outcome for Ohio State, which advances to Sunday's second round against Kentucky.

Kendall Noble had 19 points and Tashia Brown 13 for the Hilltoppers (27-7).

PURDUE 74,

WIS.-GREEN BAY 62

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Ashley Morrisette scored 20 points, Dominique Oden added 13 and No. 9 seed Purdue beat No. 8 Wis.-Green Bay.

The Boilermakers (23-12), playing their first game since Coach Sharon Versyp informed the team she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, made 63 percent of their shots in the first quarter while holding Green Bay (27-6) to 23 percent shooting to take control and win for the eighth time in their last nine games.

The Phoenix, who entered the game second in the NCAA in scoring defense at 51 points a game, gave up more than that in three quarters as Purdue led 56-42 at the end of the period.

Mehryn Kraker led Green Bay with 23 points and Jessica Lindstrom added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

NOTRE DAME 79,

ROBERT MORRIS 49

Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale scored 15 points each to help top-seed Notre Dame beat Robert Morris.

The Irish (31-3), who have won 15 consecutive, improved to 28-5 in seven tournament appearances as a No. 1 seed, but the 30-point margin of victory was the smallest during those games. The Irish previously had won by at least 31.

It also was the smallest margin of defeat for the Colonials (22-11) in five tournament games. They lost 101-49 to Connecticut last season and 93-42 to Notre Dame in 2014.

Lindsay Allen repeatedly cut through the Robert Morris defense and finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Brianna Turner had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Sports on 03/18/2017

Upcoming Events